The Oak Ridge Boys have consistently spoken to the heartland of America with a show that mixes country, pop, and gospel. They are never controversial, but have always provided an entertaining stage show, one, that usually surpasses the band’s recordings.
This show was recorded for the Silver Eagle Cross Country radio series, on which they appeared numerous times in the early and mid 1980s. Although the two biggest radio pop crossover hits are missing (“Elvira” and “Bobby Sue”), several of the group’s other standards are, such as “You're The One”(which both opens and closes the show);…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
The Oak Ridge Boys have consistently spoken to the heartland of America with a show that mixes country, pop, and gospel. They are never controversial, but have always provided an entertaining stage show, one, that usually surpasses the band’s recordings.
This show was recorded for the Silver Eagle Cross Country radio series, on which they appeared numerous times in the early and mid 1980s. Although the two biggest radio pop crossover hits are missing (“Elvira” and “Bobby Sue”), several of the group’s other standards are, such as “You're The One”(which both opens and closes the show); “Sail Away,” “Come On In,” “Dig A Little Deeper In The Well,” and “Dancing The Night Away.”
Vocally, you can’t find a more solid or consistent group, with the possible exception of the Jordanaires, who backed up Elvis Presley. When William Lee Golden left the group over a dispute in the late 1980s, they tried replacing him with band guitarist Steve Saunders. Fortunately, Golden settled his differences with the group and rejoined in the early 1990s.
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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