When it comes to musical acts, you can’t get any more American than the Oak Ridge Boys. Icons in the Midwest, and among the biggest country acts of the 70s and 80s, the Oaks have become the musical equivalent of baseball, apple pie, and mom. During this show, recorded in November of 1983, they even point out a baseball hero who happened to be in the audience, pitching coach for the San Francisco Giants Herm Sterett, who was coaching the Phillies in 1980, when they won the World Series.
But with introductions and pleasant chatter aside, it has always been about presenting an…entire summary
Duane Allen - baritone vocals
Joe Bonsall - tenor vocals
William Lee Golden - baritone vocals
Richard Sterban - bass vocals
Skip Mitchell - lead guitar
Steve Sanders - rhythm guitar, vocals
Mark O’Hunt -guitar
Fred Satterfield - drums
Don Greeland - bass
Dewey Duro - sax, harmonica
Ron Fairchild - keyboards
When it comes to musical acts, you can’t get any more American than the Oak Ridge Boys. Icons in the Midwest, and among the biggest country acts of the 70s and 80s, the Oaks have become the musical equivalent of baseball, apple pie, and mom. During this show, recorded in November of 1983, they even point out a baseball hero who happened to be in the audience, pitching coach for the San Francisco Giants Herm Sterett, who was coaching the Phillies in 1980, when they won the World Series.
But with introductions and pleasant chatter aside, it has always been about presenting an entertaining live show filled with years of hit songs, among them “Dig A Little Deeper In The Well,” “You're The One,” “Y'All Come Back Saloon,” “Ozark Mountain Jubilee,” “Bobbie Sue,” and, of course, “Elvira.”
The Oak Ridge Boys actually date back to 1942 in Knoxville, Tennessee, where they began as a gospel group led by Wally Fowler called the Oak Ridge Quartet. Fowler kept the group going amid several personnel changes as one of the most popular country-gospel acts in the South through 1956, when he retired. In 1956, he sold the name to then-group member Smitty Gatlin, who changed the moniker to the Oak Ridge Boys in 1961. When Gatlin became a minister in 1964, he handed over the reigns to the other members, which at that point included William Lee Golden and Duane Allen. Golden and Allen gradually rebuilt the group into its current line up, which has been together since the early 1970s.
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