Another great one gone. Details on link #1, clip of him on Youtube at #2.

Repose en paix Cher.

I'm sad to hear it. I never met the man, but I've enjoyed some stories I've heard about him, and I LOVED his accordion playing. RIP Pee-Wee

I met and played with Pee-Wee on 2 occasions; what a character!
His fiddle playing and accordion playing were equally superior!

He had the flexor tendon of the 2nd finger of his right hand cut in a knife fight
years ago. Not only did he have to play the fiddle with only two
fingers but he appeared to be giving everyone the "finger" when
he was playing!

Apparently this was the cause of a lot of bar fights.

The best part of that story is the knife fight was with his brother.

Yeah, that's the way I heard it! They were just "messin' around" when
Pee-Wee tried to grab the knife. The sad thing to me that they didn't
even go to a doctor to get the tendon repaired! (I'm a doctor) so
Pee-Wee had to live with his disability for the rest of his life.
Not that it slowed down Pee Wee very much.

Those guys lived a hard life for sure.