You just can’t help but like the Oak Ridge Boys. Still going strong after how many years? Decades. It’s nothing short of amazing to keep personnel that consistent for so long a time.
It wasn’t always easy going though, they had a big fallout in ’87 and kicked out the baritone, William Lee Golden. Their rhythm guitarist, Steve Sanders, stepped in and sang baritone until ’95. To the Boys’ credit, they patched things up and got Golden back on board. I’d sure like to know all the details behind that story.
Sanders was having a lot of personal problems. He actually gave notice he was quitting, but then walked out mere hours before a show. They called in Duane Allen’s son Lee to fill in, which he did for a short time until Golden came back (source). Sanders committed suicide a few years later.
Other than that period, they’ve had the same personnel since about ’73.
And who would have ever guessed that at one time Joe Bonsall had more hair than William Lee Golden!
When I was a kid, we had an Oaks record that I absolutely loved. It’s probably the first music that I remember really liking. Because of my obsession with it, and the fact that an authority figure really did not like that particular record, one day it sadly disappeared!
It was the ’69 Dove Awards Album of the Year “It’s Happening.” I loved that album. I’d like to get it again someday, it’s not on eBay right now.
“From the Heart” is a gospel album they made in ’01 that I wish I had. They did another mainstream country project in ’06, “Front Row Seats.” Check out their video from it called Hard to be Cool (in a Minivan), it’s great! I loved it. (Very large file)
One thing I find interesting about the song is the fact that it appears tenor Joe Bonsall has the lead for the whole song. And when the harmony parts join in on the chorus, he doesn’t move to the top of the stack, evidently Duane sings tenor above him. I’m certainly no expert on the Oak’s music, but I didn’t know they ever did that.
3 Responses
February 17th, 2007 at 10:11 am
Hey Tom, that was a big file, only took 2 weeks, 3 days and 14 hours to down load. But it was worth it. We loved it, especially Nathan and Mary. It’s probably a good thing that a certian “authority figure” in your life relieved you of your record. If that “authority figure” had not done that, you may be sporting a looooooong beard about now! You would be the envy of all the local buggy drivers in Hoosierville. Can you imagine sleeping with that thing wrapped around you? Thankfully you had a good “authority figure” in your life. Jewel is probably thankful too!
February 17th, 2007 at 1:49 pm
Ha ha! Yeah, she probably is!
February 19th, 2007 at 12:58 pm
I was going to look at our old records to see what Oak Ridge Boys lp’s we have. I’m sure the quality would be poor at best!!, but forgot to look. Not sure why I still have all the old records as our player hasn’t worked for years..
We were at the folks for dinner Fri night, as usual a very excellent meal topped off with Cherry pie and ice cream. We had a lively game of dominoes. Linda laughed a couple times which made us laugh and here was plenty of other humor to go around. I had a chance for the win after going out 4 or 5 times consecutively, but your mother beat me by 4 or 5. It’s good that I’m not very competitive…aaarrrgg:):)