On the Road with The Oak Ridge Boys , livre ebook

Harvest House Publishers, Inc. - Bonsall Joseph S.

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155 pages

English

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For more than 40 years, the legendary Oak Ridge Boys (40 million records sold) have been on the road entertaining sold-out audiences with their classic hit songs like "Elvira," "Bobbie Sue," "Thank God for Kids," and many others. As their fans will testify, an Oak Ridge Boys concert is an unforgettable experience.These "on the road" stories, written by tenor Joseph S. Bonsall and spanning the four decades since the present group came together, will bring laughter, insight, and heartfelt appreciation to their fans young and old.You'll read about...The faith shared by all four "Oaks"the backstage goings-on of The Oak Ridge Boyswhat "the Boys" do on the tour busstories about special fans they've met down through the yearstheir surprise mega-hit, "Elvira" and how it came about"Join me as I take you on the road with The Oak Ridge Boys.We'll revisit some of our favorite concerts, reminisce about some old friends,and I'll let you in on what happens behind the scenes. Come on along!"Oak Ridge Boy Joseph S. Bonsall

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Publié par	Harvest House Publishers, Inc.
Date de parution	01 mai 2015
Nombre de lectures	0
EAN13	9780736964203
Langue	English

Informations légales : prix de location à la page 0,0738€. Cette information est donnée uniquement à titre indicatif conformément à la législation en vigueur.

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HARVEST HOUSE PUBLISHERS
EUGENE, OREGON
Scripture quotations are taken from the New American Standard Bible , 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. ( www.Lockman.org )
Lyrics to This is America by Norah Lee Allen used by permission of First Time Around Publishing.
Cover by Left Coast Design, Portland, Oregon
Front cover photo Jarrett Gaza Photography
ON THE ROAD WITH THE OAK RIDGE BOYS
Copyright 2015 by Joseph S. Bonsall
Published by Harvest House Publishers
Eugene, Oregon 97402
www.harvesthousepublishers.com
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Bonsall, Joseph S.
On the road with the Oak Ridge Boys / Joe Bonsall.
pages cm
ISBN 978-0-7369-6419-7 (pbk.)
ISBN 978-0-7369-6420-3 (eBook)
1. Oak Ridge Boys. 2. Country musicians-United States-Biography. I. Title.
ML421.O2B68 2015
782.421642092 2-dc23
[B]
2014035335
All rights reserved. No part of this electronic publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means-electronic, mechanical, digital, photocopy, recording, or any other-without the prior written permission of the publisher. The authorized purchaser has been granted a nontransferable, nonexclusive, and noncommercial right to access and view this electronic publication, and purchaser agrees to do so only in accordance with the terms of use under which it was purchased or transmitted. Participation in or encouragement of piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of author s and publisher s rights is strictly prohibited.
Dedication
T O OUR PRECIOUS MOTHERS
Lillie Bonsall
Lorette Allen
Ruth Golden
Victoria Sterban
All that I am, or hope to be, I owe to my angel mother.
-Abraham Lincoln
CONTENTS
Dedication
Prologue: A Phenomenon
1. October 73
2. The Boys
3. The Songs
4. Elviral
5. The Show
6. The Bus
7. The Road
8. The Tour
9. The Christmas Tour
10. The Grand Ole Opry Boys
11. The ORB Doctrine
12. The Country Music Biz Today
13. Old Friends
14. Gospel Music
15. Presidents
16. Cracker Barrel
17. Branson
18. Going Social
19. Backin Up
20. Prices Paid
21. Anthem Singers
22. Sherman
23. The Big Question
24. Ronnie and the Mob
25. What Is Hard and What Is Not
26. A Final, Personal Note from Joe
The Oak Ridge Boys Photos
Acknowledgments
About the Author
Discography
Awards
Oak Ridge Boys Trivia
About the Publisher
Prologue:
A PHENOMENON
Living Our Dreams
W hen I was first approached about writing another book about the Oak Ridge Boys, I wasn t really sure whether I could take it on. Writing is an all-consuming art, and although I ve managed to write quite a few books over the years, this task seemed daunting.
Several years ago I wrote my heart out about the Oak Ridge Boys in a coffee-table book called An American Journey . I thought that book was the whole story. But my wife, Mary, inspired me to keep writing about the group, and I m not sure she even realizes it.
It was a summer afternoon, and I had to leave early that evening for a concert at a big Midwestern state fair. Normally we d leave at around midnight, but Darrick Kinslow, our tour director, set the departure time for six p.m. to give us plenty of time to arrive in Somewhereville, USA, to get set up and prepare for the huge grandstand show the next day.
Mary and I decided to eat dinner out early. We picked one of our favorite places, which just happened to be right across the road from our offices and the gathering point for our departure. We drove there separately so she could head for home after dinner and I could drive over to our parking lot, grab my stuff, and board the bus. As I remember, it was to be a four-day trip.
After dinner, Mary and I sat together in her truck in the restaurant parking lot and watched the constant activity across the street. The two big black Prevost tour buses had started and were now on high idle. Band guys and crew guys were arriving. Some arrived by themselves while others were dropped off by family members or friends. The life of the road musician leaving home was being played out right there in that parking lot, and it was exciting to watch it unfold.
I was just about to tell Mary goodbye when she turned to me and said something I ve never forgotten. With teary eyes and a halt in her voice, she said, You know, hon that s a phenomenon going on over there. You guys are a phenomenon! It s so hard to believe you all are still out there performing at such a high level it s just a phenomenon. After her voice trailed off, she regained her composure, kissed me, and added, Now get going. You re never the last one on the bus!
We both laughed, and I watched as she drove away in her big, white Silverado pickup, back home to a houseful of cats and, as usual, no husband for the next several days.
You have to realize that Mary Ann Bonsall never says much about the Oak Ridge Boys. Singing is what I do and what I ve always done, so for me to get on the bus and leave home is a natural part of our lives. But this particular evening seemed a little different somehow. Mary doesn t give props every day, so I must admit my heart was warmed as I parked my own truck and boarded the bus with a few shoulder bags, my laptop, and four days worth of clean laundry and stage wear (clean jeans and some cool shirts).
As is usually the case, I greeted and was greeted back warmly by two of my fellow Oaks, Duane Allen and Richard Sterban. Then our fourth member, William Lee Golden, pulled into the lot, so I was indeed not the last one to board the big bus-our rolling home away from home.
I threw my stuff into my designated area on the back couch, hung my clothes in my closet, and decided that even though it was early I would crawl in my bunk and get some sleep. I had worked hard on my farm the past few days, and I was tired. My stomach was full as well, so I settled in, pulled the covers up to my chin, and just lay there for a while.
I could hear the guys laughing and cutting up in the front lounge. Richard already found a baseball game on the TV in the back lounge, and Darrick, or DK as we call him, was already on the phone, talking to tomorrow s promoter. Our driver pulled away from the office, the other bus full of band and crew followed, and suddenly we were off. Buses on the move time to ride time to sing again. It has never gotten old-no, not once!
Leaving home is always hard though, and as we rolled through the early Tennessee evening I felt myself drifting off into a wonderful and much-needed sleep. I could still hear Mary s voice echoing, You guys are a phenomenon a phenomenon
Her words made me realize there really is still a lot more to write about the Oak Ridge Boys.
1
OCTOBER 73
Jesus Is the Man for the Hour
S AMMY H ALL
I t was mid-October, 1973, but I remember it as if it were yesterday. It was about ten in the morning as my flight was landing in Cincinnati, and I was about to open what would become an exciting and very long chapter in my life.
I had spent the better part of the past seven years in Buffalo, New York, singing and promoting gospel music with my cutting-edge little gospel band, the Keystones. I was having fun, but I was also starving to death. I might have stayed in Buffalo forever singing with the Keystones, but thank God, I didn t. What influenced my decision to board the plane and fly away from the Niagara Frontier on that autumn day?
One reason was that my first wife, Barbara, was pregnant, and my bills, which were way overdue, were weighing heavily on me. Especially the one that was earmarked Rent !
But it wasn t all about money. I had always managed to somehow keep singing and still pay my bills, and even as a young man of 25 years, my faith in God to provide was strong. I believed (and still do) in the saving power and guiding grace of Jesus Christ, and I was stepping out in faith with the assurance that God was guiding my path.
As my plane touched down, I was excited to no end to see the big, brown Silver Eagle bus parked in the airport lot. Just seeing the bus nicknamed Chocolate and knowing it was there to pick me up was mind-boggling for this Philadelphia kid who had dreamed of someday singing in a great harmony group. And on this day I would be joining my absolute favorite group in the world-and a gospel group at that-the mighty Oak Ridge Boys!
Yes, I already loved this group even before I was a member. They not only sang great but also were cool. There was just nobody like the Oak Ridge Boys. I still feel that way more than 40 years later.
The Boys were all there to meet me too. There was my longtime friend Richard Sterban, whom I knew from my Philly days. He had been an aspiring singer from New Jersey, selling men s clothes in a department store. We had sung together for several years in the Keystones, but then he joined J.D. Sumner and the Stamps Quartet and toured with Elvis. Richard had joined the Oak Ridge Boys only a year earlier, and I was stoked about singing with him again.
There was Duane Allen, a man I had long loved and respected. Duane had produced a dozen albums for our little Keystone group in his own studio and on his own label. He had always believed in what I was doing and in me. Besides that, he was a great singer, and now I was going to sing alongside him- wow !
William Lee Golden had always been Bill to me in those days. He and I had worked out many reciprocal promotions over the years. I would book the Oaks up north, and he would bring the Keystones south to take part in some of the great music festivals of that day. But our relationship was much more than that. Bill was a dreamer and a visionary, and late-night phone conversations with him from my little apartment in Buffalo always left me encouraged. He made me feel that just maybe I had what it took to take my talent to