ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Friday, February 2, 1996 TAG: 9602020044
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 1 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: HENDERSONVILLE, TENN.
SOURCE: JIM PATTERSON ASSOCIATED PRESS
When Duane Allen, Joe Bonsall, Richard Sterban and William Lee Golden gathered around a piano to sing together for the first time in nine years, one of the songs they tried out was their 1983 hit, ``Ozark Mountain Jubilee.''
Golden, who was fired from the Oak Ridge Boys in 1987 amid much acrimony, says it was pretty hard to get through the last verse:
``If I can't be the favorite son, I'll be the prodigal one
'Cause I've been gone too long.
Oh how the years have flown by, oh how much I've realized,
how much of me is gone.''
``It got kind of hard to choke back the tears,'' said Golden, 57. ``The emotion of that verse is more true it seems today than the day we recorded it.''
The return of Golden, whose long, gray beard and mountain man image were as integral to the Oaks as his baritone, has resulted in ``doors flying open to the Oak Ridge Boys that really haven't been open in a couple of years,'' said Bonsall, 47.
``We haven't been on `The Tonight Show' in six years, but we're going to be on `The Tonight Show' this spring.''
Longtime Oaks booking agent Bob Kinkead said the only problem associated with Golden's return is the possibility the group may burn out by accepting too much. About 140 dates for 1996 are booked so far.
``It is giving us unlimited possibilities in Europe and Asia,'' Kinkead said. ``I've been booking country music for 12 years. There hasn't been this kind of response since Clint Black and The Judds were breaking.''
The Oaks have set aside two weeks to record new music in April, and fully expect that the results will be issued by one of Nashville's major companies. Though the quartet maintained a career over the past decade with Steve Sanders replacing Golden, it just hasn't been the same. Record sales faded as radio stations stopped playing the group's new music.
``I look back over my shoulder here and see 14 gold albums,'' Bonsall said. ``Golden's on all of them, you know what I mean? When this group was pulling together back in those years, we had a lot of magic.''
Formed in 1945 as the Oak Ridge Quartet, the group began as a straight gospel quartet. Golden was in high school in Brewton, Ala., the first time he saw the group perform. He vowed to be a member someday, and joined in 1964.
Golden participated in the hiring of Bonsall, Allen and Sterban. That lineup crossed over to mainstream country in the mid-1970s, becoming one of the most successful acts of the 1980s. Their list of 17 No. 1 hits includes ``Elvira,'' ``Bobbie Sue'' and ``American Made.'' Golden's theme song within the Oaks was ``Thank God for Kids.''
As the 1980s wore on, Golden became remote to the other three, and recorded a solo album. At the time he was fired, Golden was defiant. He briefly pursued the case through the courts to no avail.
Today, he is more willing to accept some blame for the split.
``I was divorcing my second wife, and my mind was not always there like it should have been,'' Golden said. ``I might have pushed things to the limit occasionally, and I've been guilty of having too much fun on some occasions, I guess.''
Bonsall remembers communication problems: ``He almost quit talking to us. If we three turned right, he turned left. And this went on for a couple of years. It kept snowballing until it drove us all a little nuts.''
Several years ago, Allen's father was on his death bed, and made him promise ``to make things right with Golden.'' Shortly thereafter, he did so. In the past year, Sterban and Bonsall visited as well.
When Sanders abruptly quit the group last year, due to ongoing pressures stemming from friction with his first wife, the stage was set. The meeting to sing around the piano on Dec. 28 convinced all four the chemistry remained.
``I love music,'' Golden said. ``Music to me has a healing power. And I feel that same healing power happening here within the Oak Ridge Boys.''
Both Golden and Bonsall report an overwhelming response from fans and fellow artists alike. Leon Russell recently stopped by Golden's home to offer his congratulations, and Marty Stuart actually stood up and applauded when he recently shared a plane with Bonsall.
``I sent a Christmas card that was returned because of the wrong address,'' Bonsall said. ``I had written on the envelope, `The beard is back,' referring to Santa.
``There was a note on the envelope when I got it back. It said, `I'm so glad William Lee Golden's going to be back in the Oak Ridge Boys.' It was signed, `Stan, the mailman.'''
LENGTH: Medium: 89 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: AP. The return of William Lee Golden (second fromby CNBright), whose long, gray beard and mountain man image were as
integral to the Oaks as his baritone, has resulted in ``doors flying
open to the Oak Ridge Boys that really haven't been open in a couple
of years,'' said bandmate Joe Bonsall.