I was born in Dublin, Texas–the home of Dr. Pepper–October 11, 1957 to Lawrence Lee (Sr.) and Patricia Outlaw. My brother, who we call Jr., arrived a little more than 21 months later, and my sister, Carolyn, two years after that. We were dairy farmers and lived just outside a tiny rural community called Lingleville, about 90 miles southwest of Dallas.
My Musical Background
My parents have pictures of me as a toddler strapped in a tall chair in front of the piano, but my musical career didn’t actually begin until the summer of 1961 when I picked out the melody to Downtown (recorded by Petula Clark). Granny (Outlaw) heard what I was doing and, although not an accomplished pianist by any means, knew enough to show me how to add three-fingered chords with my left hand. (Use of the sustain pedal didn’t come until years later because I was too short to sit on the piano bench and reach the pedals!)
I wasn’t able to take formal piano lessons until I was almost eight. At first, I was excited. But it wasn’t long before that initial excitement wore off. You see, my ear for music and embellishing skills were well ahead of my knowledge of music theory and sight reading. And at that age, I had little patience for the discipline required to, in effect, take a giant step backwards musically in order to lay a proper foundation technically. So I balked. Because, instead of being able to play for fun and enjoyment, I was now having to play songs I didn’t like (mostly classical pieces) and in a very musically unappealing style–to me, anyway.
My parents then found themselves caught between a rock and a hard place. They wanted me to continue with the lessons, but not at the expense of my waning enthusiasm for music. After three years of various tactics ranging from threatening to bribery—none of which had the slightest impact on my disdainful attitude—they finally let me quit. Of course, I was thrilled and relieved and went right back to playing the way I did before I ever started those silly lessons. (The result, though, is I have a kind of musical handicap that, at times, hinders me. But more about that later in my story.)
My Spiritual Background
My family were members of the First Baptist Church of Lingleville, a Southern Baptist church. Grandad Outlaw was a deacon, Dad was the pianist, Granny led the music and Mom sang in the choir. I started singing solos when I was about six and, on occasion, sang either lead or alto in a duet—usually with Granny. When I was 10, I became the organist. A couple of years later when the youth choir was started, Jr. and Carolyn joined–thus completing the Outlaw musical entourage. However, shortly thereafter, Dad retired as the pianist and I switched from the organ to the piano—my much preferred instrument.
I was born-again on July 31, 1966, at the age of eight during our annual summer revival services which were held outdoors under the old tabernacle. We always had a big evangelistic thrust in the summer. Why? I’m not sure. 
It may have had something to do with the fact that there was no baptistery in our church at the time. Therefore, when people got saved, the only place to baptize them was in a local farmer’s cow tank (as we called it). So, that’s where I was baptized—right there in front of the cows and God and everybody!
Our church sang the traditional hymns and southern gospel music which, by definition, has a heavy country influence. But I never liked country music much. (Still don’t!) Dad liked to play ragtime, boogie-woogie and songs from the 20’s and 30’s as well as some jazz and 50’s rock-n-roll. I not only played a lot of what he played, I also used to sit for hours with our old record player next to the piano and play along with contemporary stars of the day such as Floyd Cramer, Elvis Presley, Barry Manilow, Elton John, and the Beatles, to name a few.
I became interested in recording when I was about 12 after watching Dad mess around with an old mono reel-to-reel recorder. So, when eight-track (stereo) recorders came out, I ran down to the local Radio Shack and bought one with money I earned working in the dairy.
Besides our old upright acoustic piano, we had an organ with some very primitive rhythm and what was called “walking” bass. I borrowed a reel-to-reel stereo recorder and, together with my eight-track, produced my first “multi-track” recording where I played all the parts: piano, organ with rhythm and bass, and a little electric lead guitar. I did it by “bouncing” the recording from the eight-track to the reel-to-reel each time I played an additional part. By the time my production was finished, there was so much noise on the tape you could barely hear the music. But, it didn’t matter. The seeds were sown and from that point on I was thoroughly hooked on the entire recording/production process.
