Artist Profile - The New Christy Minstrels - Bio The New Christy Minstrels The Brothers Four The New Christy Minstrels are an American folk music group founded by Randy Sparks in 1961. They recorded over 20 albums and had several hits, including "Green, Green", "Saturday Night", "Today", "Denver", and "This Land is Your Land". Their 1962 debut album, Presenting The New Christy Minstrels won a Grammy Award and sat in the Billboard charts for two years. The group sold "millions of records" and were in demand at concerts and on television shows. They also launched the musical careers of several musicians, including Kenny Rogers, Gene Clark, Kim Carnes, and Barry McGuire. History The New Christy Minstrels were formed by singer/guitarist Randy Sparks in 1961. Sparks had been a solo musician in the late 1950s, mixing folk music with Broadway. In 1960 he formed the Randy Sparks Trio with his wife, Jackie Miller, and Nick Woods, but soon realized he wanted a larger group.

At the time folk music was very popular and choral groups like the Norman Luboff Choir and Les Baxter's Balladeers began incorporating it in their repertoires. Sparks created a 14 voice ensemble, The New Christy Minstrels, by combining his trio with another trio, The Inn Group (John Forsha, Karol Dugan and Jerry Yester), a quartet, The Fairmount Singers, and banjo player Billy Cudmore, folk-blues singer Terry Cudmore, folk singer Dolan Ellis and singer/guitarist Art Podell. Large commercial folk groups did not exist in those days, and The New Christy Minstrels burst onto the folk scene with "a barrage of color-coordinated blazers, starched petticoats, choreographed grins, and stage makeup." In April 1962 the group, reduced to ten members after the early departure of The Fairmount Singers, recorded their debut album, Presenting The New Christy Minstrels for Columbia Records (CL1872/CS8672).

It won a Grammy Award for Best Performance by a Chorus and sat in the Billboard 200 charts for two years, peaking at number 19. The album included a cover of Woody Guthrie's "This Land Is Your Land", which entered the pop singles charts in December 1962. The success of Presenting resulted in the group being booked on The Andy Williams Show, a television variety show, for its 1962-63 season. During this time several members left the group and were replaced by others. Forsha, Dugan and Yester left to pursue their own careers, with Yester later joining the Modern Folk Quartet. Singer/guitarists Barry McGuire and Barry Kane of Barry & Barry, vocalist Peggy Connelly, singer/banjoist Larry Ramos, and Clarence Treat on upright bass joined the group. Connelly was soon replaced by another vocalist, Gayle Caldwell. Sparks remained at the helm of the group as both director and arranger.

The new lineup began playing regularly at The Troubadour in Los Angeles in mid-1962, and their style of performance was similar to those by the 1930s big bands and the 1950s English traditional-jazz ensembles. Some songs were performed by the full group and others by duos and trios within the group. With this new lineup they released their second album, The New Christy Minstrels In Person in February 1963 (CL2141/CS8741), which had been recorded live at The Troubadour in September 1962. In January 1963 the new lineup made their first studio album, The New Christy Minstrels Tell Tall Tales! (Legends and Nonsense). By now the group's fame had grown considerably after their appearances on The Andy Williams Show, and they received "a raft of enthusiastic reviews".

In April 1963 the group recorded another studio album called Ramblin' (CL2055/CS8855) which featured "Green, Green", a McGuire/Sparks composition that became the group's first hit single, peaking at number three on the Adult Contemporary Charts. "Green, Green" sold over one million copies in 1963, and was awarded a gold disc. In May 1963, Sparks stopped touring with the group to focus on a club he had established in Los Angeles called Ledbetters, and a new group he had formed, The Back Porch Majority. He passed the role of director and arranger of The New Christy Minstrels's live performances onto McGuire, who had become the "star" of the group after singing on their hit, "Green, Green". Sparks still continued to run The New Christy Minstrels along with the group's managers, George Greif and Sid Garris. Soon after McGuire's promotion, Ellis left and was replaced by Gene Clark, who featured prominently on the group's next few records.

But in early 1964 Clark left to join Jim McGuinn and David Crosby in the Jet Set, and later The Byrds. Clark was replaced by Paul Potash. The group's two female singers, Sparks's wife, Miller, and Caldwell also left and were replaced by Karen Gunderson and Ann White. In early 1964 Sparks was contracted to create a film score for a comedy, Advance to the Rear, featuring Glenn Ford and Stella Stevens. The corresponding soundtrack by The New Christy Minstrels was released in May 1964 as Today (CL2159/CS8959). It was the first complete soundtrack ever made in the folk music style. The score is notable for the hit standard "Today", which was written by Sparks. "Today" reached number four on the Adult Contemporary Charts and 17 on the Billboard Hot 100. By the mid-1960s The New Christy Minstrels were finding themselves increasingly at odds with the folk music community. While folk music had become more morally and politically reflective, Sparks insisted that his group should entertain and produce music that made people "forget about problems".

The group's ensemble singing of folk music was becoming less relevant to the newer, "activist" folk music. In late 1964, Sparks sold his share of the group to Greif and Garris for $2.5 million to devote all his attention to Ledbetters and The Back Porch Majority. After the group toured Europe in early 1965, McGuire left to embark on a solo career, and this spelt the end of the original New Christy Minstrels. Now under the direction of Greif and Garris the group moved towards a variety act, doing "novelty and pop tunes" and a little comedy, making them closer to the 19th century Christy's Minstrels from whom the group's name was derived. Reflecting this shift, they had a Billboard Top 100 hit later in 1965 with a cover of "Chim Chim Cher-ee" from the Disney film Mary Poppins. Regular group membership changes continued, often with each new tour.

In 1965 Kane was replaced by Bill Teague, and Treat was replaced by Skiles and Henderson, a comedy duo that broadened The New Christy Minstrels's stage act. Later that year Woods was replaced by Rusty Evans, and in early 1966 Larry Ramos left to join The Association and was replaced by Mike Settle of the Back Porch Majority. Towards the end of 1966 Podell, Gunderson and White were replaced by Kenny Rogers, Kim Carnes and Karen Black. Settle and Rogers later left to form The First Edition. The New Christy Minstrels continued under the management of Greif and Garris until 1991, making several more records, including a folk-pop album of Motown hits, On Tour Through Motortown. In 1976 the group reconstituted itself for a short while as a pop group to make a new album, The Great Soap Opera Themes, and then in 1978 they began performing at resort hotels.

Randy Sparks, who had spent more than thirty years as Burl Ives' writer and opening act in concert, found himself with time on his hands after Ives' death in 1995, and he sought to rebuild the group he had founded. He leased the entity from Greif and Garris to begin the experimentation, then eventually bought it back. His long-time friend Fats Johnson had quietly trademarked the world-famous name, and when 'the big man' was dying of complications from diabetes, a deal was struck, and The NCM was once again 'Under The Direction (and ownership) of Randy Sparks.' 2010 and Forward Always seen by Sparks as a work in progress, the trial and error procedure of selecting the right personnel to recreate the excitement of old finally succeeded in May 2010, and the ultimate shake-down cruise, 33 major concerts in 54 days, took place in October and November. The enterprise would seem to once again occupy the fast lane. Recent accomplishments include The City Of Palm Springs' award of The NCM's own star on the P.S. Walk Of Stars.

The New Christy Minstrels Foundation The New Christy Minstrels is now owned and operated by The New Christy Minstrels Foundation, a bona fide charity, its purpose being to conserve the body of NCM music, and to share with young people the wisdom that real music is more than just something that vibrates your car. Website Name The New Christy Minstrels' peculiar name has to do with Stephen Foster. It was in Foster's biography that Randy Sparks found hope. More than a hundred years earlier, this pioneer of songwriters had a pile of good compositions that nobody wanted, and he'd solved his problem by leaning on the most popular group of his day, Christy's Minstrels. Note Christy's Minstrels, a blackface group formed by Philadelphia-born showman Edwin Pearce Christy in 1842. Using largely white performers in blackface, Christy's Minstrels sang Negro spirituals and contemporary songs, and popularized the concept of the minstrel show. Past members This article contains embedded lists that may be poorly defined, unverified or indiscriminate. Please help to clean it up to meet Wikipedia's quality standards.

(December 2011) Nearly 300 people have been members of the New Christy Minstrels. Famous alumni of the group include: David G. Moyer, The Byrds' Gene Clark (d. 1991), Kim Carnes, Larry Ramos, who went on to join The Association at their peak, Baxter Taylor (ex-The Wayfarers Trio), Barry McGuire of "Eve Of Destruction" fame, Peggy Connelly (d. 2007), Terry Anne Meeuwsen, former Miss America, Jerry Yester brother of The Association's Jim Yester, Susan Palmer Marshall, Rex Kramer (longest touring member) and played the Command Performance for the Queen of England, Thelma Camacho, Mike Settle, Terry Williams, The last three were original founders of The First Edition, along with Kenny Rogers. In the early 1970s, the group's roster included future Broadway stars Christine Andreas and Linda Hart.

Partial discography Presenting The New Christy Minstrels (aka Exciting New Folk Chorus) (1962), The New Christy Minstrels In Person (1963), The New Christy Minstrels Tell Tall Tales! (Legends and Nonsense) (1963), Ramblin' (1963), Today and Other Songs from 'Advance to the Rear' (1964), Land of Giants (1964), Quiet Sides of the New Christy Minstrels (1965), The New Christy Minstrels Sing and Play Cowboys and Indians (1965), Chim Chim Cher-ee and Other Happy Songs (1965), The Wandering Minstrels (1965), The New Christy Minstrels - News, Photos, Videos, Bio. Free music downloads at MP3.com The New Christy Minstrels Genres: folk , acoustic , The New Christy Minstrels , 60s , choral Biography The New Christy Minstrels is an American folk music group that came to prominence in the 1960s and is currently performing in concerts across the country.

For the Schedule of The New Christy Minstrels®, Under the Direction of Randy Sparks, visit Read More... the one and only official web site: as well as The NCM Foundation web site: Formed by Founder Randy Sparks in 1961, The New Christy Minstrels®, Under the Direction of Randy Sparks had several Top 40 folk music hits, including "This Land Is Your Land", "Green, Green", "Today" and "Ramblin'". Current members of the group include Founder, Randy Sparks, along with Dolan Ellis, Pete Henderson, Becky Jo Benson, Eddie Boggs, Jennifer Lind, Dave Deutschendorf (John Denver's Uncle), and Greg O'Haver tour in concert throughout the year. For touring Schedule: #Schedule The New Christy Minstrels' film score for the 1964 comedy movie, Advance to the Rear, featuring Glenn Ford and Stella Stevens, was the first complete soundtrack ever made in the folk music style. The score is notable for the hit standard "Today" and several others, including "This Old Riverboat" and "Company of Cowards" (the original title). The soundtrack album has been re-released on CD as Today.

In 2007 the group recorded "RECYCLED" The New Christy Minstrels® Greatest Hits CD and in 2011 have plans to record "RECYCLED II" and "Land of Giants II". The NCM CDs are available at their live concerts and from THE STORE located on their web site: In 2009 Randy Sparks and The New Christy Minstrels® received a Star on The Palm Springs Walk of Stars. Most of their concerts end up being sold out, in the group's current performance Schedule, so if they are in your area you should buy tickets early. Read more on Last.fm . User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply. Top Songs The New Christy Minstrels | Grooveshark - Free Music Streaming 00:00 / 00:00 The New Christy Minstrels The New Christy Minstrels is an American folk music group that came to prominence in the 1960s and is currently performing in concerts across the country.

For the Schedule of The New Christy Minstrels®, Under the Direction of Randy Sparks, visit the one and only official web site: as well as The NCM Foundation web site: Formed by Founder Randy Sparks in 1961, The New Christy Minstrels®, Under the Direction of Randy Sparks had several Top 40 folk music hits, including This Land Is Your Land, Green, Green, Today and Ramblin'. Current members of the group include Founder, Randy Sparks, along with Dolan Ellis, Pete Henderson, Becky Jo Benson, Eddie Boggs, Jennifer Lind, Dave Deutschendorf (John Denver's Uncle), and Greg O'Haver tour in concert throughout the year. For touring Schedule: #Schedule The New Christy Minstrels' film score for the 1964 comedy movie, Advance to the Rear, featuring Glenn Ford and Stella Stevens, was the first complete soundtrack ever made in the folk music style. The score is notable for the hit standard Today and several others, including This Old Riverboat and Company of Cowards (the original title). The soundtrack album has been re-released on CD as Today.

In 2007 the group recorded RECYCLED The New Christy Minstrels® Greatest Hits CD and in 2011 have plans to record RECYCLED II and Land of Giants II. The NCM CDs are available at their live concerts and from THE STORE located on their web site: In 2009 Randy Sparks and The New Christy Minstrels® received a Star on The Palm Springs Walk of Stars. Most of their concerts end up being sold out, in the group's current performance Schedule, so if they are in your area you should buy tickets early. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.

Whistlin' Dixie | The New Christy Minstrels Lyrics, Song Meanings, Videos, Full Albums & Bios We have lyrics for 'Whistlin' Dixie' by these artists: Houser Randy Yeah I like to run with the ol' dogs Learn bad… Randy Houser Yeah I like to run with the ol' dogs Learn bad… We have lyrics for these tracks by The New Christy Minstrels: A Travelin' Man A travelin' man always longs for a home 'Cause a travelin'… Anything Love Can Buy I'll buy you the glow of an evening star A song… Chim Chim Cher-ee Chim chiminey, chim chiminey Chim chim cher-ee A chimney swe… Company of Cowards As I was walkin' down the road, 'twas on one… Denver (And now, ladies and gentlemen, the Troubadour takes grea… Girl from Ipanema Tall and tan and young and lovely The girl from Ipanema… Green [Chorus:] Green, green, it's green they say On the far sid… Green, Green Green Green The New Christy Minstrels Written by Minstrel me… GreenGreen [Chorus:] Green, green,

 it's green they say On the far sid… Homeward Bound I'm sitting in the railway station.

Got a ticket to… I Want To Hold Your Hand Oh yeah I tell you somethin' I think you'll understand Whe… Last Farewell I'm going away at eventide Across the wild and the… Little Drummer Boy Come, they told me pa-rum pum pum pum Our newborn King… Love Theme Today is the greatest Day I've ever known Can't live for t… My Dear Mary Anne Oh fare thee well my dear Mary Anne. Our days… Ramblin' (I've been a-ramblin', ramblin') I've been ramblin' Lor… Rovin' Gambler Oh fare thee well my dear Mary Anne. Our days… Saturday Night Chorus 1 Saturday Night! Saturday Night! We all get together… Sleigh Ride Just hear those sleigh bells jingle-ing, ring-ting tingle-in… The Cat Meow, meow, meow.

Now, just like everbody, you've got tro… This Land Is Your Land This land is your land, this land is my land From… This Ol' Riverboat This ol' riverboat walkin up the river Keep her steady as… Three Wheels on my Wagon Three wheels on my wagon And I'm still rolling along The C… Today Today while the blossoms still cling to the vine I'll taste… Where Did Our Love Go Baby, baby, baby don't leave me Ooh, please don't leave me… Whippoorwill In the southern mountains, the whippoorwill is both omen … The lyrics can frequently be found here (check the full description and comments) or by filtering for lyric videos . Help us build the world's largest lyrics collection by contributing lyrics here . Free The New Christy Minstrels biography and latest music, latest album, top tracks | SONG365 Country:Other Genres:Folk Pop, Folk, Acoustic, The New Christy Minstrels, 60s, Choral Biogphiy: The New Christy Minstrels is an American folk music group that came to prominence in the 1960s and is currently performing in concerts across the country.

For the Schedule of The New Christy Minstrels®, Under the Direction of Randy Sparks, visit the one and only official web site: as well as The NCM Foundation web site: Formed by Founder Randy Sparks in 1961, The New Christy Minstrels®, Under the Direction of Randy Sparks had several Top 40 folk music hits, including “This Land Is Your Land”, “Green, Green”, “Today” and “Ramblin’”. Current members of the group include Founder, Randy Sparks, along with Dolan Ellis, Pete Henderson, Becky Jo Benson, Eddie Boggs, Jennifer Lind, Dave Deutschendorf (John Denver’s Uncle), and Greg O’Haver tour in concert throughout the year. For touring Schedule: #Schedule The New Christy Minstrels’ film score for the 1964 comedy movie, Advance to the Rear, featuring Glenn Ford and Stella Stevens, was the first complete soundtrack ever made in the folk music style. The score is notable for the hit standard “Today” and several others, including “This Old Riverboat” and “Company of Cowards” (the original title). The soundtrack album has been re-released on CD as Today.

In 2007 the group recorded “RECYCLED” The New Christy Minstrels® Greatest Hits CD and in 2011 have plans to record “RECYCLED II” and “Land of Giants II”.

The New Christy Minstrels Tracks 1 New Christy Minstrels - Green, Green - 1959 - Music Videos,Lyrics New Christy Minstrels - Green, Green - 1959 Lyrics (Green, green, it's green they say) (On the far side of the hill) (Green, green, I'm goin' away) (To where the grass is greener still) a-Well I told my mama on the day I was born "Dontcha cry when you see I'm gone" "Ya know there ain't no woman gonna settle me down" "I just gotta be travelin' on "a-Singin' ah, there ain't nobody in this whole wide world Gonna tell me to spend my time I'm just a good-lovin' ramblin' man Say, buddy, can ya spare me a dime?Hear me cryin', it's a Yeah, I don't care when the sun goes down Where I lay my weary head Green, green valley or rocky road It's there I'm gonna make my bedEasy, now Everybody, I wanna hear it now !!!

(To where the grass is greener still)(To where the grass is greener still) (To where the grass is greener still) New Christy Minstrels - Green, Green - 1959 Playlist: Pause Some trivia about New Christy Minstrels - Green, Green - 1959 The New Christy Minstrels is an American folk music group that came to prominence in the 1960s. The name deliberately evoked Christy's Minstrels, an enormously popular 19th century blackface minstrel group founded by Edwin Pearce Christy. Formed by Randy Sparks in 1961, the group had several Top 40 folk music hits, including "This Land Is Your Land", "Green, Green", "Today" and "Ramblin'". Current members of the group include Randy Sparks, Clarence Treat, Jackie Miller Davidson, Art Podell, Dolan Ellis, Becky Jo Benson and Bill Boycott. The New Christy Minstrels' film score for the 1964 comedy movie, Advance to the Rear, featuring Glenn Ford and Stella Stevens, was the first complete soundtrack ever made in the folk music style.

The score is notable for the hit standard "Today" and several others, including "This Old Riverboat" and "Company of Cowards" (the original title). The soundtrack album has been re-released on CD as Today. [1] Play time: 2:12 FACEBOOK - CLICK HERE to see our top picks of the day on our music group on Facebook! To post this song into Facebook...just copy the URL and past it into the Facebook comment field More New Christy Minstrels Free Music Videos and songs To Listen and watch Artist New Christy Minstrels album music videos... Just click on the song title links that you see below, to play. Your Free Music Videos Playlist By default, we play all of our songs randomly selected from our playlist; however, you can choose the songs you want played by selecting all or some songs below and adding them to your playlist. You can also browse all songs and update your playlist at View/Edit Your Playlist . Step 1: Select your Free Music Videos. Step 2: click on 'Add Selections' button to update your list. Step 3: When you're logged in and ready, just click on 'Play Your Playlist' button.

To stop playing from your playlist and to play all of our songs, just click on 'Play All Songs' button Status When completed, click on either Play Your Playlist or Play All Music Videos New Christy Minstrels Song Tracks New Christy Minstrels - Today - 1964 [2:44] - The New Christy Minstrels are an American folk FAQ: Salestron Eclectic Video Jukebox Playlist Hit F11 key to full screen this site. Our Oldies Music ♫ Nostalgia Cloud is designed to allow you to sit back, listen, and watch free and legal music videos as we automatically shuffle, select and play old favorites such as "New Christy Minstrels - Green, Green - 1959" from our eclectic streaming video radio station jukebox playlist! Listen to the best songs from 1910s to the present! Over one hundred years of music! The MP3 music videos, lyrics, artist and album trivia are presented to you so that you do not need to click on anything. Automatically, at the end of the song music video, we select the next shuffled song and continously repeat the process.

We all have our favorite songs that we want to play. That's why you can create your own playlist! Free, no less! Anytime you play a favorite song, just ckick on "Add Song to Playlist" that appears just below the video. You can also browse our library of songs and add more of your favorites...by singer, by year, etc. You can choose to run your private playlist or our complete songlist at any time. Just click Create Your Free Music Videos Playlist Music video song lyrics are displayed in the scrolling window on the right side of this page. Music Video Trivia are shown in the center column. You can select the next song track by clicking on the SKIP button. You can loop on the current song by clicking on the LOOP button. To search for your song, enter whatever you remember of the title or singer into the search box at the top right of this page. You can enter partial titles and/or singers. We then search our Jukebox Music Database and show the most likely matching songs. You can browse and click on any song title and singer in the list to play that song.

We keep our audio and video mp3 downloads or our Free Music Videos list constantly updated with a music search engine of songs suggested by the Billboard 100 , Grammy Awards , All-Time Billboard Hot 100 top songs videos from 1958 to 2008 , Top 500 all time songs , our viewers and current trends. To add your song, just click the Contact Us link. While much of our music is in the Oldies category, the music videos in our Music Video Database are comprised of art, pop, traditional, American, avant-garde, country, Cowboy/Western music, Nashville, Honky Tonk, rock, doo-wop, pop, Easy Listening, gospel, Christian, Caribbean and Latin American, reggae, blues, crossover, hip hop, rap, BET, R&B. These categories span the 20s, 30s, 40s, 50s, 60s, 70s, 80s, 90s, 2000s with new music videos constantly being added to provide an interesting balanced mix of those songs having the classic spirit, rendition and quality.

The recently released songs that have been included in our songlist are expected to become future oldies! We add selected international song music video favorites to our list to provide relief and contrast to the jaded listener. These music videos include: English, Irish, Scottish, French, German, Austrian, Swedish, Ukrainian, Russion, Polish, Hungarian, Italian, Spanish, Portugese, Brazilian, Greek, Indian, African, Israeli, Autralian, Japanese, Chinese song videos. We wish to thank the many artists and youtube contributors for sharing their finest songs. Our Free Music Videos Jukebox is dedicated to sharing our treasured eclectic oldies music song playlist to keep the spirit alive of a bygone era when the country side was green and the music was golden in the twenties, thirties, fourties, fifties, sixties, seventies, eighties, nineties...a memorable musical tour of the past decades rich in chords and song. Suggest Your Song , lyrics or trivia to download into our Jukebox. Maybe you have a song or band to promote?

The New Christy Minstrels - You Need Someone To Love 1970 RCA A23 8-track tape The New Christy Minstrels - You Need Someone To Love 1970 RCA A23 8-track tape Price: $14.99 Shipping: USPS calculated click to check Condition: Used Payment with: The New Christy Minstrels are an American folk music group founded by Randy Sparks in 1961. They recorded over 20 albums and had several hits, including their songs "Green, Green", "Saturday Night" and "Everybody Loves Saturday Night" (two different songs), "Today", "Denver", and a cover of "This Land Is Your Land". Their 1962 debut album, Presenting The New Christy Minstrels won a Grammy Award and sat in the Billboard charts for two years. The group sold millions of records and were in demand at concerts and on television shows. They also launched the musical careers of several musicians, including Kenny Rogers, Gene Clark, Kim Carnes, and Barry McGuire. The New Christy Minstrels were formed by singer/guitarist Randy Sparks in 1961.

Sparks had been a solo musician in the late 1950s, mixing folk music with Broadway. In 1960 he formed the Randy Sparks Trio with his wife, Jackie Miller, and Nick Woods, but soon realized he wanted a larger group. At the time folk music was very popular and choral groups like the Norman Luboff Choir and Les Baxter's Balladeers began incorporating it in their repertoires. Sparks created a 14 voice ensemble, The New Christy Minstrels, by combining his trio with another trio, The Inn Group (John Forsha, Karol Dugan and Jerry Yester), a quartet, The Fairmount Singers, and banjo player Billy Cudmore, folk-blues singer Terry Cudmore, folk singer Dolan Ellis and singer/guitarist Art Podell.

Large commercial folk groups did not exist in those days, and The New Christy Minstrels burst onto the folk scene with "a barrage of color-coordinated blazers, starched petticoats, choreographed grins, and stage makeup." The group's name was derived from Christy's Minstrels, a blackface group formed by Philadelphia-born showman Edwin Pearce Christy in 1842. Sparks modeled his relationship to his band after legendary composer Stephen Foster, who had given many of his compositions to the Minstrels to help popularize them. In April 1962 the group, reduced to ten members after the early departure of The Fairmount Singers, recorded their debut album, Presenting The New Christy Minstrels for Columbia Records (CL1872/CS8672). It won a Grammy Award for Best Performance by a Chorus and sat in the Billboard 200 charts for two years, peaking at number 19. The album included a cover of Woody Guthrie's "This Land Is Your Land", which entered the pop singles charts in December 1962.

The success of Presenting resulted in the group being booked on The Andy Williams Show, a television variety show, for its 1962–63 season. During this time several members left the group and were replaced by others. Forsha, Dugan and Yester left to pursue their own careers, with Yester later joining the Modern Folk Quartet. Singer/guitarists Barry McGuire and Barry Kane of Barry & Barry, vocalist Peggy Connelly, singer/banjoist Larry Ramos, and Clarence Treat on upright bass joined the group. Connelly was soon replaced by another vocalist, Gayle Caldwell. Sparks remained at the helm of the group as both director and arranger. The new lineup began playing regularly at The Troubadour in Los Angeles in mid-1962, and their style of performance was similar to those by the 1930s big bands and the 1950s English traditional-jazz ensembles. Some songs were performed by the full group and others by duos and trios within the group.

With this new lineup they released their second album, The New Christy Minstrels In Person in February 1963 (CL2141/CS8741), which had been recorded live at The Troubadour in September 1962. In January 1963 the new lineup made their first studio album, The New Christy Minstrels Tell Tall Tales! (Legends and Nonsense). By now the group's fame had grown considerably after their appearances on The Andy Williams Show, and they received "a raft of enthusiastic reviews". In April 1963 the group recorded another studio album called Ramblin' (CL2055/CS8855) which featured "Green, Green", a McGuire/Sparks composition that became the group's first hit single, peaking at number three on the Adult Contemporary Charts. "Green, Green" sold over one million copies in 1963, and was awarded a gold disc. In May 1963, Sparks stopped touring with the group to focus on a club he had established in Los Angeles called Ledbetters, and a new group he had formed, The Back Porch Majority.

He passed the role of director and arranger of The New Christy Minstrels's live performances onto McGuire, who had become the "star" of the group after singing on their hit, "Green, Green". Sparks still continued to run The New Christy Minstrels along with the group's managers, George Greif and Sid Garris. Soon after McGuire's promotion, Ellis left and was replaced by Gene Clark, who featured prominently on the group's next few records. But in early 1964 Clark left to join Jim McGuinn and David Crosby in the Jet Set, and later The Byrds. Clark was replaced by Paul Potash. The group's two female singers, Sparks's wife, Miller, and Caldwell also left and were replaced by Karen Gunderson and Ann White. In early 1964 Sparks was contracted to create a film score for a comedy, Advance to the Rear, featuring Glenn Ford and Stella Stevens. The corresponding soundtrack by The New Christy Minstrels was released in May 1964 as Today (CL2159/CS8959). It was the first complete soundtrack ever made in the folk music style.

The score is notable for the hit standard "Today", which was written by Sparks. "Today" reached number four on the Adult Contemporary Charts and 17 on the Billboard Hot 100. By the mid-1960s The New Christy Minstrels were finding themselves increasingly at odds with the folk music community. While folk music had become more morally and politically reflective, Sparks insisted that his group should entertain and produce music that made people "forget about problems". The group's ensemble singing of folk music was becoming less relevant to the newer, "activist" folk music. In late 1964, Sparks sold his share of the group to Greif and Garris for $2.5 million to devote all his attention to Ledbetters and The Back Porch Majority. After the group toured Europe in early 1965, McGuire left to embark on a solo career, and this spelled the end of the original New Christy Minstrels.

Now under the direction of Greif and Garris the group moved towards a variety act, doing "novelty and pop tunes" and a little comedy, making them closer to the 19th century Christy's Minstrels from whom the group's name was derived. Reflecting this shift, they had a Billboard Top 100 hit later in 1965 with a cover of "Chim Chim Cher-ee" from the Disney film Mary Poppins. Regular group membership changes continued, often with each new tour. In 1965 Kane was replaced by Bill Teague, and Treat was replaced by Skiles and Henderson, a comedy duo that broadened The New Christy Minstrels's stage act. Later that year Woods was replaced by Rusty Evans, and in early 1966 Larry Ramos left to join The Association and was replaced by Mike Settle of the Back Porch Majority. Towards the end of 1966 Podell, Gunderson and White were replaced by Kenny Rogers, Kim Carnes and Karen Black. Settle and Rogers later left to form The First Edition.[4] As a duet Carnes and Rogers reached No.

4 on the Hot 100 with "Don't Fall in Love with a Dreamer" in May 1980. The New Christy Minstrels continued under the management of Greif and Garris until 1991, making several more records (except between 1971 and 1975 when they were then inactive), including a folk-pop album of Motown hits, On Tour Through Motortown (1968). In 1976 the group reconstituted itself for a short while as a pop group to make a new album, The Great Soap Opera Themes, and then in 1978 they began performing at resort hotels. Randy Sparks, who had spent more than thirty years as Burl Ives' writer and opening act in concert, found himself with time on his hands after Ives' death in 1995, and he sought to rebuild the group he had founded. He leased the entity from Greif and Garris to begin the experimentation, then eventually bought it back.

His long-time friend Fats Johnson had quietly trademarked the world-famous name, and when 'the big man' was dying of complications from diabetes, a deal was struck, and The NCM was once again 'Under The Direction (and ownership) of Randy Sparks.' In May 2010, the group reconstituted, and toured 33 concerts over 54 days in October and November of that year. The new lineup was given a star on the Palm Springs Walk Of Stars. In 2009, a Golden Palm Star on the Palm Springs, California, Walk of Stars was dedicated to Randy Sparks and The New Christy Minstrels. The New Christy Minstrels is currently run by The New Christy Minstrels Foundation, a charitable organization dedicated to preserving the group's music.

Retrieved from The New Christy Minstrels Tickets | Totally Tickets The New Christy Minstrels Tickets The New Christy Minstrels Tickets The New Christy Minstrels Tickets 0.00 out of 100 based on 0 reviews 0 Rate Your Experience Add Review The New Christy Minstrels is an American folk music group that came to prominence in the 1960s and is currently performing in concerts across the country. For the Schedule of The New Christy Minstrels®, Under the Direction of Randy Sparks, visit the one and only official web site: as well as The NCM Foundation web site: Formed by Founder Randy Sparks in 1961, The New Christy Minstrels®, Under the Direction of Randy Sparks had several Top 40 folk music hits, including "This Land Is Your Land", "Green, Green", "Today" and "Ramblin'". Current members of the group include Founder, Randy Sparks, along with Dolan Ellis, Pete Henderson, Becky Jo Benson, Eddie Boggs, Jennifer Lind, Dave Deutschendorf (John Denver's Uncle), and Greg O'Haver tour in concert throughout the year.

For touring Schedule: #Schedule The New Christy Minstrels' film score for the 1964 comedy movie, Advance to the Rear, featuring Glenn Ford and Stella Stevens, was the first complete soundtrack ever made in the folk music style. The score is notable for the hit standard "Today" and several others, including "This Old Riverboat" and "Company of Cowards" (the original title). The soundtrack album has been re-released on CD as Today. In 2007 the group recorded "RECYCLED" The New Christy Minstrels® Greatest Hits CD and in 2011 have plans to record "RECYCLED II" and "Land of Giants II". The NCM CDs are available at their live concerts and from THE STORE located on their web site: In 2009 Randy Sparks and The New Christy Minstrels® received a Star on The Palm Springs Walk of Stars. Most of their concerts end up being sold out, in the group's current performance Schedule, so if they are in your area you should buy tickets early. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.

Question: Which folk band formed by Randy Sparks in 1961 had several Top 40 hits, including "This Land Is Your Land", "Green, Green", "Today" and "Ramblin'"?
Answer: The New Christy Minstrels