The return of guitar legend Wharton
He likely wouldn’t say it himself, but Dayton Wharton is one of Bermuda’s living legends.
The 70-year-old has played guitar with just about every musician of a certain age on the Island and written songs for many others.
He learned from one of Bermuda’s master guitarists, Norman Astwood.
“I was about 15 or 16 and I liked the sound,” he said. “Of course my dad didn’t want me to play the guitar at all. He likely associated it with guys on the street drinking and strumming along. I think that association of the guitar, and what he thought it related to, was because we were back in the 60s. Things were quite different to what they are now.”
He continued with his lessons despite his father’s misgivings. Composition was one of his strong points.
“I would listen to music and America’s top ten and thought some day I might be a songwriter,” he said.
He wrote “about 20 songs” that were performed publicly and then took a long break.
“I haven’t written anything [and shared it] for about 30 years,” he said. “I didn’t stop writing. Today I’ve got tunes that might make it into the top 100. What it comes down to is if I can get the right singer.”
Veronica Darrell is the voice selected for one of his latest offerings.
She’ll sing Something More in an upcoming play by Dale Butler, The Second Last Supper.
The play runs at St Paul AME March 26-28 at 7pm. A 2.30pm matinee is also scheduled for the final day.
“I knew [Mr Butler] was having another play and asked if I could possibly write something for it. He heard it and he liked it,” Mr Wharton said.
“Even though I liked it then, it’s since evolved into something I really like. After 30 years, I needed to come up with something that was really good because it’s going to be under scrutiny.”
Mr Wharton wrote the words and the music and arranged it as well. “I’ve given each instrument their part to play,” he said.
He took his lead from the play’s subject matter.
“I gather from the play that a lot of the disciples are anxious about Jesus leaving them,” he explained.
“They start to question each other and their allegiance and relationship with him. They question everything.”
Based on that, he wrote the following “hook”:
Falling down to the ground
Need you to lift me up
Hold my hand
I’m in need of something
Hear a sound
Can’t be sure
Where is that open door?
Take me there
Show me something more.
Explained Mr Wharton: “I visualised the disciples talking to Jesus, worried and paranoia setting in.”
• Tickets to The Second Last Supper are available from the church office or Music Box. General admission is $25; patrons tickets are $50.
If you ever visited Hubie’s, Angle Street’s legendary jazz bar, it’s likely you’ve heard Mr Wharton play.
He was the resident guitarist there for several years.
He also played guitar for about a decade with another Bermuda legend, the late Hubert Smith.
“I’ve played with pretty much every band in Bermuda,” he said. “I’ve played all the shows, I’ve played with jazz bands, rock groups, reggae, R & B. I’ve written many tunes for plays at City Hall.”
His first gig was at 20. Mr Wharton performed with Albert Mason and Robert “Little” Simons at Tasty Towers. Their band was called The Dimensions.
Others sought him out. He wrote a song for a play at City Hall, A Medal for Willie. Its American playwright, William Branch, promised that if it ever made it to the big screen, he’d use Mr Wharton’s music.
“It was a play about Vietnam. A guy went and came back home and all he had was a medal. The movie deal never happened.”
Mr Wharton also lent his talent to We are People Too, a musical and theatrical company led by Earl and Carol Ann Furbert.
“It performed for almost a decade and I wrote the theme song and some of the songs that were performed in that production,” he said.
He played his guitar as background to Sullivan Walker’s poetry. The Cosby Show regular performed here at City Hall.
He was also part of a group, Jaz, that went to Washington DC to represent Bermuda at the Smithsonian.
Mr Wharton says he stays in touch with the music of the day by listening to just about everything.
“I’m as current as I can be,” he said. “I’m constantly evolving with the sound of the day. I listen to everybody — any and all players — and that’s how I stay current. By listening to other people.”
There’s rapping in his most recent song.
“I’m getting older. I need to get these things out [of my head]; to put them out there.”
These days he teaches guitar with Government’s Community Education and Development Programme. The next course begins this summer.
