Randy Sparks (born July 29, 1933,

Leavenworth, Kansas Leavenworth () is the county seat and largest city of Leavenworth County, Kansas, United States and is part of the Kansas City metropolitan area. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 37,351. It is located on the west bank of t ...

) is an American musician, singer-songwriter and founder of

The New Christy Minstrels The New Christy Minstrels are an American large-ensemble folk music group founded by Randy Sparks in 1961. The group has recorded more than 20 albums and scored several hits, including " Green, Green", "Saturday Night", "Today", "Denver", and " ...

and

The Back Porch Majority The Back Porch Majority was an American folk music group founded by Randy Sparks in 1963. It was intended to be a rehearsal space for The New Christy Minstrels, another group Sparks had established in 1961, but it ended up becoming successful o ...

Biography

Sparks grew up in

Oakland, California Oakland is the largest city and the county seat of Alameda County, California, United States. A major West Coast of the United States, West Coast port, Oakland is the largest city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, the third ...

, and attended the

University of California at Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant univ ...

. His first musical engagement was at

the Purple Onion The Purple Onion was a celebrated cellar club in the North Beach area of San Francisco, California, located at 140 Columbus Avenue (between Jackson and Pacific). With an intimate, 80-person setting, the club was a popular influence in local musi ...

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

. In the late 1950s, during his solo career, he released two albums on the Verve label, a self-titled album in 1958 and ''Walking the Low Road'' in 1959. The single "Walkin' The Low Road" reached the ''Cashbox'' magazine Top 60. In 1960, he formed a trio called "The Randy Sparks Three", and they released an album of the same name. He composed "

Today Today (archaically to-day) may refer to: * Day of the present, the time that is perceived directly, often called ''now'' * Current era, present * The current calendar date Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Today'' (1930 film), a 1930 A ...

"; this was a hit for the New Christy Minstrels from their 1964 album of the same title for Columbia Records (CL 2159/CS 8959). He co-composed Green, Green with

Barry McGuire Barry McGuire (born October 15, 1935) is an American singer-songwriter primarily known for his 1965 hit " Eve of Destruction". Later he would pioneer as a singer and songwriter of Contemporary Christian music. Early life McGuire was born in O ...

for the 1963 album ''Ramblin'' (CL 2055/CS 8855). Sparks starred in the 1960 film drama '' The Big Night''. Sparks also wrote "Saturday Night in Toledo, Ohio", which was recorded and made famous by

John Denver Henry John Deutschendorf Jr. (December 31, 1943 – October 12, 1997), known professionally as John Denver, was an American singer-songwriter, guitarist, actor, activist, and humanitarian whose greatest commercial success was as a solo singe ...

. Sparks also composed the musical score for the 1964 movie ''

Advance to the Rear ''Advance to the Rear'' is a light-hearted 1964 American Western comedy film set in the American Civil War. Directed by George Marshall, and starring Glenn Ford, Stella Stevens, and Melvyn Douglas. The film is based on the 1957 novel ''Company o ...

'', a Civil War spoof. The love song "Today" ("while the blossoms still cling to the vine") was part of that score. Sparks sang the theme song over the opening credits of the 1958 film '' Thunder Road''. In an email to DJ Allyn in 2009, he explained that

Robert Mitchum Robert Charles Durman Mitchum (August 6, 1917 – July 1, 1997) was an American actor. He rose to prominence with an Academy Award nomination for the Best Supporting Actor for ''The Story of G.I. Joe'' (1945), followed by his starring in ...

had asked him to play the kid brother in the movie and to compose a theme song for it. But in the theatrical release, Sparks sang a different theme song co-written by Mitchum. In 2009, a Golden Palm Star on the

Palm Springs, California Palm Springs (Cahuilla: ''Séc-he'') is a desert resort city in Riverside County, California, United States, within the Colorado Desert's Coachella Valley. The city covers approximately , making it the largest city in Riverside County by land a ...

, Walk of Stars was dedicated to him and The New Christy Minstrels.Palm Springs Walk of Stars by date dedicated

Personal life

He was married to Jackie Miller from 1958 to 1962. Following their divorce, he was married to actress

Diane Jergens Diane Jergens (born Dianne Irgens; March 31, 1935 – October 9, 2018) was an American film and television actress. Early years Jergens was the daughter of Norman C. Irgens, an alderman in Minneapolis, and his wife. In 1944, at age 8, she au ...

from 1962 until her death in 2018. The couple had four children, Kevin Ray (b. 1963), twins Cameron Michael and Melinda Anne (b. 1966), and Amanda Hamilton (b. 1970).

References

External links

*
New Christy Minstrels website

Randy Sparks discography
at

Discogs Discogs (short for discographies) is a database of information about audio recordings, including commercial releases, promotional releases, and bootleg or off-label releases. While the site was originally created with a goal of becoming the la ...

American male singer-songwriters American banjoists American folk singers American folk musicians 1933 births Living people People from Leavenworth, Kansas The New Christy Minstrels members The Back Porch Majority members Singer-songwriters from Kansas {{US-music-bio-stub