The Oak Ridge Boys

The Oak Ridge Boys are an American vocal quartet. The group consists of Duane Allen (lead), William Lee Golden (baritone), Richard Sterban (bass), and Ben James, who replaced Joe Bonsall as tenor in December of 2023. Allen, Bonsall, Golden, and Sterban comprised the group's longest-lasting lineup, from 1973 until 2023, except for the period between 1987 and 1995 when Golden was replaced by Steve Sanders.The act was founded in 1943 as Wally Fowler and the Georgia Clodhoppers, but were soon known as The Oak Ridge Quartet. They became popular in Southern gospel in the 1950s and their name was changed to Oak Ridge Boys in the 1960s. They moved from traditional southern gospel to contemporary gospel before going into popular music in the mid-1970s.The Oak Ridge Boys finally broke through in the late 1970s, including their appearance on "Slip Slidin' Away" with Paul Simon, and reached their commercial peak in 1981 with their cover of "Elvira", a Top 5 hit on the Billboard Hot 100.The core group that eventually led to the Oak Ridge Boys was a country group called Wally Fowler and the Georgia Clodhoppers, formed in 1943 in Knoxville, Tennessee. They were requested to perform for staff members and their families restricted during World War II at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory in nearby Oak Ridge, Tennessee. They were asked to sing there so often that eventually they changed their name to the Oak Ridge Quartet, and because their most popular songs were gospel, Fowler decided to focus solely on Southern gospel music. At the time, the quartet was made up of Wally Fowler, Lon "Deacon" Freeman, Curly Kinsey, and Johnny New. This group began recording in 1947. Wally Fowler and the Oak Ridge Quartet were members of the Grand Ole Opry in the 1940s. In 1949, the other three men split from Fowler to form a new group, Curley Kinsey and the Tennessee Ridge Runners, so Fowler hired an existing group, the Calvary Quartet, to reform the Oak Ridge Quartet. Walt Cornell sang baritone for the Oak Ridge Quartet in the early 1950s. In 1957, Fowler sold the rights to the "Oak Ridge Quartet" name to group member Smitty Gatlin in exchange for forgiveness of a debt. As a result of more personnel changes, the group lost its tenor, so they lowered their arrangements and had Gatlin sing tenor, while the pianist, Tommy Fairchild, sang lead. They recorded an album for Cadence Records, then in 1958, they hired Willie Wynn to sing the tenor part, and Fairchild moved back exclusively to the piano. At this point, the group consisted of Fairchild, Wynn, Gatlin, baritone Ron Page, and bass Herman Harper. They recorded an album on the Checker Records label, one on Starday, and three on Skylite. In 1961, Gatlin changed the group's name to "the Oak Ridge Boys" because their producer, Bud Praeger, thought "Oak Ridge Quartet" was too old-fashioned.When Page left in 1962, Gary McSpadden, who had filled in for Jake Hess in the Statesmen Quartet, took over as baritone with the understanding that when Hess was ready to start a group, he would recruit McSpadden. They recorded another album on Skylite, and then two albums on Warner Bros. Records. When Hess followed through, McSpadden quit to join the Imperials. Jim Hamill (who later became a mainstay in the Kingsmen Quartet) was hired as his replacement. They made one album for Festival Records, one for Stateswood (Skylite's budget label), and two for Skylite. Hamill did not get along with the other Oaks, and William Lee Golden, a relative newcomer to the music industry, felt Hamill was hurting the act and suggested himself as a replacement. After Hamill's exit in 1964, Golden joined as baritone.

Biography summary from English Wikipedia, photograph via Wikimedia Commons.