Leon "Pee Wee" Whittaker was born in Newellton, Louisiana. His early mentors were his mother, Kizzie, and his grandfather, both accomplished musicians. As a child, he joined the family band, learned to read music, and played multiple instruments while mastering the trombone. As a teenager, he joined the Rabbit's Foot Minstrels and toured the Delta alongside legends like Louis Armstrong. After years of touring North America and Europe, he moved back to Louisiana and joined the band at Haney’s Big House. A jazz, blues, rock and roll pioneer, he spent his later years with Delta favorites Hezekiah and The House Rockers. In 2002, he was inducted into the first class of the Delta Music Museum and Hall of Fame in his adopted hometown of Ferriday, Louisiana.