William Lee Golden and the Goldens feast on old school gospel and country

The Oak Ridge Boys baritone vocalist wows audiences with ‘Trying to Love Two Women’ and ‘Thank God for Kids.’ Johnny Cash and Paul Simon were fans. The Country Music Hall of Fame counts the Brewton, Ala., mountain man as an inductee. Casting his shy reputation into the dust, Golden, who has meditated extensively in a Native American teepee, has a lot on his mind about ‘Country Roads,’ ‘Old Country Churches,’ ‘Southern Accents,’ and his sons’ touring revue.

The William Lee Golden Interview

Besides catching the Oak Ridge Boys at the Grand Ole Opry as a vacationing UGA collegiate in the early 2000’s, my first full Oaks show did not occur until March 25, 2022, at the Albany Municipal Auditorium in Albany, Ga. The sit-down, intimate segment near the end of the concert where you unleashed half the pandemic-recorded Front Porch Singin’ album was a hair-raising experience.

Really? Thank you so much. I had a vision to work with my family three or four years ago. At the time my sons Rusty and Chris were traveling all over. The Oak Ridge Boys were doing 150 concert dates. We’ve lightened our schedule slightly to 140 dates in 2022 [laughs]. When I’m not on the road with the Oaks, I try to go out and play dates with my sons and our family band.

During the height of the pandemic in the spring and summer of 2020, the world was shut down. Even churches were closed. It had been decades since I had had so much free time on my hands. Like everybody else, I watched the reports of COVID-related deaths and health officials imploring the public to “flatten the curve.” I realized we were all being deceived and that it was an evil thing going on. I had to get away from everybody hatin’ everybody. I thought, ‘Man, if I’m sitting here watching television spittin’ out hate, I’m allowing that negativity to invade my heart and soul. It just don’t feel good.’

So I turned off the TV. I walked outside and felt the breeze blowing through the trees, and classic songs from my childhood and throughout life began flooding my mind. I called my sons to come over to my Hendersonville, Tenn., home and visit. We got around the piano and started playing and harmonizing gospel. It started lifting us up in the midst of COVID-19. We found healing — mentally, emotionally, physically, and spiritually. We feasted our souls and spirits on old songs that touched our hearts and meant something to us along the way. We certainly didn’t wanna write new songs about a devastating pandemic, and the classics provided us love, faith, hope, comfort, peace, and harmony.

After more informal rehearsals in my home studio, we wound up recording 32 gospel, country, pop, and rock songs at Ben’s Den in Hendersonville [owned by Ben Isaacs, the bassist, singer, and producer for award-winning bluegrass gospel family the Isaacs] and also videoed everything we were doing. Two further Eagles songs — “Take It Easy” and “Peaceful Easy Feeling” — were waxed at OmniSound Studios in Nashville.

I convinced my granddaughters Elizabeth and Rebekah [Elizabeth is Chris’ eldest child, followed by Rebekah and Elijah] to sing harmonies on “You Are My Sunshine” and “Elvira.” Elizabeth plays a mean fiddle, too, and has joined our band in concert. Their little brother Elijah had never sang on a recording before, and he’s represented with two leads.

We worked our way through COVID in spite of some of our closest friends becoming sick. Chris as well as pedal steel-lap steel guitarist Steve Hinson contracted the virus during the sessions. We came out of a negative situation with a lot of positive memories and recordings that we had been wanting to do for a long time.

Let’s go knee-deep into the weeds of Golden Classics, your ambitious 34-song record loosely built around three themes.

A classic country album of 10 songs — Country Roads — opens the trilogy. I recorded the Ray Price/Kristofferson song “For the Good Times.” We made sure we represented Hank Williams [“I Saw the Light”].

Old Country Church is the gospel section, consisting of 12 songs that my mother [Ruth Golden] and sister [Ruth Lanette Lowery] taught me to sing when I was only six and seven years old. We learned Kitty Wells’ “Mansion Over the Hilltop,” Hank Williams’ “I Saw the Light” [track 10 on Country Roads], and many of the songs that popular duo the Louvin Brothers recorded. Mother and Lanette also coached me on how to play rhythm guitar on an F-Hole Gibson and sing harmony. My father Luke bought that acoustic guitar for me when I was 10 years old. Mother knew the G, C, and D chords. Lanette taught me the rest. I played that guitar until I got out of high school, and I still have it today. My granddaddy Lee Golden and his brother Will both preached during a Sunday morning radio show on the local Brewton station, WEBJ. The show was called “The Old Country Church,” and it would be the place where I made my public singing debut at age nine.

We labeled the final stretch of 12 songs Southern Accents. Rusty did a Bob Seger song, “Hollywood Nights.” Craig, my middle son, did Gregg Allman’s “Multi-Colored Lady.” Chris supplied the Tom Petty composition “Southern Accents.” Elijah sang “Stand By Me,” the old school R&B hit by Ben E. King. He also sang lead on “Elvira” and got his uncles and big sisters to help out. I told Elijah, “I’ve sang ‘Elvira’ for over 40 years. So y’all sing it this time and have fun.” Chris is front and center on “Bobbie Sue,” which was the second Oaks song done to kinda honor me.

I contributed Janis Joplin/Kristofferson’s “Me and Bobby McGee” with a little more of a Grateful Dead influence [laughs]. The Beatles/Paul McCartney song that’s one of my favorites — “The Long and Winding Road” — was another I had to do. Hank Sr.’s “Jambalaya” was a ball to cut. All great songs.

We went to my hometown in Brewton, Alabama, and did a big concert at Porchfest [Nov. 13, 2021]. We previewed a lot of the songs we had recorded four months before they officially dropped on Golden Classics. The Goldens have done a handful of concerts since 2021, and it takes us back to the fun we had when we were doing the studio sessions.

Ronald Bennett is a longstanding active member of Pleasant Hill Missionary Baptist Church and a good buddy of mine. Not long after “Come and Dine” functioned as an advance single for Golden Classics, I played it at church especially for Ronald. He loves that tune.

You did? Wow. “Come and Dine” is a song that I grew up singing in Holiness Church in Brewton. The worship services were very spirit-filled. “Come and Dine” has a great feel and was treated with a big performance even when I was a child. Matter of fact, that was the first or second song we laid down at Ben’s Den for what became Golden Classics. All of the gospel songs were finished before we started the secular material.

Are more studio recordings conceivable for the Goldens?

We’re actually thinking about going back in and doing some more recording.

Was it an adjustment switching to more of an emcee role?

It has been. Instead of lurking in the shadows with the Oak Ridge Boys and letting Joe [Bonsall] and Duane [Allen] do the lion’s share of the banter, now I often step up to the mic and explain what’s going on as the Goldens go out of one song and into the next. I’m not a big talker by nature, so I’d rather play music and sing. It kinda throws me to have to speak a little more than normal. But the Front Porch Singin’ portion of the Oak Ridge Boys show, where we sit on stools and reminisce about our lives, helped prepare me to be more of a frontman.

Who represents the Goldens onstage?

I’m on lead and background vocals. My eldest son Rusty has been playing professionally since he was about 13 years old. He’s a piano player and songwriter. He also takes care of harmonies and leads. Chris, my third son, travels all over doing solo gigs. He’s a great singer, guitarist, mandolinist, piano player, and even played drums on all the Golden Classics recordings. He can go out and do it all by himself. Me, I need a lot of help [laughs]. For shows Chris sticks to acoustic guitar. Craig drives a tour bus for the Cadillac Three. He’s been known to sing “Multi-Colored Lady,” schedule permitting.

Aaron Lee McCune is one of the hottest young bass singers anywhere. We’ve known him for a long time. When Aaron has to travel with Dailey & Vincent, Tim Duncan capably takes his place and completes our four-part harmony. Electric guitarist Eugene Moles, bass guitarist Larry Marrs, pedal steel-lap steel guitarist Steve Hinson, and drummer Ric McClure [e.g. Jerry Reed, Lorrie Morgan] round out our family band.

Any parting words for potential concert-goers still stuck on the fence?

I certainly want to invite anybody that might want to come out. We need all the help we can get since we’re a brand new band. Nobody’s heard of us, but this is who we are. It’s my family. I have the utmost love and respect for my sons and their talents. It’s a joy and just so much fun to be able to harmonize with my family, close friends, and band. When we can share our music to an audience, it’s even better.

• To order Golden Classics by William Lee Golden and the Goldens, visit HERE.
• To keep up with future releases and everything William Lee Golden, visit HERE and follow his social channels linked below.
• Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | Website

© Jeremy Roberts, 2022. All rights reserved. The William Lee Golden interview was edited for clarity, brevity, and sequenced cohesively. To touch base, email [email protected] and mention which story led you my way. I appreciate it sincerely.