Mercy Dee Walton

Mose Allison was quick to salute the singular gifts of pianist Mercy Dee Walton. In 1957 the jazz-rooted Allison cut a faithful version of Walton’s stark “One Room Country Shack,” four years after the composer had cut the original for Los Angeles-based Specialty Records and watched it become a major R&B success. A native Texan who joined countless other postwar California R&B figures in relocating westward, Walton had already been playing piano around Waco since the age of thirteen when he reached the coast in 1938. He worked steadily throughout California until his first recordings appeared in 1949 on the small Spire imprint; the session, held in Fresno, yielded the national R&B hit “Lonesome Cabin Blues.” Further strong dates took place in Los Angeles for Imperial in 1950 and again for Specialty in 1952–1953.

Billing himself simply as Mercy Dee, Walton proved an adept songwriter whose pieces ranged from stark blues to buoyant R&B. Six numbers cut for the Bihari brothers’ Flair label in 1955 featured “Come Back Maybellene,” an up-tempo sequel to Chuck Berry’s recent hit. Following an extended recording absence, he resumed work in 1961, cutting extensively for Chris Strachwitz’s Arhoolie imprint alongside northern California colleagues K.C. Douglas on guitar, harpist Sidney Maiden, and drummer Otis Cherry; selected titles later surfaced on Prestige’s Bluesville subsidiary. Strachwitz’s December 1962 sessions captured the breadth of Walton’s style just before the pianist’s death.