There comes a moment when every man meets his destiny and it happened to Richard Sterban in a Las Vegas dressing room with Elvis Presley.
Sterban is the bassman with the Oak Ridge Boys, best known for the immortal lyric: “oom-pa-pa-oom-pa-pa-mow-mow.” He’s the guy who gives “Elvira” its deep-voiced juice. Sterban along with Duane Allen, Joe Bonsall and William Lee Golden, play two sold-out shows Jan. 26 at the Orange Blossom Opry.
The Oaks have been together nearly five decades, are in the Country Music Hall of Fame and have sold millions of records. But there was a time, in the early 1970s, when Sterban had a choice to make – the Oaks or Elvis.
He not only made the choice to go with the Oaks but he had to make it a second time, when Elvis asked him back.
Sterban,75, grew up in New Jersey and sang with various groups. Eventually, he wound up singing gospel with J.D. Sumner and the Stamps Quartet. They used to back up Elvis on his concerts during the early 1970s.
In 1972, Sterban got a call from William Lee Golden to join the Oak Ridge Boys.
“Here I was, singing with Elvis and I had to make a tough decision,” Sterban said in a telephone interview. “A lot of people say: ‘How could you leave Elvis?’ It wasn’t easy, but I wanted to be part of the Oak Ridge Boys.”
Later, after joining the Oaks, the group was playing Las Vegas while Elvis was performing there.
“The guys in the group wanted to meet Elvis, so I called and he said we could come over,” Sterban said, adding that Elvis met them in a dressing room before the show.
“The other guys were blown away, just meeting Elvis,” Sterban said. “But, later, Elvis pulled me aside. He asked me: ‘What would it take for me to get you back?’
“I’m telling you, and I told Elvis, I consider that one of the greatest compliments of my life. I just couldn’t leave the Oak Ridge Boys. I wanted to be part of the group. So many good things have happened to me in my life. I know I made the right decision.”
Sterban details that story and others in his biography, “From Elvis to Elvira: My Life On Stage.” Elvis wasn’t the only American icon in his life – Sterban and the Oaks were extremely close to late President George H.W. Bush and his family.
Like Elvis, Bush was a fan of gospel and country music.
“Elvis loved singing gospel songs,” Sterban said. “When we were on the road, he would play the piano and we would sing gospel songs together.”
President Bush died on Nov. 30, 2018 in Houston and had been very sick much of the year. Bush had followed the Oaks for years and even wrote a blurb for Sterban’s book. “Richard’s path to stardom (is told) in this delightfully written story of his life,” Bush wrote. “I knew about ‘Elvira,’ of course, but not about Elvis!”
The Oaks visited Bush last year.
“Not too long before he died, President Bush asked us if we would sing ‘Amazing Grace’ at his funeral,” Sterban said. “We were honored to do so.”
The Oaks were performing in Spokane, Wash., the night before the funeral. They caught an all-night flight to Houston, sang at the funeral and then caught another cross-country flight to Washington for another show.
“We had no sleep but it didn’t matter,” Sterban said. “President Bush always told us to do the right thing, and that was the right thing to do.”
The Oak Ridge Boys continue to flourish. Their past hits include: “Bobbie Sue,” “American Made,” “Thank God For Kids,” “Dream On,” “I Guess It Never Hurts to Hurt Sometimes” and “Come On In.”
But Sterban and the group revel with one of their latest albums, “17th Avenue Revival,” produced by Dave Cobb. He produces Chris Stapleton and other contemporary Country acts.
“We just hit it off with Dave,” Sterban said. “He took us down roads we had never traveled before.”
Sterban compared it, in a way, to how rap and metal producer Rick Rubin worked with Johnny Cash late in the legendary performer’s career.
“Dave wanted a sound that was basic and raw,” Sterban said.
Cobb somehow melded rockabilly, gospel and rhythm and blues and gave the Oaks newfound energy.
“He told us to think of the early Elvis, Jerry Lee Lewis, Ray Charles and Hank Williams,” Sterban said. “He wanted us to sing like we sang in church.”
Now, Sterban said, the Oaks are ready to start work on a second album with Cobb to showcase, “a revival of the soul and the spirit.”
In a way, Richard Sterban and the Oak Ridge Boys have come full circle – singing the music that matters most to them.
“Our juices are still flowing,” said Sterban, an avid sports fan who lives with his wife, Donna, in Hendersonville, Tenn., a suburb of Nashville. He has five children, five grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.
And, of course, there is his singing family: William Lee Golden, Duane Allen and Joe Bonsall.
“Every guy is different and over the years we have learned to respect those differences and build friendships,” Sterban said. “We are a true brotherhood.”
Tony Violanti is a veteran journalist and writes for Villages-News.com.