Before the rodeo fame. Before the cowboy anthem crowds. There was one summer afternoon in 1971 that only the LeDoux family remembers.
Chris was just 19 then, a young bareback rider who scribbled lyrics in his notebook during long drives. Returning home to Wyoming, he handed his dad a crumpled page and said, “Dad, I think I wanna record this.”
The Garage Session
His father’s garage – normally a spot for fixing trucks – became a makeshift studio. With a homemade mic, a dusty cassette recorder, and the hum of a box fan in the background, Chris recorded his very first song: “Bareback Jack.” It was never officially released. But to the LeDoux family, it marked the true birth of a cowboy’s voice.
The Quiet Father
Chris’s father, Alfred, didn’t say much. But he kept that cassette safe for over three decades. Every time Chris was on the road, Alfred would sit on the porch, play the tape, and close his eyes. It was how he stayed close to the son who had chased the horizon.
The Tape Returns
In 2005 – a year after Chris passed – his son Ned found the old cassette in a cedar box. They played it, and the room fell silent: a young man’s voice, the buzz of a fan, the faint stomp of boots – and the first heartbeat of a legend.