Started in the 1940’s as ‘The Oak Ridge Quartet,’ the Oak Ridge Boys have been what is arguably the face of gospel music for the past 60+ years. Since 1964, baritone duties have been handled by William Lee Golden, perhaps best known for his waist-length hair and beard. I had a chance to sit down with the 72 year old recently at his ‘Golden Era Plantation’ in Hendersonville, Tennessee.
Me: First of all, thanks for having me. You’ve got a lovely estate here.
WLG: Why, thank you. Yeah, the home was actually built in 1786 and is recognized as being the oldest brick structure in this part of Tennessee.
Me: Well, it certainly is stately.
WLG: Oh, absolutely. We had to renovate and remodel—R and R, as I like to call it—after a tornado hit us in 2006. Took the whole top of the house off.
Me: Oh, wow.
WLG: Yeah, but life goes on. God is good.
Me: So William, tell me about the history of the band—your history with the band, I should say—you’ve been doing it since ’64. That’s mighty impressive.
WLG: Well, thank you. Again, all praises due to God. It’s been a long road, but I love touching the lives of so many people. It’s been an amazing opportunity. To see the smile on kids faces when we start into ‘American Made’ or ‘So Fine,’ it just feels great.
Me: Wait… kids really come to your shows? See, I wouldn’t think that anyone under 60 would be in the audience.
WLG: Well, grandparents often bring the young ones.
Me: I see…
WLG: Yeah, we’re building up new fans everyday. We’ve got a website and we had a fan club for teens where you could get autographed photos and a little card you carry in your billfold. Really cute stuff. And Joe (Bonsall, tenor) set up a Myspace page for us a few years back, but it got hacked and there were lots of pornography bots on the page and so we had to shut ‘er down.
Me: Well, yeah, I’d imagine. You’re a gospel group, very wholesome, and I’m sure you wouldn’t be supportive of stuff like that.
WLG: Absolutely not. And Richard (Sterban, bass) had a pornography addiction back in the 80’s—he’s very open about it—and it really almost sent him into a tailspin. ‘Technology is a necessary evil.’ I think Ben Franklin said that.
Me: No he didn’t. That doesn’t make any sense.
WLG: Regardless, I don’t use the computer too much.
Me: So tell me about the backstory. How did you meet up with the group, what were you doing before, that kind of thing.
WLG: Well, I was 25, maybe 26 when I joined the band. Before that, I kicked around the south a lot, playing in honky-tonks with my band Billy Rape and Rapers—this was before rape meant what it does today, mind you—
Me: That doesn’t make any sense. Rape has always meant the same thing.
WLG: No, no—it’s like ‘fag’ or ‘gay.’ See, back in the olden times, a fag was a smoke and if you were gay, you were just a happy person, not someone corn-holing another male in the back of a pornographic bookstore. See, Rape was Billy’s last name, so that’s what we went with. Anywho, it was a dark time. I was doing lots of pills—speed, mostly—and hustling strangers at billiards after gigs. It wasn’t the way the Lord wanted me to live.
Me: Obviously.
WLG: Luckily, I met Richard at a gig in Paducah—kind of a funny story, he was stabbing a cat to death in the alley outside of the bar—and he asked me to come sing with him and some friends and the rest is history.
Me: Whoa—stabbing a cat to death? That’s insane. Please explain.
WLG: No, I don’t think I will. Let’s talk about "Elvira". (stroking beard)
Me: Really? I thought that maybe you’d be tired of talking about it.
WLG: Are you shitting me? It’s the only hit we ever had. But the ORB’s on the map. Love that fucking song.
Me: Oh, alright. So, tell me about writing "Elvira"—how did it come about?
WLG: Honestly, I don’t remember. I was actually in the hospital for most of ’81 when it was being written. I think they wrote it in April of that year and I’d OD’d on amphetamines the February before, so I don’t rightly recall, but I think Joe mostly came up with it. Once I was out of the hospital, we went to Nashville and cut the track over the course of three days. It took off like a rocket after that, started getting lots of spins and before we knew it, it was winning a Grammy in ’82. Holy shit, that was some kinda crazy.
Me: Wait—can we go back to the overdose thing? That seems pretty important.
WLG: Nah. (pets beard) It’s almost lunchtime and I gotta get a scoot on.
Me: Um… oh… well, yeah, okay. I guess? So then, what’s for lunch?
WLG: Chicken nuggets and tater tots.
Me: Wow! You can still eat that kinda thing at your age?
WLG: Well, I ain’t s’posed ta, but if you won’t tell my doctor, I won’t either. (winks)
Me: Um, that was kinda creepy.
WLG: What’s that, now?
Me: I said that was creepy—when you winked at me just then.
WLG: Really? Or was it that you liked it a little too much, friend? (rubs beard seductively, winks again)
Me: Please stop that.
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