Ventura County Weekend : COUNTY FAIR : Oak Ridge Boys Keep the Faith With Their Fans : Even without a hit album in four years, the gospel-inspired vocalists keep packing in crowds at the popular summertime gatherings.

All is right with the world according to the Ventura County Fair, which continues its annual fete through the weekend. The barnyard menagerie is shuffling and preening in one corner, while down-home displays of jams and arts ‘n’ crafts fill the exhibition halls. Fun-seekers head to the fairway rides for the requisite thrills, chills and nausea.

And, as far as the musical menu goes, it’s deja vu all over again, to quote Yogi Berra’s immortal redundancy. It’s as if rock ‘n’ roll time stood still, taking in a fair comeback roster that includes Starship, Iron Butterfly, Ed Ames, Smokey Robinson and Tom Jones . . . well, OK, Tom Jones has graduated to a state of agelessness and cross-generational hipness.

It’s a slightly different story with the country music vocal group the Oak Ridge Boys, who have racked up a heap of hits during the last quarter of a century and will play a bunch of them when they headline at the Grandstand Arena tonight.

The Oak Ridge Boys are grizzled veterans of a scene that celebrates longevity better than its pop counterpart. In rock, groups fade out only to return at a later date. But in country, the best never go away.

Part of what has made the group so stubbornly popular is their unruffled, friendly image. The Oak Ridge Boys--lead singer Duane Allen, tenor Joe Bonsall, baritone Steve Sanders and bass Richard Sterban--are all about gentle spirits and four-part harmony. These are not songs that push political or social buttons or paint the band as renegades.

Steeped in white gospel singing, the group’s style stems more from the Sunday morning than the Saturday night branch of country music’s heritage. The current group can be traced back to the mid-’40s and the Oak Ridge Quartet, which started singing in Oak Ridge, Tenn.

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After bursting into the limelight in the late ‘70s with “Y’all Come Back Saloon” and chalking up their biggest hit, “Elvira,” in 1981, the group suddenly was everywhere. They sang on Paul Simon’s “Slip Slidin’ Away” and lent their four-part vocal expertise to George Jones, Johnny Cash and Roy Rogers, among others.

County fairs, an all-American summertime tradition, have been very good to these boys, keeping them busier than ever. This despite their curious silence on country radio in the last few years, when there has been an unusual surge of interest in country music. Their last album was “The Long Haul,” which sold badly and brought an to end their contract with RCA.

The last time the group enjoyed a hit of any strength was with “Lucky Moon” in 1991, before such superstars as Garth Brooks and Alan Jackson pushed the envelope of country’s commercial potential. At the moment, the group has signed with Capitol to soon release a Christmas album, and plans to record a new album early next year.

For now, the Oak Ridge Boys are right at home in the time warp phenomenon of the nation’s county fairs. Last week, the amiable Sterban spoke on the phone from his home near Nashville, where the group stopped in the midst of a hectic tour of the fair circuit to play in the Opryland GEO Theater.

Q Working the county fair circuit has probably been a regular part of your existence, hasn’t it?

A It’s some of the best business that we do. It’s our audience. We are very much a family-oriented act. There’s no audience that’s more family-oriented than at a county or state fair.

It’s our chance to get out there and look middle America in the eye and sing our songs to them.

It’s no secret that it’s been a few years now since we’ve had a hit record. But we’re out there working these fairs with guys who are on the radio and more than holding our own--doing better in some cases.

Q Are you all based around Oak Ridge these days?

A No. We got our name from Oak Ridge, but none of us are from there. We all live in a place called Hendersonville, Tenn., which is a suburb of Nashville. Oak Ridge is over in the eastern part of Tennessee, near Knoxville, almost 200 miles from here.

Q So Oak Ridge doesn’t claim you as one of its own?

A No. As a matter of fact, in all the years I’ve played with the Oak Ridge Boys, I only recall playing in Oak Ridge once or twice. One time, when we first signed with a major record label, we had that name in our gospel music career. There was some talk, where they said, “You might need to change that name if you’re seriously going to make it on the radio.”

We hashed things around a little while and thought of just shortening it to the Oaks. We decided that a name is what you make it. We decided that if the Oak Ridge Boys had a ring, we were going to keep it.

Q You joined the band in 1972. Were you working to get into the group?

A I always admired the group. My situation is similar to everyone who is now a current member. We were all fans before we ever became members. They were one of my favorite groups and I would listen to them on a regular basis. When they called me, there was not much hesitation on my part.

Q Did the group itself have any particular role models?

A We all started out singing in gospel quartets, so some of our earliest influences would have to be the gospel groups that we sang in and were a part of. There were groups like the Blackwood Brothers and the Statesmen, the white Southern-style gospel quartets, who were certainly a strong influence on us. . . .

I had the opportunity to sing with Elvis, so I can say that his music influenced me personally. . . . Some of our members like Bruce Springsteen. Johnny Cash was a big help to us in our earlier days and he certainly influenced the group.

Q How do the vocal arrangements work? Is it a collective process, or does one member do the arrangements?

A It’s mostly a collective process. We know each other so well, we almost automatically fall into the right place. You can play a melody line, and the four of us just naturally gravitate toward the harmony parts, almost by nature because we’ve done it so much over the years.

But sometimes, we need a little direction, and that’s where a producer comes in.

Q You, personally, burst into the spotlight there on “Elvira.”

A Yeah, that’s probably my claim to fame--the “oom pah pah mau mau” on that tune. Before “Elvira,” we had a song called “Dream On” that I sang the lead on. But the “oom pah pah mau mau” is the part I’m known for. I’m known for the meaningful lyrics (laughs). . . .

In 1981, for the summer, the whole country was singing “oom pah pah mau mau.” It was really a huge record. Believe it or not, to this day, it’s the largest-selling record to ever have been recorded in Nashville.

Q In the last few years, the country market has really taken off, and you seem to have maintained a strong presence, even without a new album during what has been a boom. Why do you suppose that is?

A I think when the overall business, the industry itself, gets better, it helps everyone who is in the industry. We’re no exception. Even though we haven’t had a hit since ‘91, we’re still doing great business at the fairs. I guess that speaks well for the reputation we’ve built.

People know that when they spend their hard-earned money, they’re going to hear a good show when they see the Oak Ridge Boys.

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* CONCERT: The Oak Ridge Boys will perform in the Grandstand Arena at the Ventura County Fairgrounds at 7:30 tonight. Free with admission to the fair.