Mighty Oaks
The Oak Ridge Boys have been going strong for decades, and with a new Christmas album and tour, they don't appear to be slowing down one bit.
by Andy Argyrakis | posted 12/27/2005
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Not many groups can trace their origins back as far as 1943, though that's when The Oak Ridge Quartet began. From appearances at the Grand Ole Opry in the 1940s and Time magazine in the '50s, the Oaks saw some 30 members come and go by the '60s. Come 1973, the group, then known as The Oak Ridge Boys, cemented their current lineup of William Lee Golden, Duane Allen, Joe Bonsall and Richard Sterban. The quartet went on to score smashes like "Elvira," "American Made," "Bobbie Sue" and "Thank God for Kids" in a run that's yielded five Grammys, countless County Music Association nods, and, performances for three presidents. Most recently, they released the new holiday album Christmas Cookies and launched a national tour. We recently caught up with Bonsall to talk about those Cookies, a little Oaks history, and other memories Yuletide and beyond.
The Oak Ridge Boys—Duane Allen (left), Joe Bonsall, William Lee Golden, and Richard Sterban—have always had a special love for Christmas over their historic career.
After all these years, how do you guys keep going non-stop with such enthusiasm?
Joe Bonsall: Everybody wants to know how we maintain ourselves, and not only how, by why! This is a group of men who don't want to slow down or quit. If you look at groups like Alabama or the Statlers, they've each had guys in their groups who want to go off the road, and they got their way. If one guy felt that way in our group, I think that would be really tough to deal with, but our schedule doesn't slow and we have no desire to. Maybe there's a little fear if we slowed down, it would be the beginning of the end. But stopping to us would be unthinkable. Those two groups retired but the Oaks got new buses this year!
On the other side of the coin, you have to have the ability to do this well, and God has been good to the Oaks. We've been blessed and our guys are still feeling good and singing good. We give God honor and praise because good health is a blessing. Once the Oaks hit the stage, we sing our tails off, and it's a big time pro show. We leave it all on stage. Since the old gospel quartet—the legendary days—that's very important to the Oaks, and we feel blessed to be able to maintain it on that high level.
In recent years, your CDs have covered classic country to gospel to patriotic music. How do you know which season is most appropriate for a particular style?
Bonsall Maybe sometimes you're guessing a little bit, but for most part, I think we're pretty good at reinventing ourselves and keeping things fresh creatively. Spring Hill has allowed us a lot, like From the Heart as a tribute to gospel music and Common Thread, which was a look at some hymns and some inspirational Oaks standards re-recorded. Colors was our patriotic favorites CD and The Journey was straight ahead country with an acoustic bluegrass feeling. From a recording standpoint doing different projects translate to a really cool variety in a big full show, while the four of us can utilize sounds and styles with how we stack our harmonies, which is kind of the secret of our sound.
When did the desire for recording Christmas music and your annual tour kick in?
Bonsall In 1982 we had a gigantically popular Christmas album and tour thanks to "Thank God For Kids." We toured with Kenny Rogers in the '80s and we were like, "Hey, we can do this!" This year, we'll have the first half of the show with hits and the second half with Christmas tunes, including a lot from our new CD Christmas Cookies.
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