The Oak Ridge Boys have announced they are on a farewell tour. The group started in the 1940s as a local gospel group around the “secret city” of Oak Ridge, Tennessee, where they performed for the scientists and technicians working on the atomic bomb. They evolved into a Country and Pop group after settling (with a short-term exception) on the current makeup. I guess that’s why they haven’t tried replacing members. Like with The Beach Boys (and with one exception, The Statlers), you can have new backup members and stand-ins, but the core is irreplaceable.
I try to remember things passing at their best, by the most essential or influential work. For yours truly anyway, on a sheer personal level, this is it:
