* Chris LeDoux (October 2, 1948 – March 9, 2005) was an American country music singer-songwriter, bronze sculptor, and rodeo champion. During his career LeDoux recorded 36 albums (many self-released) which have sold more than six million units in the United States as of January 2007. He was awarded one gold album certification from the RIAA, and was nominated for a Grammy Award and the Academy of Country Music Music Pioneer Award.In August 2000, LeDoux was diagnosed with primary sclerosing cholangitis, which required him to receive a liver transplant. Garth Brooks volunteered to donate part of his liver, but it was found to be incompatible. An alternative donor was located, and LeDoux received a transplant on October 7, 2000. After his recovery he released two additional albums. In November 2004, LeDoux was diagnosed with cholangiocarcinoma and underwent radiation treatment for it until his death on March 9, 2005 of complications from the ongoing treatment as well as the disease at a Casper, Wyoming hospital. He was survived by his wife of 33 years, Peggy, and their children Clay, Ned, Will, Beau, and Cindy, as well as his mother, Bonnie.
Shortly after his death, LeDoux was named as one of six former rodeo cowboys to be inducted into the ProRodeo Hall of Fame in Colorado Springs in 2005. He was the first person to ever be inducted in two categories, for his bareback riding and in the "notables" category for his contributions to the sport through music.
Shortly thereafter, the Academy of Country Music awarded LeDoux their Pioneer Award during ceremonies in 2005. LeDoux's good friend Garth Brooks accepted the award on behalf of LeDoux's family.In late 2005, Brooks briefly emerged from retirement to record "Good Ride Cowboy" as a tribute to LeDoux. Brooks remarked:
"I knew if I ever recorded any kind of tribute to Chris, it would have to be up-tempo, happy ... a song like him ... not some slow, mournful song. He wasn't like that. Chris was exactly as our heroes are supposed to be. He was a man's man. A good friend."
Garth Brooks performed the song on "The 39th Annual CMA Awards" on November 15, 2005 live from Times Square in New York City. Later that evening, LeDoux was honored with the CMA chairman's Award of Merit, presented by Kix Brooks of Brooks & Dunn, to LeDoux's family.
Friends have also collaborated to produce an annual rodeo, art show, and concert in Casper to honor LeDoux's memory. The art show features sculpture and sketches that LeDoux completed for friends; none of his works were ever exhibited before his death.To mark the second anniversary of LeDoux's death, in April 2007 Capitol Records released a six-CD boxed set featuring remastered versions of 12 of the albums he recorded between 1974 and 1993.
Award-winning artist and sculptor D. Michael Thomas is creating a one-and-a-half times lifesize sculpture of Chris LeDoux during his 1976 World Championship ride on Stormy Weather. The statue, called "Good Ride Cowboy," will be displayed at the Chris LeDoux Memorial Park in his hometown of Kaycee, Wyoming. On October 26, 2006 Chris LeDoux was inducted into the Rodeo Hall of Fame at the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.
Son Beau LeDoux, himself a rodeo competitor, on July 24, 2007, spread his father's ashes over Frontier Park Arena during the annual Cheyenne Frontier Days rodeo:
"It was something my family and I thought would be right to do because this was such a special rodeo to him. ... This has always been a special rodeo in my family. My dad rode here and came close to winning here a couple of times."
Additionally the city in which LeDoux attended college; Casper, Wyoming, celebrates his life and legacy each November with the Chris LeDoux Memorial Rodeo. A weekend event which includes an art show featuring a number of LeDoux's works, a PRCA rodeo and a country music concert.
In 2010, Robert Royston created "One Ride", a musical dance production. One Ride is a powerful music and dance production that tells the story of the Rodeo Cowboy. Inspired by and told through the music of Chris LeDoux, the show explores the passionate, yet humbling and often painful paths a cowboy follows in his quest to become a champion. One Ride will debut at Queen Theater in the Park on October 29 and continue through November 6. The goal is to pay tribute to Chris LeDoux by launching a national tour that will follow the rodeo circuit.
In 2011 country music artist Brantley Gilbert paid tribute to LeDoux in Gilbert's single "Country Must Be Countrywide," with the line "From his Wranglers to his boots – he reminded me of Chris LeDoux. With that Copenhagen smile, Country must be countrywide."
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* Marijohn Wilkin (July 14, 1920 – October 28, 2006), née Melson, was an American songwriter, famous in the country music genre for writing a number of hits. Wilkin won numerous awards over the years and was referred to as "The Den Mother of Music Row," as chronicled in her 1978 biography from Word Books--Lord, Let Me Leave a Song (authored with Darryl E. Hicks), honored as “One of the 100 Most Important Books about Nashville’s Music Industry!”Wilkin was born in Kemp, Texas and raised in Sanger, north of Dallas. She became a teacher, and was widowed when her husband Bedford Russell was killed in World War II. She remarried in 1946, with one son; her 1950 marriage to Art Wilkin, Jr. was her third.
Her father, a baker, had been a fiddle player. From 1955 she toured with Red Foley, and in 1956 her songs were recorded by Mitchell Torok and Wanda Jackson. In 1958 she moved to Nashville, and had major hits, written with John D. Loudermilk, for Stonewall Jackson (the number one country hit "Waterloo", which also made the pop top ten) and Jimmy C. Newman.
Wilkin also wrote "The Long Black Veil" for Lefty Frizzell (with Danny Dill), the classic "Cut Across Shorty" for Eddie Cochran, and "I Just Don't Understand" which became a pop hit for Ann-Margret and was covered by The Beatles. Although she was primarily a country songwriter, her songs have been recorded by several pop and rock acts, including Rod Stewart and Mick Jagger. Wilkin herself also recorded occasionally for Columbia Records and Dot Records in the 1960s and at times worked as a background vocalist. She is billed simply as "Marijohn" on a few of her recordings. On DOT records she also recorded under the name "Romi Spain."
Marijohn Wilkin may be most famous for "One Day at a Time", often considered the biggest gospel song of the 1970s. Wilkin wrote the song in 1973 with some assistance by her former protégé, Kris Kristofferson. The song won a Dove Award from the Gospel Music Association in 1975 (see also: Dove Award for Song of the Year). The song was a top 20 country single for Marilyn Sellars in 1974 and hit #37 on Billboard's Hot 100 pop chart. It also launched a career as a gospel recording artist for Wilkin, who released several albums on Word Records. A remake became a No. 1 country hit for Cristy Lane in 1980 and has since been recorded more than 200 times. Even though written as a very personal worship song, it has also been recognized as "One of the Top 50 Southern Gospel Songs."
Johnny Duncan and Ed Bruce were among the many songwriters she helped get a foothold in the music business. Kris Kristofferson was in the Army with one of her distant cousins, so he sent some of his work to her at Buckhorn, her publishing company. She became the first to publish his songs, notably "For the good times". In 1970 it became a massive pop and country hit for Ray Price, and hundreds have since recorded it. Wilkin is credited for the discovery of Kristofferson and being the first person to give him work as a legitimate songwriter. In fact, it is rumored that he wrote much of his hit "Help Me Make It Through the Night" in the basement of her Nashville home on Shy's Hill Road, later owned by Country legend Dottie West.
Wilkin's son, John "Bucky" Wilkin, became the frontman of the 1960s surf rock group Ronny & the Daytonas, whose 1964 debut single "G.T.O." reached #4 on the Billboard Pop Singles chart.
In 1975, Marijohn was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame.
Wilkin formed a new publishing company, 17th Avenue Music. It became profitable when its songs were recorded by LeAnn Rimes. In 2005, Wilkin was honored by the SOURCE organization as a pioneering Music Row businesswoman. This was her last notable public appearance. She died of heart disease in October 2006. Her last marriage was to the record producer Clarence Selman in 1967.
Wilkin also wrote "The Long Black Veil" for Lefty Frizzell (with Danny Dill), the classic "Cut Across Shorty" for Eddie Cochran, and "I Just Don't Understand" which became a pop hit for Ann-Margret and was covered by The Beatles. Although she was primarily a country songwriter, her songs have been recorded by several pop and rock acts, including Rod Stewart and Mick Jagger. Wilkin herself also recorded occasionally for Columbia Records and Dot Records in the 1960s and at times worked as a background vocalist. She is billed simply as "Marijohn" on a few of her recordings. On DOT records she also recorded under the name "Romi Spain."
Marijohn Wilkin may be most famous for "One Day at a Time", often considered the biggest gospel song of the 1970s. Wilkin wrote the song in 1973 with some assistance by her former protégé, Kris Kristofferson. The song won a Dove Award from the Gospel Music Association in 1975 (see also: Dove Award for Song of the Year). The song was a top 20 country single for Marilyn Sellars in 1974 and hit #37 on Billboard's Hot 100 pop chart. It also launched a career as a gospel recording artist for Wilkin, who released several albums on Word Records. A remake became a No. 1 country hit for Cristy Lane in 1980 and has since been recorded more than 200 times. Even though written as a very personal worship song, it has also been recognized as "One of the Top 50 Southern Gospel Songs."
Johnny Duncan and Ed Bruce were among the many songwriters she helped get a foothold in the music business. Kris Kristofferson was in the Army with one of her distant cousins, so he sent some of his work to her at Buckhorn, her publishing company. She became the first to publish his songs, notably "For the good times". In 1970 it became a massive pop and country hit for Ray Price, and hundreds have since recorded it. Wilkin is credited for the discovery of Kristofferson and being the first person to give him work as a legitimate songwriter. In fact, it is rumored that he wrote much of his hit "Help Me Make It Through the Night" in the basement of her Nashville home on Shy's Hill Road, later owned by Country legend Dottie West.Wilkin's son, John "Bucky" Wilkin, became the frontman of the 1960s surf rock group Ronny & the Daytonas, whose 1964 debut single "G.T.O." reached #4 on the Billboard Pop Singles chart.
In 1975, Marijohn was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame.
Wilkin formed a new publishing company, 17th Avenue Music. It became profitable when its songs were recorded by LeAnn Rimes. In 2005, Wilkin was honored by the SOURCE organization as a pioneering Music Row businesswoman. This was her last notable public appearance. She died of heart disease in October 2006. Her last marriage was to the record producer Clarence Selman in 1967.
| Title | Artist | Year | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Long Black Veil (1974) | Anne Kirkpatrick | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Long Black Veil (1960) | Carl Mann | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Long Black Veil (1975) | Chris Ledoux | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Long Black Veil | Joan Baez | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Long Black Veil | Marianne Faithfull | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Marijohn Wilkin | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Long Black Veil | Marsha Hunt | Woman Child | 1987 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Long Black Veil (1994) | Sélune | 1994 |
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