Randy Sparks, whose group the New Christy Minstrels was a huge part of the folk revival of the early 1960s, died February 11 at an assisted-living facility in San Diego. He was 90.
His son, Kevin, confirmed the death to The New York Times. Sparks was living on his 168-acre ranch in Jenny Lind, CA, until a few days before his death.
The New Christy Minstrels were constantly on TV in the 1960s and sold an estimated 2 million albums in their first three years. The group’s first album, Presenting the New Christy Minstrels , won the Grammy Award for best performance by a chorus and stayed on the Billboard albums chart for two years.
The group’s 1963 LP Ramblin’ made the Top 15 and was its only gold disc. The holiday set Merry Christmas! also was a hit that year, Today hit No. 9 in 1964, becoming the Christys’ lone Top 10 album. It featured music from the movie Advance to the Rear.
The group had three hits that made the Top 40: “Today,” “Saturday Night” and “Green, Green,” which Sparks wrote with future “Eve of Destruction” singer Barry McGuire.