Culture
Backstage at Opry, Oak Ridge Boys’ Joe Bonsall details ‘Elvira’ lead, memorializes Loretta Lynn, Naomi Judd, Jody Miller
By: Ian Saint
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MARIETTA, Ohio (WOUB) – In the half-century since tenor Joe Bonsall joined the Oak Ridge Boys — remarkably, he remains the newest member — the group has had 17 songs shoot to the top of the U.S. country charts. They have performed everywhere from Monte Carlo to Air Force One’s Oval Office in-flight. They are inductees of both the Gospel Music Hall of Fame (2000) and Country Music Hall of Fame (2015), in addition to the hallowed Grand Ole Opry (2011).
In 1981, the Oak Ridge Boys suddenly struck gold with a monster pop crossover hit: Elvira. Bonsall is the Oak Ridge Boy who sang the impassioned lead vocal, that continues to mesmerize and invigorate audiences of all ages while he croons it as a great-grandfather today.
When the Oak Ridge Boys performed at Marietta’s Peoples Bank Theatre last year WOUB spoke at length with their unmistakable bass singer, Richard Sterban. The group returns to the Peoples Bank Theatre tomorrow.
In between Marietta engagements, the Oak Ridge Boys performed in a Grand Ole Opry program that also featured Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood, in addition to the Opry debut for Miko Marks. WOUB’s Ian Saint spoke with Bonsall backstage from Dressing Room #1, named after the King of Country Music himself: Roy Acuff.
Bonsall and Saint had a career-spanning conversation. They discussed the unlikely origins of Elvira’s recording and pop chart reign, the Oak Ridge Boys drawing audiences of multi-generational families while Bonsall is a great-grandfather, how the Oak Ridge Boys nearly had the song that became Wynonna Judd’s breakout single as a solo artist, and Bobbie Gentry’s decision to suddenly vanish from public engagement. Bonsall also paid homage to several queens of country music: Jody Miller, Loretta Lynn, and Naomi Judd — the latter two of whom hail from Eastern Kentucky.
The Oak Ridge Boys return to the historic Peoples Bank Theatre (222 Putnam St.) in Marietta on Friday, August 4. For tickets, and a full tour itinerary, visit oakridgeboys.com/tour.