Herman Bland "Pete" Wade (December 16, 1934 – August 27, 2024) was an American guitarist. Wade worked as a

session musician A session musician (also known as studio musician or backing musician) is a musician hired to perform in a recording session or a live performance. The term sideman is also used in the case of live performances, such as accompanying a reco ...

Nashville Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...

, playing on numerous hits including "

Crazy Arms "Crazy Arms" is an American country song which was a career-making hit for Ray Price. The song, released in May 1956, went on to become a number 1 country hit that year, establishing Price's sound, and redefining honky-tonk music. It was Price's ...

" by Ray Price, "

He Stopped Loving Her Today "He Stopped Loving Her Today" is a song recorded by American country music artist George Jones. It has been named in several surveys as the greatest country song of all time. It was released in April 1980 as the lead single from the album '' I Am ...

" by

George Jones George Glenn Jones (September 12, 1931 – April 26, 2013) was an American Country music, country musician, singer, and songwriter. He achieved international fame for a long list of hit records, and is well known for his distinctive voice an ...

, and " Fist City" by

Loretta Lynn Loretta Lynn (; April 14, 1932 – October 4, 2022) was an American country music singer and songwriter. In a career spanning six decades, Lynn released multiple gold albums. She had numerous hits such as "Hey Loretta", "The Pill (song), The P ...

. He was considered to be part of

the Nashville A-Team The Nashville A-Team was a nickname given to a group of session musicians in Nashville, Tennessee, who earned wide acclaim in the 1950s, 1960s, and early 1970s, similar to their West Coast counterpart who became known (after the fact) as the Wre ...

Life and career

Herman Bland "Pete" Wade was born in

Norfolk, Virginia Norfolk ( ) is an independent city (United States), independent city in the U.S. state of Virginia. It had a population of 238,005 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of cities in Virginia, third-most populous city ...

, on December 16, 1934. When he was 19, he moved to

to be a guitar player. During his trip to Nashville, he only had $3, his suitcase, two ham sandwiches (he forgot the sandwiches on a bus) and telephone numbers for

Don Helms Donald Hugh Helms (February 28, 1927 – August 11, 2008) was an American musician who was the steel guitar player of Hank Williams's Drifting Cowboys group. He was a member of the Steel Guitar Hall of Fame (1984). Biography Helms was a featu ...

and Jerry Rivers. Helms helped Wade join the Cherokee Cowboys, the band of Ray Price. From 1954 to 1964, Wade toured with Price, played guitar with the Cherokee Cowboys, and is credited with having aided in establishing the "shuffling sound" of Price's music. He also played lead guitar in the Country Deputies with

Faron Young Faron Young (February 25, 1932 – December 10, 1996) was an American country singer, musician, and songwriter from the early 1950s into the mid-1980s. His hits including " If You Ain't Lovin' (You Ain't Livin')" and " Live Fast, Love Hard, Die ...

in 1957 and 1958, replacing

Jimmy Jimmy may refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television * ''Jimmy'' (2008 film), a 2008 Hindi thriller directed by Raj N. Sippy * ''Jimmy'' (1979 film), a 1979 Indian Malayalam film directed by Melattoor Ravi Varma * ''Jimmy'' (2013 f ...

and Johnny Fautheree. By the late 1960s, Wade was a full-time session musician. His career included playing on songs such as "Crazy Arms", "He Stopped Loving Her Today", " Mountain of Love", "Fist City", " Harper Valley P.T.A." and "

Delta Dawn "Delta Dawn" is a song written by musician Larry Collins and country songwriter Alex Harvey. The first notable recording of the song was in 1971 by American singer and actress Bette Midler for her debut album '' The Divine Miss M''. However i ...

". Wade performed alongside Bobby Bare and Margie Bowes at the 30th annual summer concert series in Nashville in 1966. As a member of the Nashville Guitars, Wade performed as part of the 1967 Grammy Awards. In 1976, the Nashville chapter of the

National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences, Inc. (NARAS), doing business as The Recording Academy, is an American Learned society, learned academy of musicians, producers, recording engineers, and other musical professionals. It is widely kno ...

included Wade among the 22 artists named that year as part of the "Superpicker Band '76". Wade was part of the group of session artists in Nashville known as the Nashville A-Team for the thousands of records on which their music is featured. He had also received a certificate in 1975 for his work as a session musician on number one charting songs that year. Wade was known for keeping a notebook with copies of the

musical compositions Musical composition can refer to an original piece or work of music, either vocal or instrumental, the structure of a musical piece or to the process of creating or writing a new piece of music. People who create new compositions are call ...

for the sections of the songs he played over his career. In 1990, Wade opened Pete Wade's Music Hall and the Oak Tree Restaurant in Springfield, Tennessee. Musicians Loretta Lynn,

Kitty Wells Ellen Muriel Deason (August 30, 1919 – July 16, 2012), known professionally as Kitty Wells, was an American pioneering female country music singer. She broke down a barrier for women in country music with her 1952 hit recording " It Wasn't God ...

, Johnny Wright, Vic Willis, and Don Helms helped break ground for the construction of both businesses. In 1991, the performances were broadcast live on WDBL Saturday evenings. The Reunion of Professional Entertainers selected Wade as the top musician at their CMA banquet in 2002. The

Country Music Hall of Fame The Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum in Nashville, Tennessee, is one of the world's largest museums and research centers dedicated to the preservation and interpretation of American vernacular music. Chartered in 1964, the museum has amass ...

honored Wade in 2016 as part of their series on "Nashville Cats". Wade died of complications from hip surgery at his daughter's home in

Hendersonville, Tennessee Hendersonville is the most populous city in Sumner County, Tennessee, on Old Hickory Lake. As of the 2020 census the city's population was 61,753. Hendersonville is the fourth-most populous city in the Nashville metropolitan area after Nas ...

, on August 27, 2024, at the age of 89.

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Wade, Pete 1934 births 2024 deaths 20th-century American guitarists 20th-century American male musicians 21st-century American guitarists 21st-century American male musicians American country guitarists American session musicians Guitarists from Virginia Musicians from Norfolk, Virginia