He talks of loss of bandmate, getting to know Elvis, making a hard choice; concert July 31 at Ocean City Music Pier
By KYLE McCRANE
For the Sentinel
OCEAN CITY – Country Music Hall Of Famers the Oak Ridge Boys are bringing their trademark vocals to the Music Pier Wednesday, July 31.
Since 1972 their bass singer has been New Jersey’s own Richard Sterban, prominently featured in signature tune “Elvira.”
Performing in Ocean City is a bit of a homecoming for Sterban.
“I was born in Camden and I went to high school in Collingswood, New Jersey,” Sterban explained, “and for one year I actually went to college in Trenton, which was called Trenton State College (now T.C.N.J.).”
Sadly, the show comes just weeks after the group lost fellow longtime member Joe Bonsall following his long battle with ALS.
The loss of bandmate
Joe Bonsall to ALS
“Joe was certainly my best friend,” Sterban said, “and he would say the same about me; there’s no question about that. We knew each other before we ever became members of the Oak Ridge boys. We were both from this part of the country and I had organized my own group and Joe had a family band with his sister singing. I had a part-time job and we would sing on weekends. I sold men’s clothes at Gimbels in Philadelphia.
“For years in Philadelphia there was a department store called Gimbel Brothers. Back then Joe would come in and occasionally would buy a shirt from me. But he would come in and mainly he and I would talk. We’d talk about singing and music, but we had no idea in those days that someday we would be in the Oak Ridge Boys together and spend over 50 years together singing.”
“He was special,” Sterban said. “Joe was a special person. He made everyone around him better. Many times I would get around him when I was having a bad day. Your day wouldn’t stay bad for long if you were around Joe, he was that kind of a person. He’d make you smile and laugh and brighten your day. So many people loved him. There’s no question, it’s a tough loss right now.”
Sterban said even though they knew his death was coming, it was difficult when it happened.
“We’re all mourning right now but we’re not going to let that bother us. When we come to Ocean City we have a great young kid to take Joe’s place and we’re going to do our best to make it a great night. So we’re still looking forward and we’re still planning ahead. So that’s the good part.”
Backup for Elvis
As a young man in the early 1970s Sterban went from South Jersey to Memphis, Tenn., and joined the Stamps Quartet, soon finding himself on back-up vocals for none other than Elvis Presley.
“For about a year-and-a-half I had the honor, privilege maybe is the better way to put it, to sing with the king of rock ’n’ roll,” he said. “Back then Elvis was the biggest star in the world, his tour was the biggest tour in the music business, and to be a part of it was very, very exciting. I have some great memories of those times.
“I got to know Elvis just a little bit and it was a special time in my life. Now that many years have passed, I look back and I’m so glad I was able to experience that,” he said.
Soon the gig that would shape his life came calling.
“While I was singing with Elvis something very special happened to me,” Sterban said. “I got a phone call one day and it was from William Lee Golden of the Oak Ridge Boys. He called me way back in 1972 and said the Oak Ridge Boys’ bass singer was leaving the group, was going to get off the road, and wanted to know if I was interested in taking the job. Now here I was, apparently on top of the world, singing with Elvis, but I had to make a decision. What do I do? And I have to admit I was a big fan of the Oak Ridge Boys, I loved the music they were making and I really believed in my heart the group had a great deal of potential and I wanted to be a part of it.
“So I made the decision to leave Elvis and join the Oak Ridge Boys. Back then a lot of people asked, ‘How could you do that?’ But I really believed I was doing the right thing, I worked hard, and now 52 years later I look back and think I made a pretty good decision, no question about it.”
Back then, he said, he was a young guy in his 20s and didn’t know he would end up being in the same Hall of Fame as Elvis.
If you go into the Country Music Hall Of Fame in downtown Nashville you see the four faces of the Oak Ridge Boys on the wall in bronze. Then you look around the room and you see Elvis in bronze, you see Johnny Cash, you see Dolly Parton, Kenny Rogers, the biggest names in country music. For the Oak Ridge Boys to be part of that family is so special it’s almost beyond words. I’ve been very fortunate and very blessed.”
Part of the decision to join the group was Sterban’s desire for a more featured role than backing vocals.
“I was kind of standing in the dark most of the night,” Sterban said. “I was doing ‘oohs’ and ‘ahhs’ and singing background harmonies and most people in the audience didn’t know or care who I was, and my personal aspirations were beyond that. I’m so honored to say I got to know Elvis and he was a special guy, but I wanted to be more than a back-up singer. I followed my heart.”
Early in his tenure Sterban had the opportunity to appear with the group on national TV on “Hee Haw.”
“That was great,” he said. “Every now and then they’ll show reruns of those old ‘Hee Haw’ shows and I see proof right there on TV that I was actually young once. It was a great experience. It was definitely a special time. It was a lot of fun doing that show; people didn’t take that show seriously and we had a lot of fun doing it. But it was great exposure for the Oak Ridge Boys.”
Johnny Cash’s influence
and his support
More exposure came their way when they recorded a record with Johnny Cash the following year.
“We’ve had a lot of special people that have come into our lives over our career and been influential in helping us,” Sterban said, “and the name Johnny Cash comes right at the top of that list. There’s no question about it, I don’t think we would be here today if it wasn’t for Johnny Cash.
“Years ago Johnny Cash took us under his wing, so to speak. He made us a part of his show and he gave us exposure to people who never knew who we were. One thing about Johnny Cash, he always paid us more than the agreed amount. He always gave us a tip, as it were; he knew we were struggling financially and he tried to help us. But I think more than his financial help, his words of encouragement were very, very special.”
Sterban said they were playing Las Vegas with Cash but didn’t have any other dates booked and didn’t know what they were going to do.
“We didn’t know how we were going to keep our group together, really, and our heads were hanging a bit. Johnny Cash, I think, could tell so one day in the middle of the week he called us up in the afternoon and said, ‘Fellas, I want you to come up to my room. I want to talk to you guys for a while.’ I thought, ‘Wow, I wonder what this is about.’ So we all went to Johnny Cash’s room and he said, ‘Fellas, I can tell you’re discouraged and your heads are hanging a little bit. You have no clue how you’re going to keep your group going.’
“He said, ‘But I can also tell there’s something very special with the four of you. When you guys sing together there’s something there – you can’t buy that with money. There’s something very special and the good Lord’s given you a special talent. If you give up now you’re never going to realize your dreams.’”
Cash told them he wanted them to stay together.
“I’ll help you as much as I can and I’ve been trying to do that. I can give you a little bit of extra money along the way but it’s still going to be up to you to stay together,’ he said,” according to Sterban. “‘If you do that, I give you my word, I promise you that good things are about to come for you guys. Take my word for it.’
“So I remember that day. He said, ‘You guys are going to make it, there’s no doubt about it.’
“Walking out of Johnny Cash’s room, instead of our heads hanging, we all looked at each other thinking, ‘Wow, Johnny Cash thinks we’re going to make it. Well, we’re going to make it.’ And he was right.”
It wasn’t long after that the Oak Ridge Boys signed a major label deal and, as they say, the rest is history.
For tickets to see the Oak Ridge Boys on the Boardwalk visit ocnj.us
– STORY by KYLE McCRANE/For the Sentinel
Photo courtesy of oakridgeboys.com.