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One of our favorite ladies is turning 40 next year, and it's almost time to celebrate! Each of us has special memories about this once-in-a-lifetime song. How about you? Where were you when you first heard Elvira? Did you hear it first on the radio or in concert? Here are a few fun facts, however some of our most exciting news is yet to be announced. Stay tuned!
The year was 1981…
- Ronald Reagan was President of the United States.
- Walter Cronkite signed off the CBS Evening News for the last time.
- MTV launched as a new music cable channel.
- And The Oak Ridge Boys’ double platinum single Elvira hit the #1 spot on Country, Pop and Adult Contemporary radio charts across the U.S.
The single was certified platinum by the RIAA in 1982 for sales exceeding two million units—a distinction that, for years, was shared only with Islands In The Stream by Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton.*
Fancy Free was one of the first albums ever to achieve multi-platinum certification in the United States and was awarded that certification on October 12, 1984.*
Oom Poppa Mow Mow appears four times in the original recording, however—with encores—most live performances spotlight the phrase made famous by Oaks’ bass singer Richard Sterban at least twice that many times.
In 1982, a radio station in Alaska held an “all-Elvira” Labor Day Weekend, looping the song continuously for three straight days. That’s a lot of Oom Poppa Mow Mow’s!
Almost thirty years after Elvira's release, in 2010, The Boot named it the Catchiest Song in Country Music History.
Through the years, the Oaks have recorded and/or performed Elvira with a number of other major entertainers. In 2006, when the group was scheduled to perform a patriotic concert with The Mormon Tabernacle Choir, choir members insisted on adding one more song to the set list. That song? Elvira.
In November 2015, Little Big Town and The Oak Ridge Boys performed Elvira live on the Grand Ole Opry's 90th Anniversary show. Only a few months before, the Oaks had recorded an a cappella version of Elvira with Home Free.
In 2017, Blake Shelton asked the ORB to join him on a live-in-the-studio version of Elvira for an exclusive Spotify recording. They would later perform the song together on television, as well as at live concerts.
And, in 2018, in collaboration with the Tennessee Titans, the Oaks recorded a variation of Elvira (entitled Titans Code of Conduct) and filmed a related music video, which is showcased at all Titans’ home games.
Elvira is a woman’s name, but the song was not written about a woman. Dallas Frazier, the songwriter, reminisces about how and when the song came about.
“The song title, ‘Elvira,’ came from a street sign in East Nashville, Tennessee. My publisher Ray Baker and I were coming home from Nashville, on Gallatin Road, headed toward Madison, Tennessee, where we lived at that time. There was a side street on the left and, as we approached it, the name ‘Elvira’ locked on to my eyes. I’ve always loved earthy names and this one was a prize!
"I started laughing and making up a chorus. Ray and I both had been into the 'happy juice' as we usually were in those days. (Thank the Lord we’re both done with that.) The more I blues’d it up the more we laughed. Before we got to Madison (only a few miles) I had the chorus! Rhyming ‘Elvira’ with ‘Fira’ was instantaneous!
"The song was finished shortly after. This happened sometime in 1965. I recorded the song for Capitol, and it was released as an R&B single. It had some success but nothing like the Oaks. God bless The Oak Ridge Boys! I cannot imagine ever having a better cut on ‘Elvira.’ Thanks guys!”
Although the Oaks recorded the song in the 1980's, the first time Dallas saw the group perform it in person was at a 2018 fundraiser for The Country Music Hall of Fame.
*Source: Wikipedia
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