Left Coast Mini-Blog

LAS VEGAS BLOG (final blog)

Sun, 29 Jun 2008 14:31:25 -0500

They say ‘familiarity breed’s contempt’ but I am not really sure what that means. Oh, I realize that the phrase is really one of those Psycho buzzwords for a relationship gone wrong, but contempt in THAT kind of scenario usually digs much deeper then just seeing his or her face every single day.

I really have no contempt for anything except maybe a few loony political ideas and philosophies that I deem dangerous for America. However even that is not really contempt. It is more like disappointment that people can be so darn stupid and out of touch. I am always hopeful that common sense will eventually prevail.

For a guy who spends so much time away from home, I adore familiarity. Except for a few exceptions over the course of a year, I DO wake up each morning in one of just THREE places and I love all three. That would be my bed at home, my bed at my farm or in my bunk on the bus. I feel comfortable and content in each situation.

I do know that when I wake up on the bus there is usually a show on this day, unless we are waking up at home which is ALWAYS a welcome and familiar feeling.

I love a trip like this one. Yes, the bus rides have been long but the 6 nights of singing have been a great mix of experiences for all of us. We had never been to Thanksgiving Point in Lehi, Utah and the event was so very cool. Feather Falls was a NEW venue for us and the USS Midway was so memorable. BTW… a blogging CORRECTION is in order. The Carriers in port were the NIMITZ and the GEORGE WASHINGTON… NOT the EISENHOWER. My bad!

Last night was familiar ground at the Spotlight 29 in Coachella, because we have been there before. Much like the Feather Falls show, the place was packed and it was another energetic California crowd. It did not seem to matter that the temperature outside was 115 degrees and the air conditioning in the showroom was NOT keeping up with it all. It was STILL a fun show. That stage WAS hot though, but that is what after show showers are all about. :)

Several of us ate in their gourmet’ restaurant afterwards and the food and wine were magnificent. Thanks Bob for a great night in Coachella

I awoke this morning in the backstage parking lot of the Texas Station Resort and Casino and yes, this is familiar ground for the BOYS, BAND and CREW. I grabbed my room key, that DK had placed in the front of the bus, and my two bags, toiletries and laptop and knew just where to go. Through the showroom, turn right then left up the elevator and boom. I know this hotel, I know the area, I know the stage, and I know the room. I HAVE done this before and bought the tee shirt. I awoke around noon and it seemed that load in was just beginning to happen.

Another familiar feeling day, but make no mistake… each day… each show… each audience is always different. That is what keeps it all challenging and enjoyable for this band of road warriors and music veterans. Of this I am certain… the showroom tonight will be packed… we will be ready to go… to give every song all we have for the folks who have decided to come out here to see THE BOYS when there is about 1000 other things they could be doing in THIS town.

I am blessed to be traveling and singing with the greatest group of men that one could ever want share their life with.

Honest men who really CARE… about their family, about their friends… about their brothers in arms…. About the people who buy the music and tickets… about their country… and most importantly… about the good Lord above who keeps on Blessing and Blessing this group with good health, energy, talent and creativity.

After the show tonight we will head for Monterey, California, where we will perform two shows for the benefit of the Boy Scouts, at the Golden State Theater. I think we have played there before - in fact I am almost certain of it.
As I recall, it is a beautiful old theater that has been refurbished and remodeled, and you can bet it will be a good day.

On Monday morning we will wake up early on the bus at LAX. We will fly on home while Billy and Steer head East for the long drive home.

Monday night we will sleep in our other FAMILIAR bed... at HOME!

As I said, we are very BLESSED. There is no time for contempt or negativism or moving backwards. There is only moving forward with this bunch. THAT my dear readers is WHY there is STILL an OAK RIDGE BOYS!

Thanks for reading the blogs gang. It has been fun sharing. CU somewhere on down the road and as the old vaudeville saying goes… “SEE YOU ON THE BOARDS!”

God Bless all of you!

Ban-Joey

Addendum…The Texas Station went well as usual. Right after the show we took off in the bus to our old haunt by Ballys, a Battista’s Hole In The Wall Italian Restaurant. They stayed open late just for us and we had a blast. ALL FOUR BOYS, DK and STEVE ate our face off. Ah, the memories in that place. They STILL have our pictures all over the walls… old AND new!

Monterrey, California is just beautiful. Lots of restaurants, great hotel and the weather is 60 degrees. It feels just WONDERFUL!

We sing at 5 and 8:30 and then, as I said earlier, deadhead on down to LAX for an early flight home.

WLG spent the day at REDROCKS yesterday taking pictures. He had the camera out this morning as well so more pics WILL be on the way.

Blessings GANG!

Ban-Joey ready to go home!

Ban Joey BLOGGIN’ today for a greater tomorrow

Fri, 27 Jun 2008 09:31:33 -0500

I am actually starting tomorrow’s blog today if that makes any sense. It is midnight west coast time and fixin’ to be tomorrow anyway. So I guess that technically it IS actually tomorrow considering that it is now 12:01 and my MacBook indicates Friday June 27. So although it still seems like today it is in fact tomorrow, although from my standpoint it is actually still tonight because I haven’t been to bed yet. So when I wake up tomorrow I will then actually consider it to BE tomorrow, or actually today. But as far as right now is concerned, and considering I am a man who loves to dwell IN THE MOMENT, it is tonight. At least that is what it seems like right now, although that is subjective and apt to change because everything changes, yet stays the same. It is all a part of the mystery of time and space. Quantum physics teaches us that worm holes actually exist in the time space continuum, which means that as I am typing there may or could be another Ban-Joey in a parallel universe so to speak who may already be finished his blog and is now fast asleep. Depending on how the quantum pendulum swings it could be that the quantum Ban-Joey exists four or five days from now and if that is true THAT Ban-Joey would be finished blogging and be finished with this trip. He could be on his front porch watching barn swallows and pickin’ banjer, however if the tilt is backwards it is entirely possible that the parallel world Ban-Joey has not even boarded the bus for UTAH. He is in fact having a sea bass dinner with a mango chutney with Mary, while feeding a cat morsels of fish under the table.

But in the real world it seems a like right now to me and I accept this for I have no other choice in the matter.

Remember the comic book hero Mandrake The Magician. Man, that dude could summon what he called his ASTRAL SELF and send it out to do stuff while he stayed home. Imagine the possibilities… or NOT!

Anyhow, The USS Midway was built at the end of World War Two in 1945. It was named for the battle of MIDWAY Island that many consider to have been the turning point of the war in the Pacific. It was the biggest ship afloat until Great Britain built the Queen Mary. Its flight deck is 4 ½ acres. By comparison the nuclear powered USS Eisenhower as well as the USS Nimitz, which are anchored right across the bay, have flight decks of 5 ½ acres each. The two mighty CARRIERS are visible in some of the pictures. The Eisenhower is in for repairs and the Nimitz is restocking. Imagine restocking an Aircraft Carrier!

It was a beautiful evening. Perfect in fact! A gentle cool breeze blew across the deck and the stage. Over 2000 people with The Leavitt Group, which hosted the event, were a wonderful audience to sing for. It was a family crowd with lots of kids running around and enjoying being where they were. We felt pretty much the same! We were asked to end the show with This IS America and to have it finished right before 9:45 because that is when the fireworks went off. In typical ORB fashion we ended the song, took a bow and BOOM… fireworks. RIGHT on THE DIME!

I just sent over 90 pictures from William Lee to Jon. There is a bunch of beautiful shots of all the local flowers in deep southern California. If you enjoy flowers you will LOVE these pictures. I also sent another 40 or so pictures from DK and about a dozen from the lens of Ban-Joey.

A lot of really cool photos that I think you will enjoy! Jon isn’t going to believe all the stuff in his inbox when he gets to the office in the morning. Jon may actually HAVE an ASTRAL SELF!

The band and crew leave for Coachella at 7 am and the BOYS bus leaves at 10:30. Yes… I DO have a nice room here but you know what(?) Old banjo boy is packing up and heading for the bus. I will sleep in my bunk and wake up in Coachella, where we will again play the Spotlight 29 Casino! I remember how well that went last time so I am really looking forward to another show there. Should be FUN!
So although it is tonight it IS already tomorrow so consider this blog tomorrow’s blog even though I wrote it tonight and you will not really be reading it until tomorrow anyway, so I guess it doesn’t matter.

Good Night or is it Good Morning??? J

Ban-Joey

SAN DIEGO BLOG

Thu, 26 Jun 2008 16:05:47 -0500

It is a glorious thing to ride in a bus nestled deep inside of your bunk and be able to sleep from Oroville to San Diego. I almost pulled it off too. However, I awake to find many things the same as the last several mornings. ACE has been up for hours watching FOX NEWS and writing and finding political commentaries to post on the message board.

WLG has his new fancy camera just whrrrriiinngg away taking all kinds of pictures of the rolling California countryside that may end up as another GOLDEN LANDSCAPE paining idea or just some good shots for the photo blog and his personal collection. I will grab his camera; download his latest shots, which will take you on a journey from Little Alpine Lake, through the wine country and down the coast to San Diego. Then I will email them to JON and boom… they will appear for yours and OUR viewing pleasure. This is all done while still riding on the bus. I LOVE technology!
Billy is driving away and Darrick is in his bunk watching another installment of Band of Brothers. The DEEP? HE SLEEPS! HE will be in his bunk conked out until we reach San Diego!

We had a lot of friends at the show last night. At least it seemed that way. No matter what song we pulled out, old or new, the crowd was alive with enthusiasm and energy and I can not tell you how much this means to a performing group. It is a feeding process. The more they respond the more energy build up inside of us and the whole show just seems to keep on rising to new levels.
That is what showbiz is all about gang and I thought last night’s show in Feather Falls just rocked. I know I was exhausted when it was over. We all were. I watched the Phillies finish off the Oakland A’s 4 to zip, took a hot shower and next thing you know, the crew had loaded out and we were rolling again.

The real highlight of the evening was spending some quality time with our hero and friend, General Chuck Yeager. He and his wife Victoria and a few friends came in early and we talked for quite awhile. Always a joy to see the crew and the band excited and wanting pictures with our Nation’s GREATEST aviator. As always he was funny too. “Have you learned how to play that #^%*(&^ BANJO YET?”

Jeff and Rex came into the room and he said, “You boys are sure eating well.”

He had us on the floor. We really love this man. When he took the stage to introduce us the audience stood for what seemed like forever. It was very cool. Then the man who has flown in 4 wars and broke the sound barrier introduced US as HIS heroes. They were a few tears welling up in my eyes when I went on out there to shake his hand and start singing ONE in a MILLION. I was thinking the song fit until I realized that there has never been ANYONE like YEAGER! One in a MILLION… uh uh…One of a KIND.

What a coincidence that tonight we are doing a big private show on an aircraft carrier! It is the most decorated carrier in history. THE USS MIDWAY!Here is the link to the website of the UUS Midway and AIRCRAFT CARRIER MUSEUM,

http://www.midway.org/site/pp.asp?c=eeIGLLOrGpF&b=3038957

If we ever get off of this bus I will share some more info. We are supposed to be staying at a really cool resort on an island. Should be pretty cool!

San Diego IS KEWL (as my granddaughter says.) It is a beautiful city, great weather, PADRES and BOLTS and perhaps coolest of all is the many military bases and command and DEFENSE posts. There is also a lot of huge NAVAL stuff here. Submarines, Carriers, Battleships, Destroyers and even the Navy Seals HQ.

Well we came on through San Diego and crossed The Coronado Bay Bridge on to the North Island where we wound our way through Imperial Beach where John from Cincinnati was filmed on to the Loews Coronado Resort at the very tip of the island. THIS is a nice resort gang!

http://www.loewshotels.com/en/Hotels/Coronado-Bay-Resort/Overview.aspx

Our event on the USS Midway was actually the first date booked on this trip over a year ago. Our good friends Steve Robinson and Mindy Benson from the super event management company Logicom ALWAYS takes good care of The BOYS when we work for them and today is no exception. There is great lodging, great food and a huge and historical event to play and even a good bottle of Cabernet in our rooms. I hear there is SUSHI at Squeat.
THANK YOU LOGICOM!!
I will let the many pictures do the talking and in tomorrow’s blog I will reflect back upon the USS MIDWAY.
A short trip tonight to Coachella so we just might spend the night right here on the southwestern tip of the US of A. It will be nice to be OFF of the bus for a while! Besides, this place is WONDERFUL! And we have some good CAB!

Looks like a great day and night ahead BUTCHIE!

Ban-Joey

OAK RIDGE BOYS TOUR two thousand oh eight
Thursday June 26, 2008
SAN DIEGO CA AIRCRAFT CARRIER MUSEUM

YOU’RE THE ONE
AMERICAN MADE
DIG
>
EVERYDAY
HEAVEN’S A SMALL TOWN
LOVE SONG
FANCY FREE
DREAM ON
SALOON
OZARK MTN JUBILEE
LEAVIN’ LA
CALLIN’ BATON ROUGE
DOWN DEEP INSIDE
MINIVAN
GLORYBOUND
>
COLORS
GI JOE AND LILLIE
CLOSER TO HOME
KIDS
ELVIRA
BOBBIE SUE
>
THIS IS AMERICA

FIREWORKS!!!!!!

BLOGGIN’ WEST...

Wed, 25 Jun 2008 17:55:15 -0500

It is around noon west coast time and we are still rolling between Lehi, Utah and Oroville, California where tonight we will perform at the Feather Falls Casino - which I hear is beautiful. If we ever get there I will confirm that piece of information. I think we are still about an hour from the gig.

Richard and I are sitting in the back of the bus watching an afternoon tilt between the Braves and Brewers on the DirecTV Baseball package. This is a daily blessing to the baseball fanatics who ride here…. that would be Richard and I…

“Since we left home we have been pretty much riding,” quoteth the bass singer and he is RIGHT! The space trip continues.

It was sad to see all the smoke and burned forest after coming through Donners Pass this morning. I am not sure just where we are right now, but the land is flatter. There is still an un-natural haze in the air that is very sad and a little creepy.

Last night was a very worthwhile evening and worth the space trip. It was a concert in support of American Indian Services that provides school funding for underprivileged Native American Children. There is a huge Johnny Miller Golf tournament today and last night the Oaks provided the entertainment for the dinner and auction. Tribal members from around the country brought as gifts and it was an honor to have been a part of this event. As a side-note Thanksgiving Point in Lehi, Utah was just beautiful. The waterfalls and gardens alone were breathtaking. They even had a cool petting zoo right by the place where we performed. WLG TOOK A TON OF PICTURES! He has a great new Canon camera that dwarfs most our little digital jobs. When he retires from singing he can get a job with Sports Illustrated or National Geographic.

My MacBook Pro battery is running down and Darrick reports that we are closing in on Oroville. The mini-blog will continue!

I AM BACK! Feather Falls IS beautiful, but the dryness around here is just horrible. One can easily see why fires are such a problem out west. The answer would be RAIN and LOTS of it too.

I will not be in my rented room much today. We are going to rehearse as soon as they get everything up and running and tonight we will speed right on out of here for San Diego - another 598 miles down the road!

Later this month, we will tape a Gospel Special with Bill Gaither. It will feature the Oak Ridge Boys history in Gospel Music and beyond and yes, it WILL be a DVD. For the most part it will be the OAKS sitting around a piano with Bill and some other Homecoming Friends. There are a few songs we need to run through like I Know and He Did It All For Me. So we WILL be doing some rehearsing this week. In fact here is a list of POSSIBLE songs being considered for the filming!

Jesus Is Coming Soon
I Know
He Did It All For Me
Heaven Bound
Have A Little Talk With Jesus
Jonah, Job, And Moses
Loving God, Loving Each Other
The Baptism Of Jesse Taylor
Where The Soul Never Dies
Angels Watching Over Me
God Will Take Care Of You
Write Your Name Across My Heart
The Home Stretch
Did I Make A Difference
The Journey (ac cappella)
Didn’t It Rain

THESE SONGS COULD BE DONE TO SHOW HOW GOSPEL MUSIC HAS FILTERED INTO OUR COUNTRY HITS:

Touch A Hand, Make A Friend
Everyday
Make My Life With You
Come On In, You Did The Best That You Could Do
Thank God For Kids
I Guess It Never Hurts
An American Family

THESE SONGS HAD A SOUTHERN GOSPEL TYPE OF STYLE:

Elvira
Bobbie Sue
Love Song
One In A Million

So, now that we are here in Feather Falls we have a busy day ahead of us. General Chuck Yeager will be introducing us this evening and THAT is very cool! We all love and respect the GENERAL as a true American hero and we are honored that he has become a great friend over all of these years!

Tomorrow we will perform on an Air Craft Carrier. A moment ago Richard posed this question… “Is tomorrow Coachella or the Air Craft Carrier?”

I have never heard that question before!

Rock On Children… Rock On!

Ban-Joey

ANATOMY of a SPACE TRIP

Tue, 24 Jun 2008 10:44:04 -0500

In the old days when the Oaks were booked far from home we ALWAYS took the bus. A two or even three day ride was always called a space trip. Over the last cup-la decades or so we would more than likely send the bus on out there somewhere to LA or SEATTLE or PORTLAND or SALT LAKE CITY. Then we just fly out day of show and get on the bus at the airport and plow onwards avoiding a space trip at ALL costs.

However, this week..... with fuel costs, inconvenient plane schedules and incredibly high fares we decided to be cost efficient and take a SPACE TRIP from Hendersonville to LEHI, UTAH, where we have a private show tonight at THANKSGIVING POINT.

Lehi is followed by five more straight nights of singing on down the west coast and we WILL fly out of LAX homeward next Monday morning!

But back to the Space Trip.

All the BOYS and BAND and CREW and drivers Billy and STEER left out of the office on New Shackle Island Road around 10 pm Tulsa Time Sunday..........

Then we proceeded to RIDE, RIDE, RIDE until we arrived in Lehi around 9 am this morning UTAH TIME!

Aside from a few fuel stops (most of which I slept through,) we only made ONE food stop around 3 pm yesterday in North Platte, Nebraska. Most of us ate at Ruby Tuesdays and I think a few guys hit Perkins Pancake House.

Early Monday morning Darrick took over driving our bus while Billy slept.Then when we left Ruby Tuesday’s, Billy woke up and drove while DK spelled STEER on the other bus.

WHAT DO WE DO??? Listen to music, watch TV...... movies, baseball and FOX NEWS....... we mess with our laptops and we READ! We also LAUGH a lot and from time to time meet on a few business issues....... There is time for ALL of THAT and MORE on a SPACE TRIP............

After the show tonight we drive 700 more miles down to OROVILLE CA. A mere chip shot after the last two days of RIDING...... and RIDING...... and riding...... and.....

Ban-Joey