Willie Wynn Biography Page 2

Willie’s public life was what the outside world saw from the stage and television. Willie was also a father and a husband. His son Jody recently gave a little insight into what his life was like with Willie as his father. “I have been asked on many occasions what it was like growing up in the home of ‘Little Willie Wynn’ and what he was really like. For me, at the time, all was as it should have been. I saw ‘Little Willie’ as Daddy: not the entertainer. The unique summer vacations spent traveling the country in ‘Silver Eagles’ and waking up in a different town every morning notwithstanding, my childhood was fairly 'typical'. Lengths were taken to ensure that the family lived ‘as others do’…public schools, PTA, sleepovers and the like. As for my memories of ‘Daddy’ I have watched my father, as every child does, lifted by joyous moments and stood by watching helpless as he suffered from the pain wrought through the loss of family members and friends. I have seen strength that was needed at times when many would have resigned themselves to fate and weakness that showed we are all imperfect. After much reflection on these memories, my thoughts turn to a passage from one of my favorite works by Shakespeare: ‘He was a man, take him for all in all. I shall not look upon his like again.’” HAMLET, PRINCE OF DENMARK (Act I, scene II)

Several changes took place in the baritone position of the Oak Ridge Boys. When the Rebels Quartet offered Jim Hamill $25 a week more than the Oaks, they needed another baritone. William Golden had been to see the Oaks several times and told Smitty that if they ever needed a baritone, he would like to try out. When the Oaks were in Panama City one night, Golden came out and sang a solo. It was "Amazing Grace" from what Willie remembers. The Oaks did not have an opening at the time, but Golden looked good and had the desire. Little did they know that was his audition, and when the vacancy came, they called him. Another vacancy came when Smitty tired from travel and was offered a good job at First Baptist in Ft. Worth. The group was on a roll, being more popular and more in demand than ever before, but the founder of the group was leaving. Smitty was not interested in being the best quartet on the road. He just wanted to sing. Duane Allen filled in the void and has remained an “Oak” ever since.

In the winter of 1967, Willie went to Korea to visit the U.S. troops. He went as a solo artist with the Swannee River Boys while the Oaks were on vacation. Willie describes it as follows: "One of the highlights of my little career of ‘slightly off pitch singing’ was the U.S.O. tour I made to Korea in the late 60's. So very interesting and the people were so nice. It was in December and very cold. We took a train ride, my first train ride by the way, from someplace to some other place. When we stepped up on the train, the floor was covered with about half an inch of ice. I slid half way down the aisle. They thought it was part of my "act", but it was simply an attempt at survival." That was Willie's first experience as a soloist. He would later travel to Hawaii, the Bahamas and Sweden with the Oaks. According to Willie, the pinnacle of his time with the Oaks was when they won Group of the Year during the time they were singing “Jesus Is Coming Soon,” “I Know” and “King Jesus.” But the Oaks, as many know, were not free from criticism. At one Tennessee concert at a church, the pastor got on stage and apologized to the audience for bringing the Oaks there to sing. The Oaks were too wild for his tastes because they wore turtle-necks under their sport coats instead of ties and he felt it was inappropriate for them to set foot on the stage with such "ungodly"attire!

Willie experienced some close calls during his tenure with the Oaks. One Thanksgiving Eve, Willie was driving the bus through northern Mississippi and hit a mule with the bus going eighty miles an hour. Smitty had just been standing in the stairwell of the bus talking to Willie, but then went to bed. When he got in his bunk, Willie hit the mule which went through the front of the bus to the very spot in which Smitty was standing. In July 1966 Willie was in a serious car accident. He had two fingers crushed and a concussion while the lady in the other car died three days after the wreck. If you look at the cover of the album "River of Life," Willie has his hand behind his back because of the cast he was wearing.

While with the Oaks, Willie developed a love for planes. This love also led him to a close call. In 1973, Willie was flying solo for the first time. An October 1973 "Good News" magazine article reported that Willie had just received his pilot's license and when landing at Huntsville, Alabama's Jetple, the landing gear collapsed upon landing. The whole story, however, was not in the paper. Willie left the airport outside Nashville alone for a trial run and was going to just go up, circle around and land. When he was about to land, there was another plane coming the wrong direction down the runway. Willie pulled the plane up to miss him but there was a helicopter above him. He avoided the helicopter somehow and landed safely, but the instructor was about to have a heart attack due to what he had just witnessed. Willie then flew on to Huntsville. Upon leaving, the light indicated that the landing gear had not retracted. They flew over the tower and they were told the wheels were down and nothing appared to be wrong. After landing, they took a right turn and the wheels collapsed because they did not lock. Willie describes it as "no big deal!"

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