Who Is The Steeler in This Old Photo?

[Tim Heidner]

Somebody on here must know, I'd lay money on it. You guys always come through! Google Lens says it's Little Jimmy Dickens, but I'm not buying it.

[Tim Heidner]

The lady that posted this pic on Facebook says it's a family photo of Clarence White (on Les Paul) and his brothers, but they don't know who the steel player is, and would like to find out.

[Terry Wood]

I'm just guessing but the face and eyes look like a very young Howard white. I know in the fifties and sixties later he was a pedal Steel Guitar player. I'd guess this photo a late 1940s or 1950s picture. This is just a guess. Howard White was on the very early Nashville scene. He was a WWII veteran and from North Carolina. He contacted some kind of poisoning from testing that the U.S. government was doing on military personnel. Anyhow it looks sort of like him. Just a Guess.

[Pete Finney]

No idea who the steel player is, though Roland White is pretty easily recognizable on mandolin. This bit of info from Wiki suggests that the photo is from mid-'50s Southern California, after the brothers moved there from Maine but before they started focusing on bluegrass, later becoming the Kentucky Colonels. Cool seeing a young Clarence with a Les Paul... hope someone can identify the steel player. (The photo can't be any earlier than 1952, since that's when the Les Paul was first manufactured).

from Wikipedia:
In 1954, when Clarence was ten, the White family relocated to Burbank, California and soon after, Clarence joined his brothers Roland and Eric Jr. (who played mandolin and banjo respectively) in a trio called Three Little Country Boys. Although they initially started out playing contemporary country music, the group soon switched to a purely bluegrass repertoire

[Donny Hinson]

Reminds me a little bit of a young Tom Brumley?

[Herb Steiner]

I knew the White brothers in the early 60's and until I moved to TX in 1972.

The photo definitely looks like Roland on mando, clarence on guitar, and Eric on bass. When Roland was in the army 59-62, Leroy McNees played dobro. Leroy is on Facebook and I'll try to contact him. He might know.

[John Sims]

Where's Brett???

[Brett Day]

I'm guessing Howard White

[Tim Heidner]

According to Google, Howard White was 18 years older than Clarence. Which would likely put that steel player in his late 20s or so. I could be wrong, but that guy looks like a teenager to me.

[Herb Steiner]

No news is... no news.

I contacted the younger sister of the White brothers about the steel player, but she allowed as how she was more than a few years younger than Clarence and had no idea who the steel player was, other than he was a SoCal player, most likely. I got no response from Leroy Mack.