Willmer "Little Ax" Broadnax

Willmer M. Broadnax (December 28, 1916 – June 1, 1992), also known as "Wilbur", "Willie", and "Wilmer", was an American hard gospel quartet singer during the golden age of traditional black gospel. His most common nickname was "Little Axe," due to both his small stature and his brother William "Big Axe" Broadnax, who was a popular baritone.

Early life
Broadnax was born in Houston, Texas in 1916, to William Broadnax and Gussie Frazier. By 1930 he lived with his step-father Augustus Flowers, mother Gussie Frazier, younger brother William Broadnax, and younger step-sister Armatha Broadnax (presumably carrying her step-father's surname because she was born before her parents' marriage) in Houston.  Broadnax was born female; a fact which was only discovered upon his death and leads to confusion surrounding his early life. 

Although Willmer was the oldest of the three Broadnax children, most sources state that Wilmer was the younger of the two brothers  . As Armatha Broadnax is unmentioned after the 1930 census, it is possible that she took on Wilmer's name after his death and truly was William's younger sibling. This would mean that Willmer Broadnax as known today was born in 1922 in Louisiana to Augustus Flowers and Gussie Frazier.  It is also possible that Willmer was in fact the older brother and had already started using male pronouns by age thirteen, and that later he was mistaken as the younger brother because of his high voice and short stature.

Career
Broadnax began his career as a gospel singer during his teenage years with his brother William as a member of the St. Paul Gospel Singers in Houston in the 1930s.  The two brothers moved to Los Angeles and joined Southern Gospel Singers, of which Wilmer was a member of from 1939-1940; the group only performed on weekends and did not tour. 

The brothers eventually broke off to form their own quartet, Little Axe and the Golden Echoes. Although William eventually left for Atlanta, where he joined the Five Trumpets, Willmer stayed on as lead singer throughout the 1940s. In 1949 the group, augmented by future member of The Soul Stirrers Paul Foster (singer), recorded a single of "When the Saints Go Marching In" for Specialty Records. Label chief Art Rupe decided to drop them before they could record a follow-up, and shortly thereafter the Golden Echoes disbanded. 

Pianist Willie Love said during this period that, "Little Axe couldn’t sing low, because he had a relatively high voice. It wasn’t falsetto, it was naturally high. So somebody had to sing the bottom."  His point is clear in the recordings of the Golden Echoes, where Paul Foster's rich baritone and Broadnax's clear tenor riff off each other to create the illusion of a multi-octave lead singer. As music critic Ray Funk points out, "Little Axe’s lead is absolutely distinctive on these cuts. He is the high lead that takes over from the baritone of Paul Foster. His voice is sweet but almost vicious, dripping with emotion, while Foster, in contrast, would offer almost a growl." 

In 1950, Broadnax joined the Spirit of Memphis Quartet. Along with Broadnax, the group featured two other leads – Jethro "Jet" Bledsoe, a bluesy crooner, and Silas Steele, an overpowering baritone. The Spirit of Memphis Quartet recorded for King Records, and Broadnax appeared on their releases at least until 1952. Shortly after that, Broadnax moved on, working with The Fairfield Four, and in the early 1960s as one of the replacements for Archie Brownlee in the Five Blind Boys of Mississippi. Until 1965 Wilmer headed a quartet called "Little Axe and the Golden Echoes," which released some singles on Peacock Records. By then, quartet singing was fading in commercial viability, and Broadnax retired from touring. 

In retirement, Broadnax continued to record new material occasionally with the Blind Boys into the 1970s and 1980s.

Later years and death
Broadnax was killed in 1992 by his lover Lavina Richardson (age 42 at the time), who was later found guilty of involuntary manslaughter on February 4, 1993. Leading up to the stabbing, Broadnax had allegedly been jealous of Richardson. Broadnax saw Richardson in a vehicle with another man, bumped his car into theirs, and dragged Richardson out. He then threatened her with a knife before he was disarmed by a bystander, whereupon Richardson picked up his knife and stabbed him three times. Broadnax died from his injuries several days later on June 1, 1992. 

Upon Broadnax's death in 1992, it was discovered that Broadnax was a trans man.  This created a stir in the gospel community, with many prominent singers at the time insisting that they had suspected all along that his gender assigned at birth was female, including JoJo Wallace of the Sensational Nightingales who said, "I always wondered about Axe." However, this is likely all bravado and it is most likely that only his brother William "Big Axe" Broadnax and other close family members knew about his gender identity. 

The intersection of Broadnax's gender and race created some issues for him on tour as public bathroom were segregated. It was not uncommon for many gospel singers to be unable to use public restrooms where they performed. Broadnax was forced to keep his gender identity a secret by using the restroom alone, which also provoked from retrospective suspicion by Claude Jeter who said, "Ax’d always go off by himself."

Legacy

On June 25, 2019, The New York Times Magazine listed Little Axe and the Golden Echoes among hundreds of artists whose material was reportedly destroyed in the 2008 Universal fire.

Discography

Little Axe and the Golden Echoes
The Lord Is My Sunshine / Remember Me, Peacock Records, 1963
My Mind On Jesus / Jesus Loves Me, Peacock Records, 1963
My Life Is In His Hands / So Soon, Peacock Records, 1964
Lord Have Mercy / Swing Down Chariot, Peacock Records, 1965
Old Time Religion, Specialty Records / Ace Records (United States), 1992 
American Pop / Gospel's Golden Age, Volume 3 (1945 - 1959), Collector Records, 2012

The Spirit of Memphis Quartet
Make More Room For Jesus / Calvary, King Records, 1950
How Far Am I From Canaan / I'll Never Forget, King Records, 1950
On The Battlefield / Jesus, Jesus, King Records, 1950	
Days Past And Gone/Blessed Are The Dead, King Records, 1950		
Tell Heaven I'm Coming / Ten Commandments, King Records, 1951		
Sign Of The Judgement / Every Time I Feel The Spirit, King Records, 1951	
The World Prayer / Every Day And Every Hour, King Records, 1951	
Lord Jesus Part 1 / Lord Jesus Part 2, King Records, 1952

The Fairfield Four
 Come Over Here/Who Is That Knocking, Dot Records, 1953
 His Eye Is on the Sparrow/Every Day, Dot Records, 1953
 How I Got Over/This Evening Our Father, Dot Records, 1953
 Stand by Me/Hear Me When I Pray, Dot Records, 1953
 When The Battle Is Over/Standing on the Rock, Dot Records, 1953
 Somebody Touched Me/Mother Don't Worry, Dot Records, 1953

The Five Blind Boys of Mississippi
Precious Memories, Peacock Records, 1960
I Call On Jesus / Time To Think About The Lord, Peacock Records, 1960
I Never Heard A Man, Peacock Records, 1960
Sending Up My Timber, Peacock Records, 1961	
Can't Serve The Lord / Constantly Abiding, Peacock Records, 1961	
Five Blind Boys* / Spirit Of Memphis - Negro Spirituals, Peacock Records, 1961		
Father I Stretched My Hands To Thee / Lord Remember Me, Peacock Records, 1962	
I Got It Within Me / The Tide Of Life, Peacock Records, 1962	
You Done What The Doctor Couldn't Do / Speak For Jesus, Peacock Records, 1963	
Just A Little While / Servant's Prayer, Peacock Records, 1963	
Something To Shout About / Leaning On Jesus, Peacock Records, 1964
Father I Stretch My Hand to Thee, Peacock Records, 1964
Lift The Savior Up / In The Hands Of The Lord, Peacock Records, 1965	
My Soul Is A Witness / Love Lifted Me, Peacock Records, 1970		
Oh Well, What Can You Do / I Have But One Desire, Peacock Records, 1974

Compilations
So Many Years, Jubilee Records, 1989

References

Category:1916 births
Category:1992 deaths
Category:American gospel singers
Category:American tenors
Category:LGBT African Americans
Category:LGBT musicians from the United States
Category:LGBT singers
Category:LGBT people from Texas
Category:Transgender and transsexual men
Category:Transgender and transsexual musicians
Category:Place of death missing
Category:20th-century American singers
Category:20th-century male singers