Oak Ridge Boys; From left to right: Ben James, Duane Allen, William Lee Golden and Aaron Lee McCune. Photo credit: Brandon Wood/IndieBling

In a Zoom interview with William Lee Golden of the Oak Ridge Boys on August 25th, the day of the passing of Dolly Parton, the country music legend discussed his memories with the Queen of country music, as well as his upcoming concert with the Oak Ridge Boys in Pigeon Forge.

“It's a sad day for us here in Nashville, and I know it is for a lot of you in the Smoky Mountains,” Golden said. “I heard the news today of losing Dolly Parton. It's been heart-wrenching for all of us. Anyhow, I just heard that news myself. I know y'all are close to Dolly here because she's from that area in East Tennessee.

Golden and the other band members have worked with Parton numerous times beginning in the 1960s when both she and the Oak Ridge Boys were first rising to prominence in the industry.

“The last time we were around her, we were rehearsing,” Golden recounted. She was doing some rehearsals for her songs for Kenny Rogers, honoring his lifetime in music. We were invited to sing during this event. And it wasn't long before Kenny passed away. And that was the last time we'd been around Dolly. But through the years, we go back to when we were working with Dolly on the Porter Wagner Show. That was in the 1960s, I guess. The late 60s, when Duane (Allen) first joined the band, we did Porter Wagner's show when Dolly was there.”

Golden continued, “Dolly is one of the most real people you'll ever meet in your life. Some people will put on one persona and behind the scenes they become a different person. I never heard Dolly say anything bad about anybody. She was never mad at anybody, and she loved everybody. I mean, it was a real deal with her. She had a deep love for everybody and especially people who liked her music and appreciated her talent. She's a wonderful person. Of all the people we've ever lost, that's one of the greatest losses Nashville has ever had that I can remember.”

Golden discussed the upcoming concert. For the Oak Ridge Boys. At Country Tonight, Pigeon Forge on September 25th. The show begins at 8:00 PM. Over the past two years, the Oak Ridge Boys have had a couple of personnel changes due to the untimely death of Joe Bonsall and health complications suffered by Richard Sturban.

Golden Recounted memories of some of their career highlights and memorable moments in the 50 years that he's been with the band. Perhaps one of the most memorable moments was the night that the band first performed “Elvira” before a live audience.

"Elvira was 16 years old when the Oak Ridge Boys recorded it. I heard Dallas Frazier's version of it when he first recorded it. I also heard it on Kenny Rogers from when he was singing with the First Edition. Rodney Crowell recorded it and had it on his album. No band had a step-out bass that did the oom papa mau mau. That set our version different from anyone else's version.”

The band recorded the song, and the first public performance of the song, the results were unlike anything the seasoned performer had ever experienced.

“The first time we performed the song was in Spokane, WA,’ Golden recounted. “We dropped it in the middle of the show just to see how it feels. At the end of that song, I never heard the crowd explode the way that one did with such enthusiasm, and they would not stop. We backed up and looked at each other and said What do we do now? And we're just standing there, and they are going wild. So, we decided to sing it again. We sang it again. It was the same reaction. They would not stop. We wound up singing it three times. We felt like it could be just a fluke. The next night in Seattle, we dropped it in the middle of the show. And we had to sing it three times as well. At the end of the show, we threw it back one more time. It was the same reaction.

“We did it the next night in Portland, OR. To the same reaction. On Monday morning, I called our record producer, and I told him. You might want to think about Elvira for our next single. They dropped it as the next single. It went to the top in record time. In the summer of 1981, everyone in America was singing oom papa mau mau. The song was a showstopper.”

A new generation of entertainers has joined the Oak Ridge Boys. Ben James from Hickory, North Carolina, was brought in to replace Joe Bonsall, who died in 2024. Aaron McCune was brought in to replace Richard Sterban, who is battling cancer. The two younger replacements are joined by veterans Golden and Duane Allen, who both joined the band 60 years ago.

Tickets are on sale at Countrytonitepf.com or by calling the theater at 865-453-2003.