Chris LeDoux’s Debut Turns 50

In 1971, as a young cowboy on the professional rodeo circuit, Chris LeDoux discovered another one of his passions and began writing and performing authentic, lived-in songs about his western lifestyle and the American West. With the help of his parents, he launched his own record label, American Cowboy Songs, to release his first album, the aptly titled Songs Of Rodeo Life. Eventually, the world champ’s successful rodeo career, which included a slew of regional awards and a coveted, and long sought-after, Gold Buckle for the World Bareback Title at the 1976 National Finals Rodeo, was overtaken by an even more successful music career as LeDoux traded the thrill of riding broncs for the thrill of life on the road and performing his songs to thousands of adoring fans.

By the end of the 1980s, despite multiple offers to sign to a label, LeDoux had self-released 22 albums with sales of more than a quarter of a million copies. That same year, following a name check by rising country star Garth Brooks, in which he sang, “A worn out tape of Chris LeDoux, lonely women and bad booze/Seem to be the only friends I’ve left at all,” in his first top 10 country hit, “Much Too Young (To Feel This Damn Old),” LeDoux received recognition and a degree of fame well outside the rodeo world. He rode the newfound popularity like one of his prized ponies and signed with Capitol Records subsidiary Liberty and in 1991 released his major label debut, Western Underground. LeDoux would release another 18 albums for the labels, with sales of more than six million around the world, before succumbing to a rare form of cancer in 2005 at just 56 years old.

In celebration of the 50th anniversary of Chris LeDoux’s debut album, Capitol Nashville/UMe and the Chris LeDoux Estate will release a new 13-song collection on July 2 titled Wyoming Cowboy – A Collection, compiling some of his best-known songs with a handful of rarities and other studio and live gems. The compilation, assembled by LeDoux’s longtime friend and guitar player Mark Sissel, will be released digitally for streaming and download as well as on vinyl, marking the first time many of these songs, which were released in the CD era, will be available on vinyl. Two rare tracks – “Oklahoma Hospitality,” self-released in 1978 on a UK-only album and never released in the U.S., and “Album Intro,” from an equally long out-of-print 1975 record, will receive their digital debuts.

“My dad’s catalog of music is timeless and includes so many great records and I love each one of em,” says Ned LeDoux. “This new collection honors the 50th anniversary of when he first started making music and is a nice snapshot of who he was and the subject matter he loved writing about – cowboys, rodeo life, true love and staying positive.”

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