Oak Ridge Boys Conjure Visions of Sleigh Bells, Sugar Plums & Elvira

During their illustrious career, the Oak Ridge Boys have crafted an artistic longevity that can be attributed more to their perpetual evolution than periodic reinvention.

Longtime members William Lee Golden and Duane Allen joined the group in 1965 and 1966, respectively, leading the Oaks through formative years that were rooted in gospel, germinated into country, and eventually blossomed with their crossover cover of the Dallas Frazier song “Elvira” in 1981. Since then, the group’s success has endured on the strength of their vocal chemistry, ably assisted along the way by a string of top-notch producers.

When the Oak Ridge Boys close out their current tour with a performance at the Midland Center for the Arts on December 20, they will have completed yet another Christmas tour, an Oaks tradition that has seen the group release a total of eight Christmas albums (the most recent being Down Home Christmas in 2019).

The REVIEW caught up with Golden during a recent stop on the tour, during which the elder statesman reflected on the group’s substantial string of successes and his enthusiasm for the new generation of talent recently introduced into the Oaks’ stable of voices.

Golden is particularly enthusiastic about Ben James, who took over for longtime tenor Joe Bonsall, who passed away in 2023. “He’s got that new ‘high lonesome’ sound that he carries,” says Golden. “He’s been called a Vince Gill voice for a brand new generation, and that’s pretty high praise.”

The newest additions to the group are Tim Duncan and Aaron McCune, who have shared bass singing duties in recent years as longtime member Richard Sterban fights a courageous battle against pancreatic cancer. Duncan is rounding out the quartet on this tour.

Sterban, who joined the group in 1972, stepped away from full-time performing in 2022 during the Oaks’ 50-year anniversary tour. “We got to see Richard a couple weeks ago when we were in town,” recalls Golden. “He came out to the show.”

While core members Golden, Allen, Sterban, and Bonsall comprise the primary lineup of recent decades, the group’s inception can be traced back to the late 1940s. Back then, Wally Fowler and the Oak Ridge Quartet were members of the Grand Ole Opry. Fowler would eventually sell the rights to the Oak Ridge name to succeeding member Smitty Gatlin to settle a debt in the early 1950s. The group had a rotating succession of supporting members until Golden and Allen joined, and the lineup solidified when Sterban and Bonsall joined in 1972 and 1973, respectively.

This is the lineup that catapulted the Oaks to greater notoriety. It also kicked off their relationship with new manager Jim Halsey, who encouraged the group to shift their focus from gospel to country. Telling the group that he felt they were “three minutes away from being a household name,” Halsey suggested they rebrand themselves as a singing quartet. Things really seemed to gel after that.

Accolades in the country music scene continued through the 1970s. The quartet became a sought-after studio commodity as well, contributing backing vocals to the Paul Simon hit, “Slip Sliding Away.” But nothing prepared the group for the tsunami of success that was awaiting in the coming decade.

Giddy Up

One day, producer Ron Chancey suggested the group cover the Dallas Frazier tune, “Elvira.” It wasn’t a bad idea. After all, Charlie Rich, Kenny Rogers, and Rodney Crowell, among others, had offered their spin on the tune over the years. But Chancey’s idea, to turn the "oom pa-pa mow mow" refrain into a bass-singer spotlight, struck a resonant chord. “That set it apart from every other version that had been done,” says Golden.

The public reaction was immediate. The first time the Oaks performed Elvira, they stuck it inconspicuously in the middle of their set. When they finished performing the song, Golden was stunned by the reaction. “I’d never heard a crowd go so wild over something we’d done. And they would not stop.” Stunned, they looked at each other as the applause continued. When the ruckus died down, they launched into the song again.

“It was the exact same response after we did it the second time,” recalls Golden. “We did the rest of the show, and nothing got [the crowd] back to that level of excitement. After we did our final song that night, we brought Elvira back one more time, and it had the same response.”

The next night in Seattle, the song got a similar thunderous response. The same thing happened the following night in Portland. “We got to repeat it in each town,” recalls Golden. “That Monday we called the label and told them, ‘We don’t know what you have in mind for the next single, but this is what’s happening at the live shows.’”

“Elvira” shot to No. 1 on the country charts, spilling over onto the pop charts at No. 5 as well. “In the summer of 1981, it was the song that was played across all markets,” says Golden. “Little kids were learning the words and singing it – it was cross-generational.”

In September 1982, the Oaks, who had previously appeared on Kenny Rogers’ Christmas Special, released their first Christmas album. Fueled by the success of the single, “Thank God for Kids,” which climbed to No. 1 on the Country charts by February, the album went gold.

Including greatest hits collections, the group has released upwards of 70 albums, beginning with 1965’s “The Sensational Oak Ridge Boys From Nashville Tennessee.” Prior to that, 13 albums bearing the Oak Ridge Quartet or a similar moniker were released, the first in 1958.

The group has been working with heavyweight Nashville producer Dave Cobb (Chris Stapleton, Brandi Carlile, Sturgill Simpson, John Prine, etc.) for the past several years, ensuring the pedigree of polished production remains a distinction of the Oaks’ sound. This past October, the group wrapped its sixth album with Cobb at the helm.

Behind the Beard

As the Oaks’ legacy has matured over the years, fans of the group have witnessed Golden’s trademark beard evolve from its darkish, loosely manicured shape in the early 1970s to the silvery, free-flowing “hair bib” he sports today.

Reflecting for a moment, he offers perspective on why he ditched his razor. “I bought this old home in Tennessee about 45 years ago,” he explains. “It was built in 1786 by a Revolutionary War colonel, James Franklin,” who fought alongside George Washington. “He was awarded a section of land for his services.”

It was late 1980, Golden recalls, when he “lost my razor and I still haven’t found it. I let it grow natural just to see what would happen. The first year, sometimes I would get up in the middle of the night and go staggering into the bathroom and turn on the light and startle myself.” The beard achieved its current length after three years. Then it started to turn. “It was dark when I grew it out, but it don’t get any longer, it just gets whiter,” he observes wryly.

Golden’s autobiography, “Behind the Beard,” was published in 2021. The subject gave his coauthor, Scot England, free reign to speak with anyone significant to Golden’s life story. The result is a (sometimes painfully) honest memoir that offers insight from the singer’s current and previous relationships.

Golden did briefly step away from the band from 1987 to 1995. During that time, rhythm guitarist Steve Sanders put down his axe and filled the role until Golden ultimately returned and joined the tour in January 1996.

In 2021 during the pandemic, a “golden” opportunity arose for an intergenerational family project, William Lee Golden and The Goldens. Joining Golden are his sons, Rusty, Chris, and Craig, grandchildren Elizabeth, Chai, and Elijah, and longtime friend, Aaron McCune.

The project started modestly. “I got everyone together and wanted to teach them the old songs that my sister and mother taught me as a kid,” says Golden, now 86. The group has released four albums to date. With plenty of talent under his tutelage and his beard flowing freely as ever, the momentum continues for William Lee Golden and the Oak Ridge Boys – into the Christmas season and beyond.

The Oak Ridge Boys perform at Midland Center for the Arts on Saturday, December 20^th at 7:30 PM in their ‘American Made Christmas Farewell Tour’. Tickets are available at MidlandCenter.org.