Duane Allen - baritone vocals
Joe Bonsall - tenor vocals
William Lee Golden - baritone vocals
Richard Sterban - bass vocals
Skip Mitchell - lead guitar
Steve Sanders - rhythm guitar, vocals
Fred Satterfield - drums
Don Greeland - bass
Dewey Dereau - sax
Ron Fairchild - keyboards
One of the oldest country and gospel groups around, The Oak Ridge Boys continue to be a steady concert draw both at their own theater in Branson, MO, and on the road. This show, recorded for the Silver Eagle Cross Country radio concert series, was recorded in 1984, while the Boys were promoting their platinum country LP, Destiny.
By the time this show was recorded, The Oak Ridge Boys had conquered three musical genres: gospel, country, and pop. Their crossover hits, "Elvira" and "Bobbie Sue," gave them a firm foothold in the commercial pop world, and opened the door to bookings in mainstream venues in Las Vegas and Atlantic City, where this show was captured. Although they still made some gospel-specific records, by the 1980s The Oak Ridge Boys were essentially a country act.
The group actually dates back to 1942 in Knoxville, Tennessee, where they began as a gospel group led by Wally Fowler called the Oak Ridge Quartet. Fowler kept the group going amid several personnel changes as one of the most popular country-gospel acts in the South through 1956, when he retired. In 1956, he sold the name to then-group member, Smitty Gatlin, who changed the moniker to The Oak Ridge Boys in 1961. When Gatlin became a minister in 1964 he handed over the reigns to the other members, which at that point included William Lee Golden and Duane Allen. Golden and Allen gradually rebuilt the group to its current line up, which has been together since the early 1970s.
Included in this nearly 90 minute set are most of their biggest hits, including "One In A Million," "Dream On," "Love Song," "Ozark Mountain Jubilee," "Leaving Louisiana In The Broad Daylight," "Elvira," and "Bobbie Sue."
