Oak Ridge Boys’ farewell tour a time to reflect on their impact and personal blessings

By John Herndon, KentuckySings.com

I simply wasn’t ready for the news that hit my e-mail inbox last Tuesday.

The Oak Ridge Boys are finally saying goodbye. Almost 50 years after the current lineup first stepped on stage together, they announced their American Farewell Tour. 

“We are doing a farewell tour because we owe it to our fans to say goodbye,” William Lee Golden said in a release posted at http://www.oakridgeboys.com. “They have always been there for us through the good times and the bad. I will always be thankful to every person who came out to a show, bought a t-shirt, played our music, and overall, loved us enough to spend their hard-earned money whenever they could. This tour is for you!”

In the same release, Duane Allen added, “As we celebrate 50 years of being together, just as you see us, we will, also, begin our American Made: Farewell Tour. I don’t know how long the tour will last, but we hope to return to as many parts of the country as we can. Thank you so much for these 50 years.”

I wanted to write about this news, but really could not add anything to the press release and other news stories coming out last week. Most country or gospel music fans know at least some of their history and that they are members of the Country Music Hall of Fame, the Gospel Music Hall of Fame, have numerous industry awards and sold millions of records and CDs.

Truthfully, I wanted to collect my thoughts, write them out, read those thoughts and then read them again. I’ve written and revised so much because there’s just so much I want to say. What follows is just a little bit of what could be a treatise on how The Oak Ridge Boys have impacted me.

I wasn’t ready, but let’s face it, the news of the American Farewell Tour wasn’t unexpected. Three of the four singers are now in their 80s. Joe Bonsall, who is 75, at one time had the on-stage energy of a 9-year-old smacking his first Little League hit but has been slowed by a nerve issue in his leg and has largely been singing while seated on a stool for over a year. He says he feels fine otherwise.

And as a group, the Oaks sound just as good as they did when they took the stage on Oct. 12, 1973 in Columbus, Ohio. The next night, they were at Louisville’s Memorial Auditorium with The Downings, bringing together two of the biggest names in gospel music at the time.  

I was there along with my mom and her sister. I was 15 years old.

I still say that was the most electric night of music – any genre, anytime, anywhere – I have ever been a part of. I had seen my first Oak Ridge Boys’ concert two months before in Lexington and that number now stands at 40.¹

And when I last saw them on August 20, this time at the Kentucky State Fair, the Oaks still sounded great. And when Duane sang that “Among the local taverns there’ll be a slack in business, ‘Cause Jesse’s drinking came before the groceries and the rent,” it was as if I had traveled 50 years back in time to Memorial Auditorium.²

Back in 1973, I had taken a tape recorder to that concert. It was kind of the 70s version of pulling out a smartphone and taping a performance. I played that tape over and over until I could find that first Columbia album on 8-track. There was no Spotify, no YouTube. Just a local Christian radio station that featured a lot more preaching than music.

But I couldn’t get enough of that Oak Ridge Boys’ sound. And I still can’t today. It doesn’t matter if it’s the gospel that got me hooked or the country that made them one of America’s most beloved groups, it never gets old.  I wore out that Columbia 8-track that contained “The Baptism of Jesse Taylor” and “What a Time We Will Have Over There.” I played the Light and Street Gospel tapes, the Oaks’ last two released by the Heart Warming label, until they no longer worked. Thankfully I now have another copy of Light but am still looking for Street Gospel.

Years later, I have played the Rock of Ages and It’s Only Natural CDs to the point they aren’t working as they should.  

It’s been worth every penny spent and every minute listening to these men. 

You see, over the years, The Oak Ridge Boys have been friends. For many years, I called them friends even though I had never met them. That was the impact of their music. It was always crisp and even after they transitioned from gospel to country, the message was always positive, always clean. As Joe Bonsall told me in a 2015 interview, “We are going to sing some of our hits, sing some gospel and wave the flag.” 

It’s a formula that has made sold out crowds the norm even though the Oaks have not had a chart-topper since “No Matter How High” in 1990. But it’s almost impossible to attend one of their concerts and not come away with extra spring in your step and a brighter outlook on life.

That friendship became real in 2013 when I requested an interview with Duane for The Anderson News, where I was working as sports editor. It was late summer and not a lot was going on in the local sports scene so I often ventured into other areas. Looking through some old papers, I had seen that Duane had been in my hometown of Lawrenceburg, Ky. with the Prophets Quartet in 1965 and I remembered being at the show. I figured the worst that could happen would be for him to say “no” but he graciously agreed to a 15-minute interview.

Duane was extremely kind, connecting me with Kathy Harris in The Oak Ridge Boys’ office to take care of media credentials for my wife and me. I had told him I wore cochlear implants and usually had Stephanie along in case I didn’t understand something. He had gone the extra mile to make the interview happen because “what you said made sense to me.”

And the interview lasted 45 minutes.

That attitude of grace has stuck with me for the last 10 years. Treating people with kindness and grace is just what a Christian should do. It’s something that is a constant through the entire Oak Ridge Boys’ organization.

That night, Duane didn’t know my background as a minister, only that I had been a fan dating back to The Oak Ridge Boys’ day as one of gospel music’s premier groups. Yet, he openly talked about his faith and how the group chose songs with a positive message reflecting their faith in Christ.

I showed up at Louisville’s Cardinal Stadium that night thinking I had lined up a great interview. I most certainly did that but I left being challenged in my walk with Christ. And I believe the wheels taking me back to the ministry after a 20-year absence started turning that night. Duane and I stay in touch and he has encouraged me in more ways than I can elaborate.

Since that night I have also interviewed Bonsall and William Lee Golden as well as others connected to The Oaks. Every single one was gracious, kind and encouraging. I have not been able to interview Richard Sterban, but hopefully that will come about somehow before The Oak Ridge Boys leave the road for good.  

(It was kind of cool, though, being backstage at Renfro Valley one night and talking baseball with Richard and Joe.)

I can also tell you that no song The Oak Ridge Boys ever recorded meant as much to me as notes of condolence from Joe and Duane when my mom – another huge Oak Ridge Boy fan – passed away in 2018.

In fact, her funeral service began with “Brand New Star,” which had been released with the 17th Avenue Revival album earlier that year.

I plan to see The Oak Ridge Boys’ Christmas Show at Renfro Valley in December and hope to catch them multiple times before they finally leave the road. It’s hard to imagine these legends not touring but they have been singing that distinctive four-part harmony together for 50 years. That is beyond amazing.

They’ve been doing 150-200 shows almost every year since then. That’s beyond amazing times 2. 

They have more than earned the right to stay home.

But I am grateful. Through The Oak Ridge Boys, the 15-year-old me learned that gospel music could be cool. Forty years later, the 55-year-old me was challenged in a way I was not expecting. Now, the 65-year-old me just hopes The Oak Ridge Boys know how they have impacted me and countless others over the years. I love and respect these guys not just for their music but for who they are.

Well done, Boys. Well done.

Notes

1.  I went to see the Oaks often until around 1990 when I was was determined to be severely hearing-impaired. I wore hearing aids, which offered little help, until I was fitted with cochlear implants in 2003 and 2010. At my first Oaks concert after having my hearing artificially restored, I nudged my wife and said, “You won’t believe this but I can hear all four parts.” I now play a guitar again after putting it down in the 90s. I don’t know if that would have happened had I not been at that concert at Renfro Valley and realized the possibilities before me.

2.  According to Google Maps, Memorial Auditorium is just over three miles from the Kentucky Exposition Center where the state fair is held.