So typical of Big Walter Smith: The day after the veteran Twin Cities bluesman, 82, was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer last month, he was on stage performing with his Groove Merchants in Marine-on-St. Croix. "He never missed a gig in 59 years and doesn't intend to start now," reports his wife of 42 years, Shirley Smith.
Sadly, Walter suffered a stroke at the show, and he has since been told that his cancer is terminal, an announcement made on his website. He still hopes to make it to his current calendar of gigs, though, including this weekend's Thunder Bay Blues Fest, an event he helped start (he's also a mainstay of Duluth's Bayfront fest). He likely won't be in any shape to perform, though, so his friend Jimi "Primetime" Smith has agreed to front the Groove Merchants in his place. An all-star Aug. 19 benefit is being organized at Wilebski's Blues Saloon in St. Paul.
Thus winds down a 42-year run that started when Walter relocated to Minneapolis from Kansas City in 1970 for a six-nights-a-week job at Papa Joe's Northern Supper Club. A 14-year-old Prince used to join him on stage at the Cozy Bar, and virtually every blues musician of note in town learned something from him. Shirley said Walter is now learning something about all those musicians.
"They're our extended family," she said. "He was in the hospital for five days and was never alone. They're all coming to see him. We feel so blessed."
