Tony Scott: 0:13

Welcome to The Jay Franze Show, a behind-the-curtain look at the entertainment industry, with insights you can't pay for and stories you've never heard. Now here's your host, Jay Franze.

Jay Franze: 0:42

Well, hello, hello, hello and welcome to the show. I am Jay Franze and this is your backstage pass to the entertainment industry. This week we get to talk with a living legend. We get to talk with William Lee Golden. We'll talk to him about what it's like working with his family both the Oak Ridge Boys as well as the Goldens, his latest projects and we'll discuss his hobby that he shares with his wife. Now, william is not only a living legend, but he is one of the nicest guys I've ever met and I can't wait to talk with him tonight. So if you would like to join in, comment or fire off any questions, please head over to jayfranze. com. Now let's get started. William sir, how are you?

William Lee Golden: 1:24

I'm doing good, Jay. Thanks for having me on the show here tonight.

Jay Franze: 1:29

It is my pleasure, sir. I've been waiting for this for some time now. I'm very excited. You've been an inspiration to me along the way. I've worked in the music business for just over 30, almost 35 years now and you've been part of that the whole time.

William Lee Golden: 1:44

Wow, well, that's great. Thanks for allowing us to be a part of that.

Jay Franze: 1:49

It's been amazing, and that's part of what I want to talk to you about tonight. I mean, you've spent quite a bit of time with the Oak Ridge Boys, so much so that they've become like family to you. So how does that differ from working with your actual family?

William Lee Golden: 2:03

Well, it's a lot the same in a way. You know, when you're playing and singing in a group it's a give and take thing. You got people everybody's sacrificing, being away from home, so their opinions sometimes and things that they need to express are as important as mine. And so it's being able to have a give and take in life. And same thing with your family, certainly with band members, and it is, you know, it's kind of a family thing with the, certainly with the band members, and it is a, you know, it's kind of a family thing with the Oak Ridge boys. Man, we're like you said, we've been together over 50 years now.

William Lee Golden: 2:42

This past year at least one of us joined at a different time. I know I joined in 1965. Dwayne Allen joined a year and a half later, in 1966. Richard joined in 1972. Joe Bodzel joined in 1973.

William Lee Golden: 3:03

Last year was Joe's 50-year celebration. He made it through the end of the year. Then he had to get off the road because it became more than he could physically deal with. But you know, god works in mysterious ways. So what's happened is we've got a young guy, I've got grandkids older than Ben Jay, but he's got a great voice. Tony Brown said he's got a voice like Bits Gill and if you like Bits Gill you'll love Ben James. But he's 27, just turned 28 years old and young guy.

William Lee Golden: 3:45

That's an incredible high, lonesome sound singer. He's sang with Doyle Lawson Bluegrass Group for a couple years and he was with Daley Benson there for about a year. We met him when he was with Daley Benson on the show up in West Virginia and didn't know at the time that, boom, joe handed him the mic. When they all come out to join us on Elvira and Bobby Sue at the end of our show, ben took off with his mic and, man, it was just magical. So here, a year later, we are. He's now our new singer, filling in for our tenor spot and doing an incredible job at it too. So he comes with Joe Bonzo's blessings, and that's a good thing.

Jay Franze: 4:41

That would be important. Yes, absolutely.

William Lee Golden: 4:45

So that's what we're doing now. Besides, when I'm not out with the Oak Ridge Boys, then I'm out with my family, my kids and my grandkids. We got a great band that plays with us. You know some stellar musicians that are great session players. Some of them play on the recordings that we do, and have been for years, so we like having those guys out on the road years, and so we like having those guys out on the road.

Jay Franze: 5:15

The pandemic was rough on everybody, but you seem to turn the pandemic into a positive. You came up with a lot of projects during the pandemic, one of them for the Oak Ridge Boys, three for the Goldens. So can you tell us a little bit about your approach to the creative process when it came to putting the Golden's project together?

William Lee Golden: 5:34

Well, it was a vision that I had a couple of years prior to the pandemic, that I couldn't get my kids together. They had solo careers and I was doing 150 dates on the road with the Oak Ridge Boys and then the pandemic hit. They sent us all home, said you're unessential to go home, lock your doors and put on two masks. Anybody knocks on your door, crawl under the bed. So what I did is I watched television to try to find out what's going on. And I realized two or three weeks into this that I was allowing all of this negative hate everybody hating everybody into my house and it was starting to affect me. I had to turn that negative hate crap off everybody hating everybody and I got out of the house. I went outside, here under the trees, it was springtime and all these old songs started coming into my mind and it just flooded my mind with all these old songs. I called my kids over my sons. We've all played music together before, but it's been a long time, been several years because of our individual careers and me back with the Ilkridge boys but we started singing these old songs from here. You know, during the week they told us we couldn't go to church we'd get together and sing all these old gospel songs. Then during the week we're singing all these classic old country songs and by the weekend we're singing some good old rock and roll songs that we all have grown up and through the years, you know, and my kids. Some of them were inspired by a lot of great singers and great rock and roll singers.

William Lee Golden: 7:35

I used to take my kids to rock and roll shows when I'd be home on the road. If Sound 70 was promoting a big rock and roll show down in Nashville, it took a missful of trying to get tickets and take my kids. Kids buy tickets and go see the show. But uh, I was always amazed at the difference in different rock and roll shows and the production, and there was a lot of things to absorb about all of that. You find out that in a way, you're still educating yourself on the different facets and aspects of the entire music business. So where production is a big live show, it takes a lot of people to make it all work right and to present your best presentation to the people that bought the tickets. So that's what's the bottom line is they're actually the boss and if they're not happy, nobody's happy right it's kind of like being married I hear that absolutely.

Jay Franze: 8:46

So at what point did you decide to take him into the studio?

William Lee Golden: 8:49

Well, it was right off the bat. Oh really, we decided, hey, we want to capture what we've got here and add to it. And so what we did is we went in and we took him just two miles from the house, here at ben isaac's studio. He was just getting over kobe, oh, wow. So, uh, we wound up going in the studio with a handful of close friends and incredible musicians and singers. We all started playing and singing these old songs, singers, we all started playing and singing these old songs.

William Lee Golden: 9:29

So did you co-produce it with him? I've got Ben Isaacs. I've got Michael Sykes, who's a guy that harmonies, he specializes. These guys both specialize in harmony, singing and producing harmony groups. I know Michael's produced the Oak Ridge Boys. Ben Isaacs had produced the Oaks. Know Michael's produced the Oak Ridge Boys, ben Isaac had produced the Oaks and I worked with them in their working of their ability to create harmonies and how to get real nice chords and things which they did. They would be in this control room while we put the tracks down and when the lead vocalist put his down they would be in there harmonizing with each other and figuring out where the harmonies would be and how the chord structure would go. And a lot of them was chord structures that my sons would not normally used to sing in and sing in those chords actually vocally. But it turned out to be magical, having Finn you know he comes from a family group and having Michael there.

William Lee Golden: 10:42

Then I invited Buddy Cannon, the great. Buddy Cannon, great producer. He produces Willie Nelson, he produces Kenny Chesney. Buddy's a great producer and knows country music. I've known Buddy for a long time, way back when he was in the state sires with Mel Tillis. But anyhow I wanted his input and he recommended three songs that we wound up recording Chris Toperson's song, me and Bobby McGee. Another one was a Johnny Cash song called I Still Miss Someone, and Freddie Cannon recommended for me to try a take on the Long Black Veil, so I did Anyhow. Buddy's presence seemed to bring the musicians the best out of everybody. Everybody to relax and have fun.

Jay Franze: 11:46

So was it a traditional Nashville session where the five to eight guys get in a room at one time, or was it overdubbed?

William Lee Golden: 11:54

No, it was all. Everybody was there. We were all able to get in with the ten people. So we right off started recording what we're doing. Right off started recording what we're doing.

William Lee Golden: 12:10

And I got a long time friend of mine, television producer and longtime friend, jeff Dancer. I called you up and talked to him today before we go to the studio and I was talking to the young guy that was gonna get to do the camera work there and I told him I told Adam Wagner, the camera guy he's a great musician too that I wanted Jeff to be overseeing this and to be the producer and call the shots of how they shot that. And he did. And he and Jeff got together overnight and the next day he had an iPhone on his camera and Panzer was watching every shot and listening. He had cameras in the control room listening to what the producers were saying and watching them, listening to them work out the parts and different cameras in the room. I think we had two or three guys with handheld cameras, but Jeff was directing that from his home office in LA. So we did, we captured everything. We did 34 songs and that was all captured in video, just recording in real time.

Jay Franze: 13:34

Well, that's a good point I mean, jeff's a great guy and I appreciate all that Jeff does but having to produce something like that visually from across the country, that requires an amazing amount of technology to go ahead and do all of that stuff. So when you're in the studio, that's not the typical technology you find in a recording studio. So is that something that you had to bring in and set up for that purpose?

William Lee Golden: 14:00

What it was was. He talked with the camera guy and it was fine with Ben Isaac, you know to have him in the studio. So they just set up, come in before we were there and they set up a camera in the room and Jeff has access to those so we're capturing everything going on. And then he pulls from it, goes back and watches what's happening on a certain scene. Jeff seems to have a photographic memory. I mean, if he sees it goes down, he don't forget it. He just knows basically back where it's at. He can go, pinpoint it how people like that.

William Lee Golden: 14:42

It was watching over everything we were doing, watching as it kind of evolved and developed. So we went back and at the end back we had done cut a bunch of these old classic country things and a few of the old time rock and roll songs or West Dakota Hollywood nights or Bob Seger songs. I did the Long and Winden Road Paul McCartney song. It's always been one of my favorite ballads or beloved song. You know love ballad. Anyhow, man, it was so exhilarating to get in there and record.

Jay Franze: 15:23

It's just like each song was like taking us to another level, so you took an awful lot of pride in picking the songs that you chose. I have a 14 year old daughter, I have a 14, a 9 and a 2, and my 14 year old daughter and I went on a road trip and she asked if she could play her Spotify playlist in the car and when she did, the cover of Peaceful, easy Feeling came on. Wow, I thought that was pretty slick for a 14-year-old.

William Lee Golden: 15:52

Who's into Taylor.

Jay Franze: 15:53

Swift and all that type of stuff.

William Lee Golden: 15:56

Chris done a great job singing that too. That's my son. Chris did that and we still do that. When we're out playing record shows, we still go back and feast on these great songs and keep them alive. A lot of these songs are standards.

Jay Franze: 16:15

Oh yeah.

William Lee Golden: 16:16

The songs that need to be kept alive.

Jay Franze: 16:19

While we talk about technology and while we're talking about the studio. Was this recorded? Analog or digital?

William Lee Golden: 16:31

It was recorded digital digital recording. It was easy to. After you've got it, you know you've got everything. You could go in and patch it up or take things out. You know how it goes.

Jay Franze: 16:40

It's uh, it's an amazing technology makes life so much easier. Yeah, yeah. So, while we're talking about the technology and recording digitally, and we're talking about the camera equipment and having him produce video from across the country, and obviously it's happening during the pandemic, what kind of challenges did you guys come across?

William Lee Golden: 17:02

Well, it was some of the challenges I guess would be. It took a little while to get it all mastered and, you know, mixed and everybody happy with the mix, and then get it mastered and to try to get it slowly released. We're still releasing videos that we did two years ago, some of them three years ago, when we were first recording this back in 2020.

Jay Franze: 17:34

Yeah Well, let's touch on that for a minute. You mentioned a few things there. Do you remember who mixed it?

William Lee Golden: 17:42

Well, it was. Ben Isaac was there, I know, and Mark Couch was one of the mixers. And then we had Pete Green was one of the mixers. When we got into the songs like the Eagle songs, you know, the Peaceful, Easy Feeling, take it Easy we did that song too. We did two Eagle songs out of all of them, the people that we inspired. Their music inspired us, you know, as a family. Anyhow, we put our harmonies to it. We also sang harmonies on songs that the original hits never had harmonies on. I thought that some of them't really lend themselves to that. They're sing-along songs.

Jay Franze: 18:32

Sure, well, you mentioned a couple things there, but as we're talking about inspiration, you mentioned people who inspired you. I mean, you've inspired so many people, so who are the people that inspired you?

William Lee Golden: 18:46

Well, it all started early. You know like we're talking about a lot of the old Brando Walker stars. And then, as a teenager, you know being inspired by the first rock and rollers. You know Little Richard, elvis Presley, bats Domino, chuck Berry, jerry Lee Lewis, oh yeah, people in the beginning. Then it was the people like the Platters and the Coasters and those type groups, but I loved these groups too. To me they were the harmony groups. I was into harmonies and stuff. You know the music business sometimes goes through things where harmonies were not part of it. It was more of a folk solo singer and bands that played their music, wrote their songs, and they're talented people that the songwriters, musicians and singers, writers, musicians and singers. That's a lot of great talent out there that can do that too, and I admire that.

Jay Franze: 19:52

You talk about the changes in the industry, and there have been quite a bit of changes in the industry over that period of time. But one of the things that you've gone through is a change of genre over the years, starting in gospel and changing what inspired the change to begin with.

William Lee Golden: 20:09

Well, it was after being with the Oak Ridge Boys for about 10 years and we had evolved and we had just won some of the awards. You know albums of years, things like that. But you realize that you're at the top of that business and that there's not much further to go in the business side. And a lot of gospel music, as far as regular people, they only want to hear it on Sunday and most people during the week they want to hear other songs and other music. Maybe and that's the way we are too. You know you're living seven days a week, so why not sing about seven days a week? And that's what, uh, the deal was for me is what oak bridge boys had a tower. Let's expand our music and the key to that was getting with Jim Halls to manage the Oak Ridge Boys at the time and to get us with Boogie that we could make that transition from gospel music to country music. But it took people like that to get us there. It took him getting the people from the label, the ABC Records originally. Then MCA bought out ABC and we become MCA and a long successful career there at MCA, A lot of great catalogs that they for it as part of the universal family.

William Lee Golden: 21:47

Anyhow, it seems like it all happened too quick. First thing, you know you look around and a lot of your friends around you and cohorts they're one thing or another, they leave, they're gone, different things and then you start realizing just how lucky we are to still be here sometimes. And then how much more do you need to do than it is? You feel you've got to do in life, Things that you feel like you never have done, that you need to do, and so it's things like that that motivates you. You have to motivate yourself, you have to activate yourself. They don't send it to you in the mail. It's something you've got to pack your bags and leave home and go out there and get it.

Jay Franze: 22:44

Well, you mentioned business a couple times and you mentioned the label. Have you ever had any challenges with the label?

William Lee Golden: 22:51

Well, you have those challenges earlier in the career, I feel like when people are still trying to find their own footing in who they are. But in reality, we all continue to evolve and continue to evolve into whoever we evolve. We also evolve because of the reflection of the people we associate ourselves with. If you're around other great entertainers and watching them work and sing and present what they do, you can be inspired by that. I like to go to other concerts too. I like to buy tickets and like to talk, to go to rock and roll shows and look at all sides of it the production, sound, the lights and the music and how it's presented. But you still learn, man, and you realize every day that it seems like things are changing. What were the ways of doing business in the old days? It's all changed. You know. Technology's changed Really does it changes every day.

William Lee Golden: 24:05

Yeah, it changes what we all changes, how we get our information.

Jay Franze: 24:09

I want to get into that and talk to you about some of the changes that have happened over the years, especially in technology lately. But before we get off the business discussion real quick, were you ever afraid or concerned that you might lose your deal by making some of the changes that you guys have made over the years?

William Lee Golden: 24:26

I felt like it was a natural evolution that we needed to pursue. You know, the water will find its own level, but sometimes you've got to take a chance. You've got to go out on the realm and try new songs, try new rhythms, new this, but it's all in a song. You've got 10 songs or 12 songs on an album, so every song don't need to sound the same, but you don't want a song that's going to spoil the whole album. They don't want to listen to it. They don't want to turn it off when it gets to that song. Because I listen to music that way. You like most of the album, but there's two or three that just pass Right, but I think everybody's like that.

Jay Franze: 25:15

Sure, absolutely. I know you guys are known for playing live and you have a love for playing live. You must love it to be doing it this long and to still be doing it at this stage of life, to be doing such a great job and to be in multiple bands and touring as much as you are right now. But if I could take you back to 1965 for just a minute, when you joined the Oak Ridge Boys, what was going through your mind at that time?

William Lee Golden: 25:42

At that time I was a fan of the Oak Ridge Boys. They had cut some great albums that I thought had a more of appeal to a broader audience and what they would actually play into. They would play into a lot of the old school gospel audiences that had been built up over time by other groups and you'd play a lot of package shows, the Oak Ridge Boys. You know you're inspired by a lot of things around. You realize sometimes that it's time to take chances to move forward. Sometimes you look at where you're at and how you get there and you assess everything around you. If you want to go forward and grow, there's things that you have to do. Sometimes You've got to prepare yourself and invest in yourself, invest in your own future. You can't expect other people to cough up the money for your ideas and your thoughts and your visions. If you really have them, you're also willing to put your money where your mouth is.

William Lee Golden: 26:59

So you're investing your own ideas and your own thoughts and your own career.

Jay Franze: 27:06

Sure, and I think you've done that over time.

William Lee Golden: 27:08

Yeah, but if you don't, you know I mean it's. I can't imagine. See, I don't have anybody knocking my door down trying to hire me to come work for them doing whatever it is they're doing. You know what I mean come work for them doing whatever it is they're doing. You know what I mean. So, but I'm not out there knocking on doors seeing if I can be hired by those type people with other other things in mind. I've worked at other things. I grew up on the farm, you know. I mean it's right, riding tractors and plowing tractors all day is something come easy and natural, but you know through the years, man, I've done other stuff and it was just before I was with the Oak Ridge Boys.

William Lee Golden: 27:55

I worked at a paper mill. Man you know worked in the pulp mill, that there where they make all these caustic chemicals and chemicals that break down wood chips and things like that. Man, I mean, if you fell in a bad of that stuff you could uh you dissolve in there.

Jay Franze: 28:17

Paper mills are tough. They have a smell to them, pretty strong smell. You mentioned in there working on a farm and you've obviously had a great career in music, but do you ever miss being on a farm?

William Lee Golden: 28:33

sometimes I do, but in reality we still have our old home place. I get to go back to the home place and go back to the farm right where I live. Do you hop on a tractor? Yeah, if I want to get on a tractor, my relatives help. They got mule equipment. Sure, anyhow, if I go back to sleep in the same bedroom I grew up sleeping as a kid, growing up in life it's a different bed, but the same bedroom. It's a kid growing up and life. And it's a different bed but the same bedroom. It's a home my mother and dad built. I remember them building it. I still got little notches on my shins from running across the floor joists when they were before it had the flooring on it. Yeah, there was little kids, you know, doing that. Yeah, it's where I'm grounded at and I don't ever forget where I come from.

Jay Franze: 29:31

So how often do you get to go back?

William Lee Golden: 29:34

Well, I try to go back four or five times a year. I was there two weeks ago, went down for a couple weeks, went down for five days, had to get back to Nashville.

Jay Franze: 29:47

It's just enough time to unwind and get back to it.

William Lee Golden: 29:50

Yeah well, I got a good five days there. I plan to go back here in another week or two, then again later on maybe in.

Jay Franze: 30:01

July we got a break and maybe in July we got a place. I just got back from Boston this past weekend and I had an opportunity to go by my house where I grew up and stuff just to see what it was like and see everything. So I understand what it's like to go back and just refresh a little bit.

William Lee Golden: 30:18

Yeah, Boston's quite a place up there. It's a beautiful country up there too.

Jay Franze: 30:23

Great city, Great city. It's one of the best in the world We've got to go to the ball games up there and stuff you go to the Red Sox, the baseball.

William Lee Golden: 30:32

Yeah yeah, wayne Allen's a huge Red Sox fan. I mean, that's his team.

Jay Franze: 30:39

Fenway Park. There you go, fenway. I'm wearing it tonight. Yeah, I love that park. It's the best baseball field ever. I love it, yeah. So it's got a lot of memories for me and my family. And then, of course, we've got the Bruins and the Celtics that are in the playoffs right now. Boston is definitely a sports town, and it's funny when you grow up in Boston, for sure. All right, well, let's get back to this. The Oak Ridge boys have had extreme longevity and so forth. What do you think keeps them relevant over the years?

William Lee Golden: 31:17

Well, I think it's that we all love what we do first. We all love harmony type singing and I think it's the fact that we you know, dwayne Allen's been our longtime lead singer and he also is a workhorse going to the publishing companies where the songwriters are writing for.

Tony Scott: 31:42

And going.

William Lee Golden: 31:42

Dave Cobb. He has a stable of young writers. This new album that we just recorded with Dave Cobb it's not out yet, but I'll tell you it's really been a fun album to do here in January. There's a song and it's a song about mothers. You know it's like song and it's a song about mothers. You know it's like Mama's Boys. Every song has something to do about mamas and mothers. Perfect timing, yeah. So you know Dave Cobb. You know him. Oh yeah, he's one of the premieres producers in Nashville today. He's produced Chris Stapleton. He did the new Elvis movie. You know about going back to the original music that got started. That was. Dave Cobb made all that music in that movie. But he also produces a lot of other people. Jason Isbell he's a great guy to work with too.

Jay Franze: 32:43

Paul Lyme was on about a month or two ago talking about the Elvis stuff and he's the guy who played drums and all of that. Great guy, great musician. You've had an opportunity to win all sorts of accolades and awards during your time with the Oak Ridge Boys. What was it like when you won your first award.

William Lee Golden: 33:02

Well, back I remember when we first heard our first country song on the radio. Which song was it? It was the Alvin Baxellan, and then it was the title of our first country album, our first singer. We went to number two and stayed there for about three or four weeks. Here we are, gospel group for the first country album. There's a song that we couldn't get past, that stayed at number one for about five weeks and that was a D-Roll, a kindle, to a song called Heaven's Just a Scent Away. So Heaven's Just a Scent Away kept the outcome back, so anything could go on number one.

Jay Franze: 33:52

So what was the first thing that went through your mind?

William Lee Golden: 34:02

Well, it's, man. It's a great feeling, but you feel like that the industry has recognized your, hopefully, your talent and your contribution for that year. Every year is a new year and you start the new year. Everybody's at the same spot. So you've got to put yourself in the future, but it's, and you still have to. You know You're as good as you are, as good as your last project.

Jay Franze: 34:34

And you're as bad as you are too Well speaking of that. What kind of setbacks have you had along the way?

William Lee Golden: 34:41

Well, it's sometimes. Setbacks can be opportunities.

Jay Franze: 34:49

Tell us about an opportunity that's coming your way.

William Lee Golden: 34:54

You know, music is kind of like a pendulum. It swings this way and that way, this style's in and that style's in and it goes back to traditional. You know, It'll swing way over here. People wonder oh, it's not country anymore. Then it'll swing back the other way. Somebody will come along and take it right back to the core of where it really is.

Jay Franze: 35:23

Last year I had an opportunity. My wife and I went up to see you guys play in Ohio and it was a very small town and it was a beautiful venue, just an old venue. Are there any venues that stand out in your mind from the shows over the years?

William Lee Golden: 35:41

We've been. You know, I guess you start feeling older when you realize that you've been a part of an opening of a building and then years later you are part of the last show of the building. But we've done that a time or two. Then you know, the Circus Art Theater was one of those exactly beautiful theaters up in Maryville, indiana, and we used to do Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve shows every year there for several years. But it was uh, we moved there the first thing when it opened. Then, 45 years ago, they closed it and tore it down and I don't know what they're doing in the mall there.

Jay Franze: 36:34

Just what we need is another mall. So you've done a lot and you've you've been, like I said, through so many changes, not only in the industry as far as music, but as far as business. So have you ever come into any challenges when it came working with a label and how to market your music?

William Lee Golden: 36:58

Well it was. You always tried to give your side of the story. You thought you had it out there. You're always willing to give your side of the story. You thought you had an idea. You were always willing to work with them in. However, they choose to market the group, the places that they want you to go and things they would like you to do. So it takes everybody working together. Again, it's not whoever. It's not whoever's face is on the album. It takes a whole lot of people behind it to make it all.

Jay Franze: 37:30

What about image Like the band's image itself?

William Lee Golden: 37:34

The image.

Jay Franze: 37:37

Yeah, for example, when you first grew out your beard, was that accepted?

William Lee Golden: 37:43

Not wholeheartedly. I guess it maybe pushed the limits a little bit, but I had to go there, what it was all about, to see who I was. You can follow what everybody else wants you to do all your life and never know who in the world you are Right. Sometimes it's the time to take a chance and go for it, and I knew at that time. You know at the time that I let it go. We were having success in country music and no one was complaining about it. There was a lot of people who wanted longer hair than I had at that time.

Jay Franze: 38:24

Well, it's just the change right. You went from a pretty clean-cut person who was fairly into fashion and being on the cutting edge and then you grow out that beard. How long did it take to grow out the beard?

William Lee Golden: 38:37

I have not trimmed it since 1980. I mean, I don't trim anything, it's all what it is. And again, man, it's, everything on your face has a different length. Basically, that's funny Real short and it don't get any longer. It's an amazing idea. Kind of getting to know myself was interesting what happens when you quit trimming it.

Jay Franze: 39:04

But anyhow, that's pretty cool. I mean we've talked about your music and we've talked about your beer game. Now tie that in and talk about your book a little bit.

William Lee Golden: 39:13

Well, it was all that was done. I did an autobiography during the pandemic when I was recording with my family up the deal. During the pandemic, when I was recording with my family again, I turned off television and did not want to watch television there. For several months actually, scott England called me and talked to me four or five times about the improvised book and I never did that again. So during the pandemic he called again and I never did that. So during the pandemic he called again and I invited him down to the farm.

William Lee Golden: 39:48

I was there for about a week or ten days and I was told I just got there, told him to come on down and he could meet my sister and see where it all started. We just started the book. That's where it started, and he did, and he'd bring his little recorder and a tablet with questions on it and he'd come over three or four times a week, sit on my front porch for two hours with a little tape recorder and a tape letter between us. He would ask questions. I said well, man, you can ask anybody else we talk about. You know you're welcome to ask. Talk to other people here in my life.

William Lee Golden: 40:30

And so he did. He talked to the other two boys, he talked to our manager and all of a sudden the first person he talked to was my first wife. She got into some stories of my unfaithfulness that I was not going to get into in the book, but she did and I can't deny it. So it's things like that and I learned things in my own book that I didn't know. She was telling what was going on behind the scenes when I was.

Jay Franze: 41:02

How did that affect your current family, telling what was going on behind the scenes.

William Lee Golden: 41:07

How did that affect your current family? Well, my current wife is my fourth wife. When I was unfaithful you know it has consequences I was living two women. I loved my wife and I love my girlfriend. So you know how careful you can be. Why not write by yourself? And that's kind of what I did. Anyhow, simone is.

William Lee Golden: 41:38

I met Simone in California when she was young and she uh, we were friends but I was a lot older than her and didn't quite know, and she painted a portrait of me back then and brought it and gave it to me. Anyhow we kind of lost touch. But she would come see us a few times and I kind of got to know her. But she always chaperoned with her and I had all the old kids born and band and crew around. So it was hard to have personal time sometimes. But again we I wondered about what happened to her and later in life we did see each other for 25 years I guess. She went her way and had a daughter. Her mother was originally from Amarillo, so they back there. But we've been married eight years now. We got together. I moved to Tennessee and we lived together for a couple of years before we got married and she knows my story. I guess Sure.

Jay Franze: 43:14

She's all about who you are, it's all about who you are now.

William Lee Golden: 43:19

You know I'm just happy. I'm happy to have experienced a lot of things that I've done in life. I wouldn't change that. I know I've been a person that sometimes it may be I should have been. The beautiful women were Advice. One guy said you know the minister? Minister said was beautiful women your weakness?

Jay Franze: 43:46

I said no, they make me feel like I could pick up the back end of a loaded dump truck you mentioned in there that she did a portrait of you and I know that, um, a lot of people over the past several years have done portraits of you. I mean tying back into your. It's become an iconic piece. But you and her have that in common that you both like to paint. So do you paint together or do you just have different styles?

William Lee Golden: 44:14

I've got paintings of hers hanging in the house here, paintings she did when she was young and painting, but for some reason, uh, we haven't found the time to set everything else aside and set it up and get a canvas and stand in front of it and decide what we're gonna do. You know, it's uh how we're going to do, it's how we're going to start it, but I think it'd be cool to do that. I'd love to do that, sure.

Jay Franze: 44:48

You do oil painting, watercolors. What kind of painting do?

William Lee Golden: 44:51

you do, I do acrylic. Basically that's how I started was doing acrylic, but I really wanted to do some oil. Acrylic was all of my paintings were done on the road with the Oak Ridge boys. I'd take my easel, my canvas under the bus and all my paint supplies and I'd lug it up to the room at a hotel and try to set up by a window and I wouldn't turn on the television. I would lay out some of my photos as a reference and get in front of the canvas and I'd slowly paint it. But I'm real slow. What happens is it takes me four, five, six months to paint most paintings.

Jay Franze: 45:48

That's very cool. Do you miss it?

William Lee Golden: 45:53

I do. Again, it was something that I did on the road. I found it. I would get into it. Then at the end of the year I would have two or three nice things that I something that I'd chosen to do and put my time into and had something to show for it, rather than sit and watch bad news or bad television, anything to keep your mind off what's going on around here?

Jay Franze: 46:18

sure, yeah. So what's next for you, sir?

William Lee Golden: 46:22

Well, it's just again. We're out touring still with Ilkridge Boys 75 days this year. When I'm not doing that, I'm trying to book dates and go out and play and sing music with my sons and my grandkids. I've got a couple of grandkids, elijah's at Brown University and he's there on a scholarship and he's also an incredible singer. He flies out and meets us on some weekends during the year and then during the summer he comes home and goes out with us every weekend. We'll be going out several dates in June with the family. How about Elizabeth? She goes with us too. I think she's got a deal at Disney that she's doing for most of the month of June is what she found out a couple of weeks ago. Anyhow, elizabeth goes with us too and she travels and sings and plays violin. She plays fiddle and sings harmonies and then sings lead on. She stops the show when she sings a song.

Jay Franze: 47:38

She's very talented and very impressive.

William Lee Golden: 47:40

She is real talented.

Jay Franze: 47:43

No, they're a very talented bunch and she is very talented. I saw a video of her recently playing the fiddle behind you guys, and she's just very talented, for sure.

William Lee Golden: 47:52

Yeah.

Jay Franze: 47:53

When you're reaching this point in your career and you're thinking about a legacy, what are you hoping to leave behind?

William Lee Golden: 47:59

Well, man, I don't know. I mean we're leaving everything behind, I guess, when we're gone, but it's, you know, when I look back at it, you know I've made a career out of basically I sing more harmony than I do anything and that's just been good for me. In other words, each guy in the group have had hit records singing. Each guy. The Oak Ridge Boys, richard, the bass singer he sang Dream On. It was a big, huge single record. Dwayne's had a lot of hit records singing lead vocals and Joe Boswell had L Byron and several other songs singing lead vocals and Joe Boswell had Elvira several other songs singing lead vocals, and I've been fortunate to help. Three or four songs Thank God for kids, ozark Mountain, jubilee, Trying to love two women. I wish you could have turned my head, left my heart alone. Some of those songs were songs that I sang, did you?

Jay Franze: 49:06

enjoy singing lead.

William Lee Golden: 49:07

I did, I still do.

Jay Franze: 49:10

Very nice, all right, sir. Well, we do this thing here we call Unsung Heroes, where we take a moment to shine the light on somebody who works behind the scenes or somebody who may have supported you along the way. Do you have anybody you'd like to shine a little light on?

William Lee Golden: 49:23

who may have supported you along the way. Do you have anybody you'd like to shine a little light on? Well, you know we've shined it on all my family here and my friends. You know Jeff Panzer is a close friend in LA. We talk about Jeff and you know sometimes you lose friends and then you gain new friends and he's managing Danny.

Jay Franze: 49:44

Stefanetti, amazing talent herself.

William Lee Golden: 49:47

And I've been so impressed with her talent as a singer, songwriter.

Jay Franze: 49:53

Amazing guitar player.

William Lee Golden: 49:55

And guitar player. Especially, she's helped me write a song. It's something that I was struggling with that she helped me finish it, take some of the parts that I didn't need in it and help refine it for me to make a song out of it. So I can't wait to and she's been here and stayed with Simone and I and we cut some stuff together a couple of songs.

Jay Franze: 50:22

Yes, she couple of songs. Yes, she's absolutely amazing. She's actually the one who gave me this koala bear right here.

William Lee Golden: 50:28

Really.

Jay Franze: 50:29

Yeah, she sent that to me just a couple weeks ago. It's my new friend.

William Lee Golden: 50:34

Right, she is so talented and I don't know of a sweeter person in the whole world. She's from Australia. She was in Nashville. I introduced her to people out at the Grand Ole Opry. She charmed them with sitting right there in the dressing room and pulled her guitar out and showed them what an incredible talent she is. It's good to meet people like that.

Jay Franze: 51:03

A big thanks to William for taking the time to share his stories with us and thank you for taking the time to hang with me here. I know I've said it before, but I will say it again I really do appreciate it. If you know another music fan that would enjoy this episode, please be sure to pass it along. You can do that and find the links to everything mentioned over at jayfranze. com/ episode 72. Thanks again for listening and I'll see you next week.

Tony Scott: 51:30

Thanks for listening to The Jay Franze Show. Make sure you visit us at jayfranze. com Follow, connect and say hello, Bye.