The Oak Ridge Boys
FRONT ROW SEATS. . .Those words immediately cause the pulse of any music lover to start racing a little. They are synonymous with experiencing great music in an up close and personal way, close enough to soak up every nuance of expression and each emotionally-charged moment. Those words are a perfect title for the newest offering from the legendary Oak Ridge Boys.
Front Row Seats (Spring Hill Music) is a potent new addition to one of country musics most celebrated discographies. For more than three decades, Duane Allen, William Lee Golden, Joe Bonsall and Richard Sterban have helped define the face of Americas musical landscape with hits in the country, Gospel and pop music fields. The group has celebrated the joys and challenges of life in such timeless hits as "Thank God for Kids", "I Guess It Never Hurts To Hurt Sometimes", "Y'all Come Back Saloon" and "Dream On." They've also served up pure escapist delight in such hits as the multi-format smash "Elvira."
Though the Oaks have amassed an enviable collection of CMA, Dove and Grammy Awards, its not past glory that has them so excited these days. Its the new songs that comprise Front Row Seats. As the title suggests, the songs have a personal feel. They relay values that resonate strongly with the Oaks yet have a universal appeal. Listeners will relive the tingly excitement of a burgeoning relationship as William Lee sings the lively Something in the Water. Tears will well up as Duane shares the story of two soul mates on their journey from heaven to Oxford to Dallas and back to the Pearly Gates in the poignant ballad "Until You Get There". The opening track, "Hard to Be Cool (In A Minivan)", is a fun tune most married men will relate to as it so aptly states the obvious: "It's hard to be cool in a minivan."
Robert K. Oermann, well-known Country music historian and critic for Music Row magazine, who recently got a taste of the new album at a live show, declared the new songs "the best things I've heard them sing in 20 years."
Silky voiced Texan Duane Allen, who co-produced the new release, can take most of the credit for rounding up this incredible collection. When he initially began gathering songs, he was looking for new tunes to place on a greatest hits box set. "About three months before the process of recording would start, I sent a mailing out to my hot list. I have probably 80-100 names of publishers, songwriters and song pluggers, and I told them we were to cut what would basically be a greatest hits album and I needed songs," recalls Duane. "I said, They've got to sound like hits. They've got to sound like they just came off radio because they're going to be played back to back with songs that have been hits. So as I closed my email to all the industry song people, I said, Give me your very best shot and just send me, at the most, three songs. Well, they did exactly what I asked them to do, and I got the best songs I've ever gotten since weve been recording."
Allen recalls playing the songs hed selected for his fellow Oaks on a bus trip home from a New Years Eve show in Minnesota. "Everybody came up to the front of the bus, and we started listening, and you could tell everybody was getting excited," he says. "By the time I got through with the 19 songs that I picked for them to listen to, the conversation had changed."
Instead of assembling a greatest hits package, the Oaks were fired up about recording a new country album. "This is all cutting edge, in-your-face, very aggressive country music like we've never been pitched before," Duane says. "We need to look at our career and look at the fact that were still in the country music business. We've been doing all different kinds of albums, but this is an opportunity for us to get back on mainstream country radio."
Indeed the songs, penned by some of Nashville's top songwriters, could easily take their place at the top of the charts alongside hits by any of today's current crop of country acts. Some songs sound a lot like what you hear on radio from Keith Urban or Toby Keith or Rascal Flatts, any of the artists that are on radio right now burning up the charts, says Allen. "We've got several songs that are right in that bag. We've also got some that are traditional just like you've heard The Oak Ridge Boys do for years."
Sterban, like the other Oaks, is excited about the caliber of songs on Front Row Seats. "Duane goes out there and looks for songs all the time, and he's established a great rapport with all the song pluggers in town," says Sterban. "He told them he just wanted their best songs this time, and I think they did send their best. I'm really excited."
Sterban, whose deep rich bass vocals have helped define the Oaks sound, takes lead on the compelling ballad "A Feeling Like That." "It's probably one of the best songs I've ever heard Richard do," says Duane.
"Joe has four leads on the album," he continues, "including one titled 'Smaller'. You've heard all the songs about bigger is better. Well this song says at this point in life I'm thinking about getting smaller. I want my friends to gather around me. I want to get the things I value the most and get them closer to me. Bigger isn't better, it's smaller. It's a very sweet song, and I think Joe does it in this really sweet voice like he did on 'I Guess It Never Hurts to Hurt Sometimes'."
"Duane loves that song and it is an incredible number," Joe says of 'Smaller'. "I think I cut it exactly the way he was hearing it. He's very happy with it. That is an example of what a producer does, and Duane Allen working with Michael Sykes have once again come up with a tremendous group of tunes to sing."
William Lee says the group is just as enthusiastic about recording today as they ever were. "It's about loving the music and loving to sing," he says. "We all love harmony. That's what The Oak Ridge Boys are about is harmony. Finding this fresh new material has been really refreshing for us. This is some of the most exciting music we've done in years. I think we've all got great songs that we've chosen."
William Lee sings lead on four cuts on the new album, and among his favorites is a song called "Heaven's a Small Town". Theres also a fun, up-tempo song called "Something in the Water." One of the songs that is near and dear to his heart is "Didn't It Rain", which was written by Golden's longtime friend Wild Bill Emerson. "My wife, Brenda, and I couldn't get it out of our minds," says William Lee. "We sang the chorus to our son, Solomon. It's about Noah's Ark, and it's an infectious song. I took it in and played it for our producer and the other guys, and they did such a good job when we recorded it. It's an old Bible story song with a country feel."
This recorded concert comes to a close with "Did I Make a Difference." Duane turns in a powerful performance on the thoughtful song that encourages us all to evaluate how we live our lives and the legacy well leave behind. The chorus asks:
Did I raise my voice in defense of the truth?
Did I lift my hand to the destitute?
When my race is run, when my song is sung,
Will I have to wonder--did I make a difference?
The Oaks, who make their homes in Hendersonville, Tenn., will be taking these songs on the road this fall as they continue their hectic tour schedule. Last year the group was awarded the Living Legend Award from the International Entertainment Buyers Association (IEBA) for their years of touring and impact on the industry, and the group was honored with an exhibit in Nashville's Country Music Hall of Fame. This year the Oaks were honored with the Fame Award from the National Association of Music Educators for their spirited leadership of the National Anthem Project, a campaign to teach our national anthem to people all over the country.
"At this point in our career, we have a great appreciation for the fact that were still around singing when a lot of our colleagues and fellow singers and musicians have seemed to hang it up," says William Lee. "But I can't imagine life without doing what we love to do and we love to sing."
Adds Joe, "We've recreated ourselves once again. We have some great new music for our show and people are still coming out to hear The Oak Ridge Boys. How cool!"
