American Western swing steel guitarist and trombonist who was the first musician to record an electrically amplified instrument, which he did with Milton Brown and His Musical Brownies in 1935.
He started his music career in the 1930s when he was influenced by Hawaiian lap steel guitar player Sol Hoopi.
He was inducted into the Steel Guitar Hall of Fame in 1992.
His family comes from Beggs, Oklahoma.
Like him, John McPhee also played the steel guitar.