Pee Wee Whitewing

Steel guitarist, born February 11, 1934 in Concer, Oklahoma. Member of Hank Thompson And His Brazos Valley Boys from 1952 to 1955. In 1946, Pee Wee made his professional debut with Tex Randall & the Texans, appearing daily on their KEEN radio broadcast. While sitting in with honky tonk legend Lefty Frizzell, Whitewing befriended Cajun fiddler Abe Manuel, who helped him land a gig with Blackie Crawford & the Western Cherokees in mid-1951. With Crawford, Whitewing backed Frizzell, Ray Price, Tex Ritter, and other country favorites, and the exposure brought him to the attention of Thompson's manager, Billy Gray, who was seeking a steel guitarist to replace the Brazos Valley Boys' military-bound Curly Chalker. Whitewing made his recorded debut on the 1952 Thompson session that yielded songs including "Rub-a-Dub-Dub" and "I'll Sign Your Heart Away." He nevertheless left the Brazos Valley Boys for six months in 1953 before returning to the fold when Thompson announced plans to pursue a more big band-influenced approach. Whitewing spent another two years with the Brazos Valley Boys, appearing on Thompson efforts including "We've Gone Too Far to Turn Back Now," "New Green Light," and "I'd Have Never Found Somebody New" before the group dissolved and the guitarist returned to the San Jose area to raise a family. There he joined with childhood friends Bobby and Larry Black to form the Western swing combo the West Coast All Stars, earning an impressive local following before relocating to his wife Doye's native Lafayette, LA, in 1964. There Whitewing emerged as a sought-after studio musician, appearing on countless sessions produced by the legendary J.D. Miller at his Crowley-area recording facility. He retired from music in 1971 to join his sons Andrus and Andre in the oil business, barely touching his steel guitar over the next two decades. However, throughout the 1990s Whitewing and fellow steel legend Bobby White regularly appeared at steel guitar conventions across the U.S. Among Pee Wee's musical partners over the years are: Hank Thompson and the Brazos Valley Boys, Larry Brasso and the Rhythmairs, The Other Brothers (Glen Merton Thibodeaux, Alton Eugene Thibodeaux, George "Muscles" Belote, Ronnie Rue), Doug Belote, DeMerris Whitewing Abaldo, Johnny Abaldo, Rufus Thibodeaux, Beau Thomas, Gary Kebodeaux, Larry Roberds, Roy Rosetta, Ricky Jones, Mickey Stutes, Valerie Andrus, Lisa Boudreaux, Alfred Gibson, Kira Viator, Hunter Hayes, Marc Broussard, Ted Broussard, Tony Broussard, Bob White, Bobby Black, Chuck Hayes, Blackie Crawford and the Western Cherokees, The West Coast All-Stars, Andrus "Uncle Ambrose" Thibodeaux, Shorty Joe and the Red Rock Canyon Cowboys, Patsy Cline, Ray Price, Lefty Frizzell.