The Oak Ridge Boys touched the heart, rocked the soul and moved the spirit Saturday in the Orange Blossom Opry.
This was a big-time performance by Country Music Hall of Famers who graced a small venue with about 600 seats. The Oaks created an atmosphere that was warm, celebratory and intimate. It seemed like a cross between a barn-dance hoedown and country church service.
The sounds of rock, pop, gospel and country music filled the air thanks to the vocal majesty of Joe Bonsall, Duane Allen, William Lee Golden and Richard Sterban. They have been together nearly five decades, sold millions of records and performed around the world.
But here they were on a Saturday night in Weirsdale. It’s rare to see them in such a setting but this is how four country music stars stay close to their roots.
“The Oak Ridge Boys are what country music is all about – and you can just feel it here tonight,” said Suzanne Morgan. She performed with her husband, Darrell W. Morgan, in the Orange Blossom Opry Band that opened the show.
“Think about it, the Oak Ridge Boys have played theaters and stadiums before hundreds of thousands of people,” Suzanne said. “But here they are playing before about 600 people.
“They do it because they honor country music, and they care about country music fans. Those country fans are here tonight, and the Oak Ridge Boys are here for them. That’s why the Oak Ridge Boys are country music at heart.”
The Oaks enjoyed the cozy change of pace.
“We’ve been around a long time. It’s kind of hard to find a place we’ve never been before – but tonight we’re here at the Orange Blossom Opry for the first time,” Bonsall said early on.
“We love it,” he added. “You know what the best part is? There’s a wonderful lady backstage cooking some home-cooked meals. After we sing for you, we’re going to eat – that’s what the Oak Ridge Boys do, sing and eat.”
The quartet was backed by a six-piece band that featured three guitars, a steel guitar, keyboards and drums. The Oaks opened with a brief “Come On In” and then went into full-fledged county rock on “American Made.”
The Oaks seemed to be riding in power drive on this night as they rattled off a stream of hits that warmed up the inside of the Opry on a cold Florida night. Golden, wearing dark shades that accentuated his trademark, snow-white, flowing beard, took the baritone lead on “Louisiana Red Dirt Highway.”
“Now we’re going to do our first hit from 1977,” Bonsall said, as he led the group into “Y’All Come Back Saloon.” Next came the hot fiddle, steel guitar and clogging swamp sound of “Leaving Louisiana In The Broad Daylight.” The Boys showed their early rock roots on a downright bluesy “Roll Tennessee River.”
But these boys also have a deep, serious side. Bonsall knows his way around a ballad and went soul deep on “I Guess It Never Hurts To Hurt Sometimes.”
Allen took center stage for a gripping, nostalgic number filled with memories of lost days on “Mama’s Table.” Allen closed his eyes for most of the song and seemed to be reliving personal moments from another time, singing, “There’s a memory on every scratch on Mama’s table.”
Another touching, personal number came when Bonsall sang “G.I. Joe and Lillie.” He dedicated the song to all veterans. He used spoken words to tell the story of a World War II soldier from Philadelphia who met and fell in love with a girl during the war. They came back home, bought a house, had kids and settled down. Years pass, and they wind up in a home for the elderly, and, eventually, “safe in the arms of Jesus.”
“(It’s) an American love story, not unlike many others,” Bonsall sang in a soft voice. “Except that G.I. Joe and Lillie was my father and my mother.”
That’s the kind of moment that country music crystalizes – a moment when the song becomes life, and life becomes art.
Golden performed another emotional number, “Thank God For Kids,” and at the end of the song, he tossed in the lyric, “Thank God for Grandkids,” to hearty applause.
The Oaks offered a couple of newer numbers from their album, “17th Avenue Revival.” It was produced by Dave Cobb, who wanted the group to get back to a raw, roots sound.
“Pray to Jesus,” had some licks straight out of Chuck Berry and Hank Williams. It also had the memorable lyric: “We don’t want to be buried in debt and sin/So we pray to Jesus and play the lotto.”
“There Will Be Light” was a traditional Southern gospel and offered spiritual inspiration. “Joy comes every morning and outshines the darkness of night/So hold on to the morning/ There will be light.”
Golden added to the sacred atmosphere with another gospel number, “I’d Rather Have Jesus.”
The concert ended, fittingly enough, with The Oaks most famous song: “Elvira.” That gave Sterban an opportuning to deliver one of the classic bass lines in popular music history: “oom poppa omm poppa mow.”
Now that is true country music poetry.
“I love it because the Oak Ridge Boys are the real deal,” said Villager Jim Oxendine, who attended the concert with his wife, Jan. “That’s why they mean so much to the people who love country music.”
Tony Violanti is a veteran journalist and writes for Villages-News.com.0