The Enduring Legacy of The Oak Ridge Boys: A Journey of Harmony, Hits, and Heart
The Oak Ridge Boys possess one of the most distinctive and recognizable sounds in the music industry. Their signature four-part harmonies and upbeat songs have not only spawned dozens of Country hits and two Pop smashes but have also earned them prestigious Grammy, Dove, CMA, and ACM awards, alongside a host of other industry and fan accolades. Every time they step onto a stage, the Oaks bring four decades of charted singles and over 50 years of tradition to a stage show widely acknowledged as among the most exciting anywhere. And remarkably, each member remains as enthusiastic about the process as they have ever been.
“When I go on stage, I get the same feeling I had the first time I sang with The Oak Ridge Boys,” says lead singer Duane Allen. “This is the only job I’ve ever wanted to have.” Bass singer extraordinaire, Richard Sterban, echoes this sentiment: “Like everyone else in the group, I was a fan of the Oaks before I became a member. I’m still a fan of the group today. Being in The Oak Ridge Boys is the fulfillment of a lifelong dream.”
These two, along with the late tenor Joe Bonsall and baritone William Lee Golden, comprised one of Country music’s truly legendary acts. Their string of hits includes the Country-Pop chartbuster “Elvira,” as well as “Bobbie Sue,” “Dream On,” “Thank God For Kids,” “American Made,” “I Guess It Never Hurts To Hurt Sometimes,” “Fancy Free,” “Gonna Take A Lot Of River,” and many others. Their impressive discography boasts 12 gold, three platinum, and one double-platinum album, plus one double-platinum single. They’ve also notched over a dozen national Number One singles and more than 30 Top Ten hits.
Gospel Roots and a Country Breakthrough
The Oaks represent a tradition that stretches back to World War II. The original group, then known as the Oak Ridge Quartet, began performing Country and Gospel music in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, in the fall of 1945, making regular appearances on the Grand Ole Opry. By the mid-fifties, they were featured in Time magazine as one of the nation’s top-drawing Gospel groups.
By the late 1960s, after more than 30 personnel changes, the lineup included Duane Allen, William Lee Golden, Noel Fox, and Willie Wynn. Among their acquaintances in the Gospel circuit were Joe Bonsall, a streetwise Philadelphia kid who had embraced Gospel music, and Richard Sterban, who was singing in quartets and working as a men’s clothing salesman. Both deeply admired the distinctive style of the popular Oaks.
“They were the most innovative quartet in Gospel music,” remembers Bonsall. “They performed Gospel with a Rock approach, had a full band, wore bell-bottom pants and grew their hair long… things unheard of at the time.”
Bonsall and Sterban eventually got the calls to join the group in 1973 and 1972, respectively, with Sterban notably leaving a tour with Elvis Presley to do so. For a while, the group remained at the pinnacle of the Gospel music circuit, refining the strengths that would soon make them an across-the-board attraction.
“We did a lot of package shows,” says Bonsall. “There was an incredible amount of competition. You had to blow people away to sell records and get invited back.”
The Oaks’ Gospel sound had a distinct Pop edge, which, while exciting and appealing to crowds, also ruffled purist feathers and left promoters unsure about the group’s direction. Then, in 1975, they were asked to open several dates for Roy Clark. Clark’s manager, Jim Halsey, was profoundly impressed.
“He came backstage and told us we were three-and-a-half minutes (meaning one hit record) away from being a major act,” Bonsall recalls. “He said we had one of the most dynamic stage shows he’d ever seen but that we had to start singing Country songs.” They took his advice, and the result was a monumental breakthrough.
“Those who came to Country music with or after the New Traditionalists of the mid-eighties cannot possibly imagine the impact the Oaks had in 1977, when they lit up the sky from horizon to horizon with ‘Y’All Come Back Saloon,'” wrote Billboard’s Ed Morris. He added, “…the vocal intensity the group brought to it instantly enriched and enlivened the perilously staid Country format. These guys were exciting.”
Branching Out and Making History
The Oak Ridge Boys’ career has spanned not only decades but also various musical formats. In 1977, Paul Simon enlisted the Oaks to sing backup for his hit “Slip Slidin’ Away.” They went on to record with a diverse array of artists including George Jones, Brenda Lee, Johnny Cash, Roy Rogers, Billy Ray Cyrus, Bill Monroe, Ray Charles, and even Shooter Jennings, son of their old friends Waylon Jennings and Jessi Colter.
They produced one of the first Country music videos, and their song “Easy,” though not released in the U.S., reached Number Three in Australia in 1977. They also participated in the first American popular music headline tour in the USSR, showcasing their global appeal.
The Oak Ridge Boys have performed for five U.S. Presidents and have become one of the most enduringly successful touring groups anywhere, still maintaining a string of dates each year at major theaters, fairs, and festivals across the U.S. and Canada. Their continued touring success is attributed to their consistently upbeat musical approach and keen business savvy.
“We always look for songs that have lasting value and that are uplifting,” says Allen, who co-produced many of the Oaks’ studio albums. “You don’t hear us singing ‘cheating’ or ‘drinking’ songs, but ‘loving’ songs, because we think that will last. We also don’t put music in categories, except for ‘good’ or ‘bad.’ When we get through with it, it’s probably going to sound like an Oak Ridge Boys song no matter what it is.”
They proved their business acumen in numerous ways, including famously declining to simply sit on the couch during their many appearances on the Tonight Show. “We said, ‘If you‘re going to give us four minutes on the couch with Johnny, we’d rather have four minutes to give you another song that lets people know what got us here,’” says Allen. “We didn’t get here talking; we got here singing.”
The group has also been tireless advocates for charitable and civic causes, serving as spokesmen and/or board members for fundraisers for organizations like the Boy Scouts of America, Prevent Child Abuse America (formerly the National Committee for Prevention of Child Abuse), Feed The Children, and the National Anthem Project, among many others.
The group’s first personnel change since their widespread success occurred in 1987 when Steve Sanders replaced William Lee Golden as the baritone singer. However, in a celebrated moment, William Lee Golden returned to the group exactly one minute after midnight on New Year’s Eve of 1995, surprising a packed house at the Holiday Star Theatre. The hitmakers were finally back together!
The Oaks’ high-energy stage show remains the heart and soul of what they do, and they continually refine it, striving to keep it fresh. “We’re not willing to rest on our laurels,” Golden says. “That gets boring. As a group, we do things constantly to challenge ourselves, to try to do something different or better than the last time we did it.”
“We’ve experienced a lot of longevity,” adds Sterban. “I think the reason is the love we have for what we do—the desire, the longing to actually get up there and do it. We love to sing together… to harmonize together. It’s what our lives are all about.”
“Back” to the Future and Enduring Collaboration
In 2009, the group recorded the CD, The Boys Are Back, with 34-year-old Pop-Rock producer Dave Cobb. Cobb encouraged them to stretch musically, notably suggesting a cover of The White Stripes’ “Seven Nation Army.” “‘Seven Nation Army’ was Dave’s first idea out of the chute. He said he envisioned us singing where The White Stripes and Jack White do the instrumental parts. It turned out incredibly well,” Bonsall says. “The project is diverse and includes an old spiritual from the Smithsonian archives, ‘God’s Gonna Ease Your Troublin’ Mind,’ as well as a new Jamey Johnson-penned, soon-to-be-classic called ‘Mama’s Table.’”
The Oaks’ new music garnered attention from younger audiences while reassuring dedicated fans of their favorite group’s continuous evolution. “When we throw those songs at the audience, it’s fun to watch their reaction. The cool thing is they’re loving it,” Bonsall observed. “We did ‘Seven Nation Army’ in Minnesota a few weeks ago and got a standing ovation. The younger kids in the audience were freaking out.”
Duane Allen, who served as Executive Producer for the project, added, “We went to California to get a Rock and Roll producer who brought us back home to the very roots of our music, which is Gospel mixed with Country, Blues, and Rock and Roll.” Golden described the project as a “musical journey,” with Sterban agreeing: “I think David took us down some roads we might not have traveled on our own. The music may be different, but he did not try to change us, he challenged us.”
Many have drawn parallels between the Oaks’ path and that of Johnny Cash with producer Rick Rubin. The Oak Ridge Boys find this analogy fitting, almost sentimental, given Cash was one of their earliest supporters and a longtime friend. “Back when we were struggling in the early 1970’s, Johnny Cash encouraged us,” Bonsall recalled. “He booked us on his show in Las Vegas, and he paid us too much money. But his belief in us was the most important thing. He sat us down and told us, ‘Boys, you think it’s rough right now, but there’s magic in the four of you. I can feel that magic. I know there is magic there. Don’t break up.’” And the rest, as they say, is history.
In 2011, Cracker Barrel Old Country Store approached The Oak Ridge Boys to record an album blending previously recorded and brand-new songs. The result was It’s Only Natural, a twelve-track CD featuring seven rerecorded hits, including their multi-platinum, Country-Pop hit “Elvira,” and five new songs. The album debuted on September 19, a month after the Oaks’ induction into the Grand Ole Opry.
In early 2014—forty-one years after Duane, Joe, Richard, and William Lee first stepped onstage together as a group—they celebrated 41 million RIAA-certified records sold by signing a new record deal with Los Angeles-based Cleopatra Records. Their first release from Cleopatra, Boys Night Out, is a 14-song live project, released April 15, 2014. It marks the first live country hits recording ever to be released by The Oak Ridge Boys, as they continue to make history.
That rich history is now forever enshrined in the hallowed halls of the Country Music Hall of Fame in Nashville, Tennessee, where The Oak Ridge Boys—Duane Allen, Joe Bonsall, William Lee Golden, and Richard Sterban—were officially inducted on October 25, 2015. Their journey is a testament to perseverance, evolving artistry, and the enduring power of their unique sound.