Chris LeDoux 
Major Works
Albums (year/title/label)
- 1999 - 20 Greatest Hits (Capitol/EMI Records)
- 1998 - One Road Man (Capitol/EMI Records)
- 1997 - Live (Liberty)
- 1996 - Stampede (Capitol Nashville Records)
- 1995 - Rodeo Rock and Roll Collection (Capitol Nashville Records)
- 1994 - Best of Chris LeDoux (Liberty)
- 1993 - Under This Old Hat (Capitol Nashville Records)
- 1989 - Powder River (Liberty)
- 1988 - Chris LeDoux & The Saddle Boogie Band (Liberty)
- 1986 - Wild And Wooly (Liberty)
- 1983 - Old Cowboy Classics (Capitol Nashville Records)
- 1982 - Used To Want To Be A Cowboy (Capitol Nashville Records)
- 1981- He Rides The Wild Horses (Liberty)
- 1981 - Old Cowboy Heroes (Liberty)
- 1978 - Paint Me Back Home In Wyoming (Liberty)
- 1975 - Life As A Rodeo Man (Liberty)
- 1973 - Songs Of Rodeo And Country (Liberty)
Songs on Best of Chris LeDoux
- Whatcha Gonna Do With a Cowboy
- County Fair
- For Your Love
- Riding For a Fall
- Under This Old Hat
- Cadillac Ranch
- Workin' Mans Dollar
- Look at You Girl
- Hooked on an 8 Second Ride
- Cadillac Cowboy
- Everytime I roll the Dice
- This Cowboys Hat
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Chris LeDoux: A Biography
By Crystal Hackett (SHS)
Chris Lee LeDoux is a country singer from Biloxi, Mississippi, who currently lives on a ranch in Wyoming. He records for Capital Nashville, and his son Ned is his drummer. He has another son named Clay, who helps out selling merchandise on the road, while others of his family help out on the ranch. He was born October 2, 1948, in Biloxi, Mississippi. He is known as the Real McCoy. His grandfather encouraged LeDoux to ride horses on his Wyoming farm. This was before he became a singer and a world champion rodeo star.
When Chris was 14 years of age, he started playing the guitar and writing his own songs. His songs usually reflected his love for rodeo. When his family moved to Wyoming, LeDoux began to actively pursue a rodeo career. While still in high school in Cheyenne, Chris twice won the State's bareback title. After graduation he won a rodeo scholarship and received a national title in his early works such as "Bareback Jack", "Rodeo Life", and "Hometown Cowboy". Shortly after getting married to Peggy Rhodes in 1972, LeDoux made his first independent recordings in Sheridan, Wyoming, resulting in "Rodeo Songs Old and New" and "Songs of Rodeo and Country" (on cassette). He made his first Nashville recordings after his parents moved from Tennessee, and over the next few years recorded fifteen albums in Nashville for his own American Cowboy label. In those days, Chris supposedly regarded the music as just a sideline to being a cowboy. But he apparently took the music seriously enough to sell 14 million dollars' worth of cassettes, most of them manufactured by his parents in their own home tape duplicating room.
 By 1976, Chris was becoming known as a singer-songwriter of note and his rodeo career was also riding high. He won the Bareback Bronco World Title from the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Associations and also picked up awards in Wyoming and Nevada for his bronze sculptures of a bull rider and bronco rider. LeDoux continued to rodeo until 1984, when accumulated injuries made him hang up his spurs. Once he had his Wyoming Ranch operational, he began working on his musical career. He was booking himself and his Saddle Boogie Band. Finally, his recording career bolted out of the chute when a mention from Garth Brooks, who sang about listening to a worn-out tape of Chris LeDoux in his 1989 hit "Much Too Young (To Feel This Damn Old)" was enough to kick up new interest in this singing cowboy.
In early 1991, Chris was signed to Capitol Records. With his recordings released on Liberty, his first album, Western Underground, co-produced by Jimmy Bowen and Jerry Crutchfield, sold in excess of 100,000 units and included a minor country hit in "This Cowboy's Hat" (1991). A book by David G. Brown has been written about his life.
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Timeline
1948--October 2 born in Biloxi, Mississippi
1967--won a rodeo scholarship, received a national title in third year
1971-- started recording songs about "real cowboys"
1972--made his first independent recordings in Sheridan, Wyoming
1976--became Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association's world champion in bareback riding
1984--quit riding because of injuries
1992-- teamed with Garth Brooks
1993-- co-starred with Suzy Bogguss in a TNN special
1991-- moved to Capitol Records
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Music Review
This Mississippian shows his true Texan style in his songs. They are about his real life and his experiences along the way. Chris LeDoux has a true heart and a great personality. I had the pleasure of being exposed to his music along with his personal life. His music is very uplifting and humorous. Chris LeDoux's lyrics are original and give you a sense of excitement and a short thrill. I would recommend any of his music at a party or just riding around looking for a good time. I truly love his music, and it will become something that I listen to on a weekly basis.
. . . .If they ever saw a sunrise on a mountain morning or watched those cotton candy clouds go by
then they'd know why I live beneath these western skies
I got peace of mind and elbow room
I love to smell the sage in bloom
Or catch a rainbow on my fishin' line
We've got county fairs and rodeos
There ain't a better place for my kids to grow
Just turn 'em loose in the western summer time. . . .
Chris LeDoux Western Skies
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Related Websites
The Unofficial Chris LeDoux Homepage
Brief bio and actual music you can listen to from Billboard.
LeDoux performs at 1998 Grand National Rodeo
Country Stars on the Web highlights LeDoux.
Concerts are a Blast.
Links to the Wonderful World of Chris LeDoux
Chris LeDoux: One Road Man
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Bibliography
Capitol Records. "Chris LeDoux". 28 April 2000. <http://www.capitol-nashville.com/chris.cfm.>
Ratzloff, Janet. "Chris LeDoux." 3/1995. 27 April 2000. <http://www.cowgirls.com/dream/jan/ledoux.htm.
Wiseburn, Deanna. "Chris LeDoux". Ed. Capitol Records. 3/10/98. 30 April 2000. Available at <http://www.geocities.com/Nashville/Opry/2026/ledoux.html.
Dallas Morning News, Dallas, TX June 9, 1996.
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