The Oak Ridge Boys at 40

Sorry I’m a little late. I’ve been doing a lot of phoners and it’s been hard to get off the phone with some of these people (laughs). It’s been running a bit overtime.

I hear that a lot. Name dropping here, but I had a Q&A with Kenny Chesney that had to be moved to the next day because one of his other interviews went long.

Now that’s saying something when you have to push Kenny Chesney to a later day! One quick story: Several years ago I was on vacation on a British Virgin Island called Jost Van Dyke. We’re sitting on the beach and I look over and then say to my wife, “That looks like Kenny Chesney over there.” Sure enough, we walked over there and he jumped up and said, “Richard!” He hugged me and then we hung out with him all afternoon. We had an amazing time. Drank too many adult beverages.

This is the 40th anniversary of touring and 24th anniversary of the Christmas tour. Any thoughts on this occasion?

On both cases it’s pretty mind-boggling. First of all, I think if you had asked any of the four of us 40 years ago if we’d be doing this 40 years later, and still be doing it at a pretty high level, I don’t think any of us would have believed it. But here we are – this whole year celebrating our 40th anniversary.

I think that we still love doing what we do after 40 years is a big part of it. We look forward to getting up on that stage every night, taking our music to our audiences. … We just enjoy being Oak Ridge Boys. We enjoy the creative process of still going into the studio and recording new music.  

I think that’s part of what keeps us going. I have to be honest: our records aren’t getting played on the radio any longer, but we can still [make] music that is relevant to the current marketplace, and we’ve reinvented ourselves. And I think that’s helped us, especially with the young people. We’re still drawing them to our shows and that’s important.

As far as the Christmas show, that is almost equally mind-boggling. I don’t think we had any idea 24 years ago that we’d still be doing it.

The Christmas tour has become the biggest part of our year. If you look at our schedule, as we’re speaking today, we start our Christmas tour [Nov. 16] in Wisconsin Dells, Wis., Then we’re home for a few days for Thanksgiving and then we leave Thanksgiving afternoon and do not get home until Dec. 23. [After Thanksgiving] there’s not a night off except for one, I believe, and it’s way on the West Coast so we can’t come home.

It’s [nearly] 23 straight days. It’s every night. It’s mind-boggling that this Christmas thing has become as big as it has because the demand is there. If we had more days we could book more Christmas shows. It’s that simple.

I think over the years we’ve become known for our Christmas music and something about the Oak Ridge Boys and Christmas music go hand-in-hand. We now have six Christmas CDs, the latest one called Christmastime’s A-Coming, which so happens to be available at Cracker Barrel. You can go to any of their restaurants and buy the latest CD. And our relationship with Cracker Barrel is very good; they’ve moved a lot of product for us. They’ve made music – especially country music – a big part of what they do.

Over the years, at the meet and greets, do you run into the same people? Almost to the point of knowing them by name?

You’re right about that. It’s a combination. We try to work with promoting with radio stations and sponsors of our particular show, and we try to meet the sponsors and the contest winners. Invariably, in a lot of the same cities, we see the same people. Yes, you are right – it’s like a family. We probably have some of the most loyal fans in the world, and they stick by us through thick and thin.  They will buy everything we release, they will come to almost every show they can come to, and we see a lot of them at the meet and greets.

So it feels like a family, but we try to find a balance and have some new people come in – like the contest winners from radio stations and sponsors. So we try to meet as many people as we can. Sometimes the meet-and-greets get out of hand! We’ll be kind of tired before the show even starts!

So the band was founded in 1963?

Well, no. The group has a fascinating history that actually dates back to the Second World War. It goes back to Oak Ridge, Tenn., and the Manhattan Project. You’ve probably heard of it.

My aunt worked on it. She was a typist.

Oh really?! So you know they enriched uranium there. They worked on the development of the original atomic bomb there, and it’s top secret stuff. There was a group back then, believe it or not, known as the Georgia Clodhoppers. These guys would go to Oak Ridge and entertain the people there working on the atomic bomb. There were scientist there; a lot of different kinds of people. And they could not leave, because it was top secret.

So the Clodhoppers, by going to Oak Ridge on a regular basis, became known as the Oak Ridge Quartet. And that group actually sang on the Grand Ole Opry at the Ryman Auditorium. On Friday nights they had a gospel show and the original Oak Ridge Quartet was the host. That group continued singing as the Oak Ridge Quartet until the mid-’50s. The group was then disbanded and, a few years later, reorganized as the Oak Ridge Boys.
And that is obviously the name we’ve retained to the present day. William Lee Golden was the first to join the group in 1965. Duane Allen, our lead singer, came one year later in 1966. I was actually singing with Elvis at the time in a group called JD Summers & The Stamps Quartet. And I left the King of Rock ’n’ Roll and joined the Oak Ridge Boys in 1972. Joe Bonsall, our tenor, came one year later in 1973. And that was exactly 40 years ago.

So your aunt was a typist for the Manhattan Project?

Well, it was compartmentalized. She didn’t know at the time what she was working on.

You know, a couple years ago they had Oak Ridge Boys day there. We had to get all kinds of special clearance – even to this day! All the uranium we have in this country is stored right there. We had to go through several lines of security just to get into the place.

They gave us a tour. We saw where they did the original splitting of the atoms. And on that day, they named a street Oak Ridge Boys Way. It’s right in front of the civic center.

Does William Lee Golden still have that tree out in front of his house that has his face carved in it?

Yes, he still has his image on the tree. In fact, over the course of the years, as the tree has grown, it distorted the image a little bit. A few years [ago] he had it redone and freshened up a little bit.

Anything else before I let you go?

I just wanted to say we’re looking forward to our cruise. The Oak Ridge Boys Rally-at-Sea leaves Miami Feb. 22 for seven days in the Eastern Caribbean. Those interested in joining us can get details at our website.

Remaining 2013 dates for The Oak Ridge Boys include:

Nov. 29 – Sioux Falls, S.D., Washington Pavilion / Arts And Science     
Nov. 30 – Des Moines, Iowa, Hoyt Sherman Place     
Dec. 1 – Cheyenne, Wyo., Cheyenne Civic Center     
Dec. 2 – Salt Lake City, Utah, Abravanel Hall     
Dec. 3 – Cedar City, Utah, Centrum Arena     
Dec. 5 – Billings, Mont., Alberta Blair Theater     
Dec. 6 – Boise, Idaho, Velma V. Morrison Center For The Performing Arts     
Dec. 7 – Kennewick, Wash., Toyota Center – Tri Cities     
Dec. 8 – Lewiston, Idaho, Clearwater River Casino & Lodge     
Dec. 9 – Spokane, Wash., INB Performing Arts Center     
Dec. 10 – Eugene, Ore., Silva Concert Hall     
Dec. 11 – Redding, Calif., Redding Civic Auditorium     
Dec. 12 – Yountville, Calif., Lincoln Theater Napa Valley     
Dec. 13 – Northridge, Calif., Valley Performing Arts Center – Great Hall     
Dec. 14 – Coachella, Calif., Spotlight 29 Casino Showroom     
Dec. 15 – Tucson, Ariz., Desert View Performing Art Center     
Dec. 16 – Amarillo, Texas,Amarillo Civic Center Complex     
Dec. 17 – Topeka, Kan., Topeka Performing Arts Center     
Dec. 18 – Cedar Rapids, Iowa, Paramount Theatre     
Dec. 19 – Wabash, Ind., Honeywell Center     
Dec. 20 – Akron, Ohio, Akron Civic Center     
Dec. 21 – Toledo, Ohio, Stranahan Theater     
Dec. 22 – Green Bay, Wis., Weidner Center For The Perf. Arts

Click here for the band’s full itinerary and for more information please visit OakRidgeBoys.com