SignalsAZ.com Prescott News Podcast - William Lee Golden of the Oak Ridge Boys on Harmony & Healing

Episode Date: July 8, 2025

Send us a text and chime in!In this heartfelt and inspiring episode of Cast 11, Elicia sits down with country music icon William Lee Golden of the Oak Ridge Boys. From decades of harmony to personal heartbreak, William opens up about the band's emotional 2023, including the loss of fellow Oak Ridge Boy Joe Bonsall, and how music became their medicine.He shares intimate stories of singing through grief, reconnecting with family roots during the pandemic, and the legacy of their timeless hit "Elvira"—a song that still has kids dancing decades later.Plus, hear about their latest project Mama’s Boys, the uplifting new single “Come On Home,” and why this "Farewell Tour" might be the beginning of a new chapter.Check out the CAST11.com Website at: https://CAST11.com Follow the CAST11 Podcast Network on Facebook at: https://Facebook.com/CAST11AZFollow Cast11 Instagram at: https://www.instagram.com/cast11_podcast_network

Hey, everybody. Welcome back to cast 11. We are so honored today to be joined by William Lee Golden from the Oak Ridge Boys. How's the tour going so far? So far, so good. You know, the people are coming out and that's a good thing. That is a good thing. Yeah, and we're enjoying it, man. It's being able to get together and sing songs again after last year, you know. The opening. Boyd went through a lot of loss last year. The Wayne lost his beautiful wife for 54 years, unexpected on Easter morning, and I lost my oldest on July the 1st last year, and then we lost Joe Bonsel, our singing partner for over 50 years on July the 9th last year.

And so our tour was started, the farewell thing, was started, when Joe was still with us. And he only got to do about three months out there with us saying farewell to his fans. But yeah, last year was a heart-wrenching year. But we found that music helped lift us out

of the Valley of Sorrow. And it's been music that has a healing power for us. We knew how strong music was throughout our life. but when it hits close to home and you find that you're holding on to songs and music to lift you up out of a valley of sorrow and that's what we found. The Oak Ridge Boys have found healing and singing

and being together and singing songs and harmony. And it's healing mentally, emotionally, physically, and spiritual healing. And that's what we needed after last year. devastating losses to our group and to our families. But again, we're excited to sing. It's been an uplifting for us to get back together and sing songs. This year we'll be doing about 75 concert days.

Wow. And hopefully next year we get to do at least that many more. So we really don't want to quit singing the Oprah for the rest of us that are here. Yeah. We've had to deal with these loss and these different losses. But again, it's been the music and singing together in the heart. I mean, it's lifted us out of the valley of sadness that we've been dealing with. And I think that's so true for so many people.

Music has just always been that, you know, it's, I think, the best medicine. You know, when you're in a bad mood, you turn on your favorite song. When you're, when you're sad, you, you know, you get with your friends and you sing. I think that's just, you know, the perfect, I say we continue this farewell tour for years to come. I think that would be. I would like that myself. I know it's kind of like Keith Richard mentioned. When someone asked him, said, well, Pete, what is the will and so on is going to retire?

He said, retire. That would be like a death sentence for me. Yeah. So, and I understand that feeling, you know, if you, if you're struggling, with losing friends in one hand, and then all it wants you're not able to sing on the other hand, that would be a depressing thing to have to deal with in life. We spent our whole life being able to. The Oprah's boys, for years, we did like 150 days every year of a concert touring.

And years ago, and 45 years ago, when the pandemic hit, that's the first time. time that we had been sent home and wasn't able to get together and sing. But then we started getting together and singing and recorded an entire album during the pandemic. And I called my family together. They told us we couldn't gather in groups and said we couldn't go to church and all these things. So what we did is I got the family together. We got our instruments out. We got around the piano and acoustic instruments. We started playing and singing old songs. It lifted our spirit in the time of a pandemic,

not knowing what's going on. We had to turn off all the negative hate on television and get together and harmonize as a family, singing songs of a family. And I took my kids and grandkids back to where it all started. Songs at my mother and my sister. taught me when I was six and seven years old, teaching me how to sing harmony and play rhythm guitar. I played guitar and sing harmonies when I was real little. And my sister played Madeline.

She's real talented, and she was the talented in one of our family. She's the one taught me to play guitar and sing harmonies, and she could play guitar, Madeline, and piano. She still plays those things. She must have. Again, that... Wilkridge boys, it's been a uplifting thing for us to be able to get together. And after all of these years, it's like we find that being close together, that we understand the loss that we've been through. Sometimes when other people don't, it's uplifting to us to be able to harmonize.

And when we get together and sing in concert, I would say that we're probably getting as much good out of it or more because it's just, it's been so uplifting and accelerating to be together again and sing harmony. You know, we were sent home for the pandemic and then getting back out and singing songs together. Well, and it makes me so happy to hear that because you hear a band, you brought up Rolling Stones and, you know, of course, Aerosmith, and you hear of all of those times when they've, you know, breaking the band, everybody split up and they had to try to come back together.

You guys have had such a strong group dynamic for so many years. What is the secret to maintaining that? What, I mean, it sounds like you guys have just been peace, love and, you know, gospel music for, you know, this whole time and just gotten along so well. What do you attribute that to? Well, again, it's the bottom line is some music, and it's what we chose to do in life. As young people, I know I did,

that I made a commitment to myself, that I was going to go for it. I was going to put everything I had in playing and singing music. And I had an opportunity, and I took it. you know, that's what you do with your opportunities. I wanted to sing with the Oak Ridge Boys,

and I went to them and told them that I did and asked them that they had another change in the group and I would like an opportunity to try out for the position. And a couple of months later, Smitty Gatlin called me. He was a lead singer in Chicago.

Yeah. And he said, man, we're in the Eagle Mariton. Are you still in the, you know, are you still up to trying out? Yeah. I said, absolutely. And so that's how it all happened will be. But each guy here replaced a great singer before us.

Right. So I think that it's not our position to try to shut something down that was started way before any of us ever joined. Our group goes, it's got a long history. So there's been several great. singers. But it just happened

that the four of us that have been singing together for 50 years

that's the group that had success and songs that were on the radio

and so but yeah we're so thankful for that because like I

said before music has a healing power and that's what we need more often these days

and we're used to. Yeah, now more than ever for sure. I was going to ask you about your iconic look. It is legendary. Did you, have you always had the beard? You've always had this look? Or did it kind of evolve with your career? Well, it kind of evolved, I guess, with my career. I joined the Oaks in 1965. And then it was in 1980 when I lost my laser. And so I still have it found the razor. And that's been what, 45 years ago? 45 years.

Well, don't ever find it because I think it's a great, great look. So I was going to, I researched you guys a lot, getting ready for this. And you've won, you know, Oak Ridge Boys have won a few awards. And a couple, you've been inducted to a couple of things. You want to share some of the stuff that you guys have accomplished over the years? Well, we've won maybe five grandmas. Yeah. They're still close to our heart.

We're so thankful for each one. And we've won ACM awards. We won CMA Awards, Country Mutual Awards. But it's not always about what awards you want. Of course. It's kind of what can you do today. you know, how do you feel today and still have the same passion

for singing that you had in the beginning. I say, yes, I do. And I think most every guy in the book always has that same passion. So it's the love and the passion for music and singing itself that has kept us together. And it's a being able to sing together

that's kept us all together. And having love and respectful who what each guy brings to the table for is there, you know, so singing and talents. So it's a lot of those things. We have to have a love and respect for each other. I think. You've made it this far. Just to, you know, listen to what you're saying is, you know, you look at some bands and there's, you know, the star, the lead singer, the, you know, the guy, the front man.

I feel like the Oak Ridge Boys, you're all the front man. You're all the group. It's, it, I think it's hard for me to put a, you know, I don't want to just make assumptions, but it doesn't seem to be ego driven at all. It's just some good old boys getting together and singing and playing together. Yeah, well, you can't allow egos to come in and mess up. But egos, oh, it's something that you have to have a little bit of an ego. Of course.

You don't want to do things. And we all have to be realist of what we do. And where we're coming from. I never forget where I've come from. In fact, I still go back to our family farm in South Alabama, right on the Florida line. I grew up on a big cotton peanut farm. We grow wheat, soybean, mainly. And that's where I learned to play music and sing.

It was out in the country. Perfect. And that's what I still love. Connecting with your roots. You guys have had, you've had so much success, but when was, was there a moment where you realized Oak Ridge Boys are part of the American music history? You can't, you can't mention the Oak Ridge Boys, and I can't imagine there's anyone around that goes, I'm sorry, who? Everyone knows the Oak Ridge Boys. When did that?

Go ahead. So I'm not sure when, to me, it's like you wake up every day and it's, you got to continue. As you were yesterday or better. You know, we continue to grow in life and we continue to grow in our singing career. If we pursue it and that's what we have to realize is every day has its own memories. And it's up to us to make the memories of each day. but again, it takes a group effort to do what we do. You've got to have at least four or five people in one accord.

So again, music has a bit of powerful source for us. It moved us in life as young people, and it continues to resonate deep inside of us. And we are the worst that inspired. artists and we still get inspired by a great young talent. Country music is in an exciting place right now. It is. You know, these young talents that are as talented as ever been, even more talent it seems like.

I am a rock and roll girl from way back when, and there were two things I would have never listened to, country or Western. And I'm going to tell you right now, country has turned around. It's just changed my mind. I just, and I think, too, as you, I've gotten a little older, but I appreciate it now. You know, when you're a kid, you don't even think to appreciate things that you're not, you know, around. I appreciate country. I appreciate the music.

And it is an exciting time in country music. And it's, but even as a girl that wasn't a country girl or even, you know, into gospel music, we all knew Elvira. We all knew that song. and we were all singing it. Did you have any idea it was going to be such a massive hit? Well, we didn't when we recorded it, but it was after we sang it

for the first weekend out on the road. I remember the first night we put Elvara in the concert. We had rehearsed that afternoon. Before the show, we were in Spokane, Washington, and at the big arena, the new songs off of a new album, we had just finished.

But to drop them into the middle of the show, we didn't say anything about the song. We just sang it. The end of that song, I've never heard such a tremendous ovation and screaming and yelling and clapping and stomping. Wow. It would not stop, just would not stop. And we stood back and waited and it just went on and on and on. So we looked at each other and said, what do we do? We said, let's sing it again.

Yeah, I was going to say. Hey, let's do it again, and you did that. That's great. And it was the same response the next time. We wound up singing it three times there, and it was the same response each time. But the end of the third time, we said, hey, we got more songs to sing here.

And so we finished the rest of the show, but nothing we did. Yeah. Got the audience up to the excitement that they did on Elvira. So at the very end of the show, it still wasn't exciting as it was earlier, and we did Elvara one more time as the last song we did, and it was again the same response.

We did that the next night in Seattle. It was the same response. And the following night in Portland, Oregon, was the same response. We called the label on Monday morning and said, hey, we don't know what you've got in mind to release off of this album as a single. But this is what's happening. with this song El Vyla every night. And so your life want to think about that and check it out.

They did and boom, it was released. It was a record setting, lashing up the charts to number one in country. It's still right over to the middle of the load of music and pop and rock and roll. Everybody was singing on Popple Mal Now in the summer of 1981. I was. I was nine years old.

Don't tell anybody, but I was singing. Um, bop, boom, bach, um, ma'amana. And what's funny is I had my nine-year-old granddaughter listening to that song. And I said, now, wait a minute. She's listening. She's like, okay. And then it dropped. And she was like, oh, okay, she's dancing with me.

And my little two-year-old granddaughter is dancing with me. And so it's spanning generations. And so it's just, I was like, it's okay, it's about to drop. Listen. And they loved it. were just, and for days to come, I still heard them, you know, singing it around the house. So it's just such a catchy, it's, it's, I love, I forgot about it for a minute and I pulled it out and I was like, wow, this is, it still is great today. So congratulations on that. It's, it was awesome.

Well, thank you. And it still is. I mean, it's, there was a girl, we did a video on it a couple years ago. Yes. Maybe three years ago when Joe was still here. And we had a bunch of young people going down with us there in a club at Nashville to do that video. And one of the girls was saying that her little daughter was three years old and that she wanted her to replay it every time. I mean, she would say play it again, play it again. Because she was a part of the video and singing that song on the,

is a cover band on stage, you know. I watched it. Anyhow, but her daughter, she was so excited that her daughter had not been that excited about a song in her life, basically, and how it was a big of the little kids at the time that it was first released. So I love that you, you know, you had a couple young kids in there. you had kid rock you had big and rich in this remake of the in the video and this was the only music video you guys ever did and how great it must be to have you know your buddy's still there

and but you had a couple you know up-and-coming rock legends or well rock and country legends in that video and just a great video and have you guys in the background it was awesome it was so it was such a well-done video also have a brand new video a brand new song that we did because we found Oak Ridge Boys

with our last five albums was produced by Dave Dave Cobb Dave Cobb produces all of Chris Stapleton's albums He played on the road The last five albums And there's a song that he brought to us

One of us. Our current album was titled by Dave Cobb The producer. He wanted us to do a song about mothers, our mothers and mom's songs. We wanted to title of the album, Mama's Boys. So there's a new song on that album that he got Aaron Ratured who write a song for the album. And it's a song called Come On Home.

We did a new video with that, and it kind of features Ben James, our young kid that's singing tenor with us now. The new kid on the block. Yeah, he's a guy that, he's. was a guy playing the part of leaving home and going out on the road in his high mile catalanx and calling back home from a truck stock in LA and his mother telling him to come on home. But yeah, it's a touching song, but it's an uptempo, uplifting type song. So if you get a chance to play, come on home.

Let the people hear what it sounds like. It's brand new and it's off of our brand. have you almost for itself. Well, we will definitely link that to our interview. And this was so wonderful for you to, you know, to call in and talk with us. And I'm so excited for, you know, that you're touring. And, you know, like I said, I hope the Farewell Tour goes on for years to come. And just thank you for everything that you guys have done for music and for, you know, just for being who you guys are.

and thank you for joining us today. All right. Well, we will definitely get tickets. You guys are going to be out there. You go to any of the ticket sites, but Heela River Resorts and Casinos at Wild Horse Pass. They're in Monterey right now. They're just catch them, catch you. And I'm hoping that you end the show with Elvira.

Please tell me that that's your finale. Yeah, we would definitely be doing Elvara. Excellent. Oh, of course. Of course. Well, thank you so much. And I just look forward to seeing you guys on Thursday. Great.

We'll see you in the out, Alicia. All right. Thank you so much. Thanks for the time here today. All right. You are welcome. Thank you so much. All right.