Draft:Robert Lee Black

Robert Lee Black (born 1934) is an American pedal steel guitarist. He played with Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen(1971 to 1974), New Riders of the Purple Sage, Asleep at the Wheel, and Barbara Mandrell.

Early life
Black was born in Prescott, Arizona in 1934. His brother Larry was born two years later. The family moved to Tucson, Arizona, to Burbank, California in 1942, and then to San Mateo, California in 1947. In 1948 he was given a Rickenbacker steel guitar for his fourteenth birthday. He wrote to steel guitar player Jerry Byrd at the Grand Ole Opry; Byrd wrote back and told Black the tuning he used. In 1950 he and his brother joined a band called The Double H Boys.

Career
After playing with the Double H Boys, Black played with the Red Rock Canyon Boys and then moved to Beaumont, Texas with Blackie Crawford and his Western Cherokees. In Beaumont he played on recordings on the new Starday Records label, including early George Jones recordings. . Black moved back to San Mateo, married his high-school girlfriend, took a job at Pacific Bell, and played in several bands with his brother Larry. By 1960 he was divorced and making two-track recordings with Larry, which they pitched to record labels in Los Angeles. Their father helped them start a recording studio in the mid-1960s and they formed The Black Brothers band. They became the house band at a club called Cowtown, where Bobby met Bill Kirchen of Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen in 1970 at an amateur night show, later joining the band in 1971. Black left the band in 1974 and moved to Nashville, Tennesee.