ONE FABULOUS SING-A-LONG

On Sunday, September 21, The U.S. Senate made a special trip to The Charley Pride Theatre in Branson, MO, to sing some songs with their good buddies The Oak Ridge Boys. Sounds a little surreal, doesn't it? However, it is true! Well... not the whole U.S. Senate, but four ranking Republican Senators who love to sing four part harmony. They have become known as The Singing Senators. Get this: they claim in public that they are simply "Oak Ridge Boys wannabees."

The Oak Ridge Boys, Charley Pride and The Singing Senators entertain the Sunday afternoon crowd at the Charley Pride Theatre in Branson.

The Singing Senators are Senator Jim Jeffords of Vermont on tenor, Larry Craig of Idaho on lead, John Ashcroft of Missouri on baritone, and Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott of Mississippi singing bass. Actually, we've known the Singing Senators for quite a while.In December of 1995, after seeing them sing Elvira on The Today Show, we contacted them to let them know how honored we were that they sang Oak's songs. They invited us to Washington in April of '96 so that we could all meet, and they suggested that the eight of us sing some songs together for the entire Senate at a reception. (Maybe you saw coverage of that on CNN and C-Span.) Then recently, they contacted us to say they'd be in Missouri for a few days and wanted to come see the Oaks in Branson. The Singing Senators arrived at The Charley Pride Theatre about 2 o'clock in the afternoon with their lovely wives and a few staff members. We all got toghether at a small reception upstairs on the executive level of the theatre. As a surprise, Charley Pride and his wife Rozene joined us.

The Singing Senators took the stage and sang an inspired patriotic medley, followed by a gospel classic. They also sang some of their favorite Oaks' hits accompanied by the Oaks and later Charley Pride.

After reacquainting, the eight of us began harmonizing on some old Gospel songs. The energy in the room was simply incredible! I don't think that we would have stopped except that it was showtime. After briefly meeting the press, we escorted the Senators and the Prides to their seats and then we took the stage for a very special 3 o'clock matinee. We sang for about a half hour, and then introduced The Singing Senators and brought them up on stage.

The reception quickly turned into a rehearsal.

Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott tries on those super low notes.

Sen. Ashcroft said a few words, then the Senators sang a patriotic medley, followed by "Turn Your Radio On." We joined them and sang "American Made" and "Dig A Little Deeper In The Well." We then brought Charley Pride on stage and together (now there were nine of us!) we sang some more gospel and finally closed the segment with "Elvira," which included the triple bass parts of Senator Lott, Charley Pride and our own Richard Sterban. As the audience stood and showed appreciation with extended applause, we all walked to the front of the stage and encored with "God Bless America." It was four Oaks, four of our nation's leaders, and a country legend trying to hold back tears over the sheer joy of singing together. Such mutual respect and genuine love for one another...it's hard to put into words. You have to feel it. The next morning, the impact of it all hit me a little harder as I read about our event in the papers and, yes, saw us all singing together on CNN and ABC. Once again, The Oak Ridge Boys are incredibly blessed. In fact, as I am write these words on my laptop, in my motel room, we're on CNN Headline News. Very surreal! by Staff Writer Joe Bonsall photos by Kathy Gangwisch and Jon Mir