SOUNDS OF THE WESTERN COUNTRY
(ACS ACS-11001)
1980
Produced by Al LeDoux
1.
(I DON'T WANT TO BE A) COUNTRY STAR
(Chris Ledoux)
« © '80 Lehsem Songs, BMI »
She opened up the letter from Nashville Tennessee
He said hon they like my music the songs I wrote for you and me
The boys and me just cut a record and it could hit the charts before too long
So it's gonna be a while till I can come back home
Yes I'm gonna be a country star and everyone will know my name
Oh you know I love those bright lights when I step on stage to sing
I'll be travlin' round the country with a big bus and a band
So just keep the homefires burnin' while I'm gone
And I'll get home when I can
She said hon I hear your record oh they play it everyday
And everybody really likes it so I guess your on your way
But darling please remember we all need you here at home
And the kids all miss their daddy so don't be gone too long
Yes I know that your a country star and everybody knows your name
And I know you love those bright lights when you step on stage to sing
Just remember we all love you and don't get blinded by the light
We'll just keep the homefires burnin' while you're gone
You know we pray for you each night
After six long months of goin' I guess the road just finally took its toll
Cause his songs has lost all meaning and he felt so all alone
Then one night in Jackson he went out on stage to play
And the crowd stared at disbelief at the words he had to say
I don't want to be a country star it ain't the way I thought it'd be
Well it took me such a long time to know that it ain't the life for me
Cause the days can get so lonely and the nights can get so long
Lord I think it's about time this country star went home
Yes I think that it's about time this country boy went home
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2.
COWBOY IS A HELL OF A MAN
(Bob Witte)
« © '76 Lehsem Songs, BMI »
He was a runaway rodeo was his dream
He was ridin' bulls and a bittin' the dust by the time he was seventeen
Sixteen cowboys in an eight dollar room livin' on baloney and beans
Makin' a play for all the buckle freaks in the pretty little tight blue jeans
A cowboy is one hell of a man when he gets bucked off he gets on again
A cowboy is a special breed you leave his hat alone and you leave his women be
From Canada to Houston I guess he tried them all
And it never failed in every bar some redneck started a brawl
But the time and the booze and the broken bones finally put him out to graze
But I'll tell you now he wouldn't change a thing if he could start again today
A cowboy is one hell of a man...
You leave his hat alone and you leave his women be
**********
3.
PAINT ME BACK HOME IN WYOMING
(Jake Brooks - Dolly Allen)
« © '78 Lehsem Songs, BMI »
She was painting a picture of slum life when the cowboy came limping by
Wearing tattered old boots with one sole gone and a far away look in his eye
Well he watched for a while as she painted and then he said mama you surely paint well
Yes you got all this on your canvas the dirt the squalor and the hell
Well she asked to paint him in the setting ah but he shook his head slowly and low
He said naw I wont fit your picture unless you can paint be back home
Can you paint me back home in Wyoming riding free neath the big sky above
Free as the wind on the prairie out in the hills that I love
I long to get back to Wyoming and I've hoped all these years that I can
Please paint me back home on your canvas paint me back in Wyoming again
Well I never claimed this festered city
You know I was raised on a ranch out in the west
I spent my young years bustin' horses and boy they said I could ride with the best
So I came here to Madison Square Garden to ride in the big rodeo
Ah but I got stepped on and all crippled up and chute bronc bustin' is all I know
Ah boy if I could just get back to Wyoming I wouldn't feel so alone
Ah but the pain is too much for the roamin' so please can you paint me back home
Can you paint me back home in Wyoming...
**********
4.
LITTLEST COWBOY RIDES AGAIN
(Chris Ledoux)
« © '76 Lehsem Songs, BMI »
He's got a broomstick horse called Dynamite his very favorite friend
An old steed about four hands high that runs just like the wind
There's not an outlaw in the badlands that he can't apprehend
Whoopie ti yo the littlest cowboy rides again
When the other kids are lost in space in plastic rocket ships
Well he's meetin' bad guys face to face with a big iron on his hip
Fear's a word he's heard but it don't mean a thing to him
Whoopie ti yo the littlest cowboy rides again
Whoopie ti yo (whoopie ti yo) whoopie ti yo (whoopie ti yo)
Whoopie ti yo the littlest cowboy rides again
There's a cook named mom back at the ranch she just don't understand
That cowboys always wear their hat in the house and they never wash their hands
They eat beef and beans not squash and greens and don't need tuckin' in
Whoopie ti yo the littlest cowboy rides again
He's got a hat and a badge and a chaw in his jaw and licorice on his chin
He's kind to ladies and cats and dogs but he's hard on wanted men
He aint the truck drivin' drug store rhinestone kind cause they're just all pretend
Whoopie ti yo the littlest cowboy rides again
Whoopie ti yo (whoopie ti yo)...
**********
5.
BARS SHOULDN'T HAVE MIRRORS
(Tony Bessire)
« © '78 Lehsem Songs, BMI »
Boots and a buckle jukebox and a bottle
Old rodeo cowboy its part of the draw
He dreams of tomorrow winnin' the next show
Till he looks in the mirror that hangs on the wall
There's a weathered old face like leather its aged
With scars you can trace that run down to his soul
The mirror can't hide what the drinks will disguise
There's a rodeo cowboy that's gettin' too old
Bars shouldn't have mirrors who wants to see the real thing
Bars shouldn't have mirrors is that cowboy I'm lookin' at there really me
But he'll tell all his stories live over past glories
Will the whisky will make him a winner again
But every drink that is raised he'll see his face
Cause the bottles just a mirror he holds in his hand
Bars shouldn't have mirrors...
**********
6.
GRANGE HALL DANCE
(Chris Ledoux)
« © '77 Lehsem Songs, BMI »
Have you ever been down to a country dance
And listend to the music of a hillbilly band
And danced with your darlin' all through the night
And don't go home til the morning light
Well if you ain't you don't know what your missing
Laughter and dancin' a huggin' and a kissin'
Everybody there's just havin' a ball
A dancin' all night at the old Grange Hall
The people they come from miles around
The ranchers farmers folks from town
There's bald headed men and old fat women
Kids in their teens and little bitty children
So put on your boots and stomp on the floor
And have more fun than ever before
Man we're really havin' a ball
A dancin' all night at the old Grange Hall
Well, the sun's comin' up and it's time to go home
The band they're playin' that final song
Everyone's leavin' and sayin' good night
But you're lookin' forward to next Saturday night
So put on your boots...
**********
7.
YELLOW STUD
(Chris Ledoux)
« © '77 Lehsem Songs, BMI »
Somewhere on the prairie a yellow stud runs free
Runnin' through the sage brush down through the coolies
And there not far behind him a cowboy rides along
He's gonna try to catch him and break him for his own
The chase goes on all morning and late into the day
The cowboy changes horses he staked along the way
The studd is growin' weaker now and gettin' short of wind
He runs into the trap corral the cowboy shuts him in
The yellow stud with wild eye the feared hated man
Finally standin' face to face in the hot dusty sand
The battle starts and rages on eneath the burning sun
The cowboy tried but couldn't ride the yellow outlaw stud
He sold him to a rodeo and it spread throughout the land
The legend of this yellow stud the baddest of the bad
And then one day in Cheyenne we knew it had to come
The best of all bronc riders he drew that yellow stud
The wooden gate flew open and the stud had bailed out high
An explosion of yellow horse seemed to fill the sky
The sud kept getting stronger and thrashing up the earth
The cowboy blew a stirrup and crashed into the dirt
So violently the stud had bucked that he slipped and fell
As he went back his backbone snapped the yellow stud lay still
As the cowboys gathered round him I heard one of 'em say
There'll never be another bronc like the one that died today
But out there on the praire there's a mare with mustang blood
And a colt runs close behind her a yellow outlaw stud
**********
8.
AMARILLO BY MORNING
(Terry Stafford - Paul Fraser)
« © '73 Cotillion Music, BMI / Terry Stafford Music, BMI »
Amarillo by morning up from San Antone
Everything that I got is just what I've got on
Oh when the sun is high in the Texas sky I'll be buckin' in the country fair
Amarillo my morning Amarillo I'll be there
Turned my saddle in Houston broke my leg in Santa Fe
I lost my wife and a girl friend somewhere along the way
But I'll be looking for aid when they pull that gate and I hope the judge ain't blind
Amarillo by morning Amarillo on my mind
Amarillo by morning up from San Antone
Everything that I got is just what I've got on
I ain't got a dime and what I got is mine I ain't rich but Lord I'm free
Amarillo by morning Amarillo's where I'll be
**********
9.
OUR FIRST YEAR
(Chris Ledoux)
« © '77 Lehsem Songs, BMI »
The winter wind was blowin' when we loaded that old truck
With a few things that we had and all our dreams
With my new bride there beside me we headed down the road
I would show her places and things she'd never seen
First we went to Denver Fort Worth then San Antone
She cheered me on at every rodeo
But Houston finally ended and then San Angelo
I didn't want to tell her but she knew that we were broke
But she never complained when the winnin's didn't come
She just took it all in stride
And if I rode good or bit the dust she was just as proud
She was happy bein' by my side
Then in California the baby started showin'
And all her clothes were gettin' way too small
We couldn't spare the money to buy her any new ones
She just wore my shirt and jeans and didn't mind at all
And early in the mornin' we'd wake up by the roadside
I'd build a fire and she'd get out the eggs
She'd cook us up some breakfast then we'd sit down there on the grass
Lord those were the best meals I guess I ever ate
But she never complained...
Well now those days are over and somehow we got ahead
That little gal I married's still here with me
We finally got the house we planned down there beside the stream
And all those old hard times are just cherished memories
But she never complained...
**********
10.
RAISED BY THE RAILROAD LINE
(Paul Craft)
« © '78 Ensign Music, BMI »
The clickety sound of the southbound freight
And the high-speed hum of a passenger train
Becomes a part of the soul and a heart and the mind
Of a boy who's raised by the railroad line
The sound of a whistle at the crossin' road
And the tanks and the trucks and the tractors on the flatcar load
Becomes a part of the soul and a heart and the mind
Of a boy who's raised by the railroad line
And the big round penny that you lay on the rails and the wheels mash flat
And a glimpse of the faces of the ladies
And the picture of the men in the engineer's hat
And the brakeman waves from the red caboose
He's a part of the past never quite turns loose
It's a part of the soul and a heart and the mind
Of a boy who's raised by the railroad line
The clickety sound of the southbound freight
And the high-speed hum of a passenger train
Becomes a part of the soul and a heart and the mind
Of a boy who's raised by the railroad line
And the big round penny...
**********
11.
LEAN MEAN AND HUNGRY
(Chris Ledoux)
« © '78 Lehsem Songs, BMI »
Well I'm lean mean and hungry rude crude and dirty
The most folks that see me goin' down the road
I'm a bum and I'm lazy some think I'm crazy
But I'm just a cowboy tryin' to take that money home
Well I've been rodeoin' goin' and a blowin'
Up and down this highway searchin' for a dream
Someday I'll settle down right now I'm rambin' round
Cause I'm just a cowboy and that's all I wanna be
I ride for my wages to put food on the table
I gotta feed my family waitin' there at home
Oh you know I hate to leave 'em but Lord I need my freedom
But you know it won't be long till I'm comin' home
I ride for my wages...
**********
12.
NIGHT RIDER'S LAMENT
(Michael Burton)
« © '75 Groper Music, BMI »
While I was out a ridin' the grave yard shift midnight till dawn
The moon was bright as a readin' light for a letter from an old friend back home
And he asked me why do you ride for your money and why do you rope for short pay
You ain't a gettin' nowhere and you're losin' your share
Boy you must have gone crazy out there
He said last night he runnin' to Jenny she's married and has a good life
And boy you sure missed the track when you never come back
She's the perfect professional's wife
And she asked him why does he ride for his money
And tell me why does he rope for short pay
He ain't a gettin' nowhere and he's losin' his share
Well he must've gone crazy out there
Ah but they've never seen the Northern Lights
They ain't never seen a hawk on the wing
They've never spent spring on the Great Divide
And they've never heard ole camp cookie sing
Well I read up the last of my letter and tore off the stamp for black Jim
And when Billy rode up to relieve me he just looked at my letter and grinned
He said you know I wonder why do they ride for their money
Tell me why do they ride for short pay
They ain't a gettin' nowhere and they're loosin' their share
Son, they all must be crazy out there
They ain't never seen the Northern Lights
They ain't never seen a hawk on the wing
They've never spent spring on the Great Divide
And they've never heard ole camp cookie sing
**********