42 Years Ago Today, the Oak Ridge Boys Were at No. 1 for the Final Time With an Album That Features One of Their Most Moving Ballads

On this day (May 20) in 1984, the Oak Ridge Boys were at No. 1 on the Top Country Albums chart with Deliver, where it stayed for five consecutive weeks. It was their third and final chart-topping album. While their popularity was beginning to wane, the tracklist of Deliver proved that they hadn’t lost a step when it came to quality. One of the best examples of this was the moving ballad “I Guess It Never Hurts to Hurt Sometimes.”

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The Oak Ridge Boys solidified their classic lineup in the mid-1970s with the addition of Joe Bonsall. By the end of the decade, they went from being one of the biggest Southern gospel groups in the United States to country superstars. They had their first country hit in 1977, when “Y’all Come Back Saloon” reached No. 3. The next year, they scored the first of 17 No. 1 singles with “I’ll Be True to You.”

[RELATED: 3 Timeless Oak Ridge Boys Hits Featuring Joe Bonsall’s Lead Vocals]

The Oaks’ songs continued to hit the upper reaches of the charts throughout the 1980s. However, only one of their singles in the 1990s broke into the top 10. Their positions on the country albums chart mirrored this, with many of their LPs falling short of the top 10. Most of their albums in the 1990s failed to chart.

Their waning chart success had nothing to do with the quality of their output, though. Instead, it was a sign that the country music industry was moving in a different direction, and their sound was falling out of favor.

The Oak Ridge Boys Tugged Heartstrings

The Oak Ridge Boys have plenty of fun hits. “Leaving Louisiana in the Broad Daylight” and “Elvira” are prime examples of that. However, when they decided they wanted to tug listeners’ heartstrings, they did so effortlessly. Look no further than the No. 1 single “I Guess It Never Hurts to Hurt Sometimes” for proof of that.

Their video for the song depicts the end of a romantic relationship, casting the song as a heartbroken breakup ballad. However, a closer listen to the track reveals its true meaning.

Randy VanWarmer wrote “I Guess It Never Hurts to Hurt Sometimes” about his father’s death. “When I first wrote that, it felt so personal. I was going to file it away, but I played it for [publisher Ian Kimmet], and he thought it was the best thing I had ever written,” he said of the song.

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