Pete Wade

Herman Bland "Pete" Wade (December 16, 1934 – August 27, 2024) was an American guitarist. Wade worked as a session musician in Nashville, playing on numerous hits including "Crazy Arms" by Ray Price, "He Stopped Loving Her Today" by George Jones, and "Fist City" by Loretta Lynn.^[1][2] He was considered to be part of the Nashville A-Team.^[3]

Pete Wade
Wade (right) at recording session with guitarist Dean Porter and singer Connie Smith in 1966
Born	Herman Bland Wade (1934-12-16)December 16, 1934 Norfolk, Virginia, U.S.
Died	August 27, 2024(2024-08-27) (aged 89) Hendersonville, Tennessee, U.S.
Occupations	Guitarist Session musician
Awards	1976: "Superpicker Band '76", NARAS
Honors	2002: Selected top musician by the Reunion of Professional Entertainers 2016: Honored as a Nashville Cat by the Country Music Hall of Fame

Life and career

Herman Bland "Pete" Wade was born in Norfolk, Virginia, on December 16, 1934.^[2][1] When he was 19, he moved to Nashville 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 and Jerry Rivers. Helms helped Wade join the Cherokee Cowboys, the band of Ray Price.^[4] From 1954 to 1964, Wade toured with Price,^[5] played guitar with the Cherokee Cowboys,^[2] and is credited with having aided in establishing the "shuffling sound" of Price's music.^[6] He also played lead guitar in the Country Deputies with Faron Young in 1957 and 1958, replacing Jimmy and Johnny Fautheree.^[7] 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".^[8]

Wade performed alongside Bobby Bare and Margie Bowes at the 30th annual summer concert series in Nashville in 1966.^[9][10] As a member of the Nashville Guitars, Wade performed as part of the 1967 Grammy Awards.^[11]

In 1976, the Nashville chapter of the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences included Wade among the 22 artists named that year as part of the "Superpicker Band '76".^[12] 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.^[13] He had also received a certificate in 1975 for his work as a session musician on number one charting songs that year.^[14]

Wade was known for keeping a notebook with copies of the musical compositions for the sections of the songs he played over his career.^[15]

In 1990, Wade opened Pete Wade's Music Hall and the Oak Tree Restaurant in Springfield, Tennessee.^[16] Musicians Loretta Lynn, Kitty Wells, Johnny Wright, Vic Willis, and Don Helms helped break ground for the construction of both businesses.^[16] In 1991, the performances were broadcast live on WDBL Saturday evenings.^[5]

The Reunion of Professional Entertainers selected Wade as the top musician at their CMA banquet in 2002.^[6] The Country Music Hall of Fame honored Wade in 2016 as part of their series on "Nashville Cats".^[17]

Wade died of complications from hip surgery at his daughter's home in Hendersonville, Tennessee, on August 27, 2024, at the age of 89.^[1][2][8]