Celebrating the wonderful Walter ‘Wolfman’ Washington
9th January 2023 · 0 Comments
By Geraldine Wyckoff
Contributing Writer
A magnificently large bouquet of red roses rested atop a horse drawn wooden hearse that carried Walter “Wolfman” Washington from the monolithic Jacob Schoen & Son Funeral Home to Esplanade Avenue’s St. Louis Cemetery No. 3 cemetery. Dressed in the traditional “black and whites,” the members of the brass band, there to honor the much-loved and respected guitarist, vocalist and composer, numbered some 20-plus musicians. Baby dolls, carrying umbrellas and dressed in their traditional cute short skirts and hats escorted the hearse, as a second line of Washington’s family, fans, friends and fellow musicians filled Canal Street and Carrollton Avenue. The legendary Walter “Wolfman” Washington passed away in his hometown of New Orleans on December 22, 2022 at the age of 79.
Passers-by might have logically viewed the scene as a typical jazz funeral procession. Until, that is, they heard howls erupt from the crowd. They might not have realized that this cacophony of howls was as much a tribute to Wolfman as any part of the celebration of his life that day. Living up to his nickname, whenever and wherever he performed, he’d let loose with his signature howl and the audience would respond, with faces lifted up and hands cupping their mouths, by echoing the sound.
There remains two versions of how he got the moniker Wolfman.
One is that he would musically challenge other guitarists with his veracity, a term known by some as “wolfing.” Perhaps the more commonly acknowledged reason was because after losing his front teeth during a fight in high school, he was known to thrill audiences by playing the guitar “wolf-like” with his remaining incisors. With help from Tipitina’s, Washington was later able to flash audiences his big, beautiful tooth-filled smile.
Washington had been a guitarist, though not a vocalist most of his life. His uncle gave him his first acoustic guitar.
“I started to play with one finger – I didn’t tune it regular,” he said in a 2018 interview after the release of his wonderfully innovative, jazz-wise release, “My Future Is My Past.” A neighborhood vocal group that sang spirituals was invited to perform on radio station WBOK and they needed a guitarist. He went and saw a guy playing guitar with another group and he observed that he played “with all of his fingers!”
“I just watched him for a couple of hours. I went home and tried to do it and it just didn’t sound right because I didn’t have my guitar tuned right. So my Uncle B showed me how to tune it. That really tripped me out when I played that first chord. From then on I was a guitar freak,” said Wolfman.
“My cousin told me that once you play the Apollo Theater, you’ll play music for the rest of your life. I see that’s the truth,” Walter “Wolfman” Washington once said while recalling when he was on guitar behind vocalist Lee Dorsey at Harlem’s legendary venue. “I said, ‘Wow’ and from then on I just wanted to be under the lights.” It was Washington’s first “professional” gig and Dorsey even had to ask the young guitarist’s mother permission to take him on the road. “I traveled all over the United States playing two songs, “Ride Your Pony” and “Working in a Coal Mine,” Washington laughingly remembered.
By the time he went out with Dorsey, Washington was playing electric guitar. While his very first guitar was constructed out of a cigar box, a hanger and rubber bands, it was his cousin, the legendary Ernie K-Doe who gave him his first electric guitar and amp so he was ready for the road with Dorsey.
“After I learned how to play blues and funk, he (K-Doe) hired me to play with his group. I played with him for two years – I was about 21. I didn’t have to sing or anything, I just played my guitar. Watching him perform was something else. They did flips and I said, ‘I’m not going to do no flips.’ I learned a lot from him – stage presence, how to dress.”
Walter was always a sharp dresser and, as his family and fans know, his favorite color was red as indicated by his clothes and guitar and thus the red roses and pops of red attire in the gathering for his funeral.
Vocalist Johnny Adams, with whom Washington backed for years most notably at their infamous, don’t-leave-until-the-sun-comes-up gig at Orleans Avenue’s Dorothy’s Medallion Lounge that was made complete by two, large scantily dancers in cages.
“Thanks to Johnny Adams for helping me to understand how to sing and play at the same time,” Washington acknowledged. “For years I never did that. I just mostly played guitar. So Johnny took the time with me to develop my way of doing it. Like he told me basically to try to sing and play along with yourself and practice more.”
Adams’ influences on Washington’s vocals remain evident. It’s possible on hearing the first few bars of a song thinking that it’s Adams singing though soon realizing, no, that’s Wolfman! Soulmates for sure.
Washington always dressed sharp from head to toe.
“I got that from Johnny,” Washington immediately replied on who influenced his striking style of apparel. “(Saxophonist) David Lastie and them all said, ‘if you want to be a professional, you have to dress like a professional.’ Then it just rubbed off on me. I can’t go on stage without dressing up. David told me when you’re playing in a professional atmosphere and people look at you in blue jeans and a T-shirt, they’re going to look at you as just an average guitar player – and maybe not even that. A lot of young cats today don’t think about it. It makes people appreciate your music better when you’re dressed like a professional.”
Walter “Wolfman” Washing-ton’s some six decade long musical career remains illuminated by his past, including work with Irma Thomas, the Soul Queen of New Orleans, and propelled to the future by his huge talent. He became a prominent recording artist, the leader of his own band, the Roadmasters, wowed folks performing with a trio headed by organist Joe Krown that included drummer Russell Batiste and knocked people out with his unique, truly New Orleans, late night style of rhythm and blues. Turn the lights down low, it’s Walter “Wolfman” Washington time.
This article originally published in the January 9, 2023 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly newspaper.
