"Today" is a 1964

folk song Folk music is a music genre that includes #Traditional folk music, traditional folk music and the Contemporary folk music, contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be c ...

that was a hit for

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 " ...

. Written by the group's founder,

Randy Sparks Randy Sparks (born July 29, 1933, Leavenworth, Kansas) is an American musician, singer-songwriter and founder of The New Christy Minstrels and The Back Porch Majority. Biography Sparks grew up in Oakland, California, and attended the Universit ...

, it was introduced in the American comedy-Western film '' Advance to the Rear'' (1964) and released on the album titled ''Today''.

History

founded the American large-ensemble

folk-music Folk music is a music genre that includes traditional folk music and the contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be called world music. Traditional folk music has be ...

group

in 1961, during

popular music Popular music is music with wide appeal that is typically distributed to large audiences through the music industry. These forms and styles can be enjoyed and performed by people with little or no musical training.Popular Music. (2015). ''Fun ...

's folk revival. The band recorded two

Top 40 In the music industry, the Top 40 is the current, 40 most-popular songs in a particular genre. It is the best-selling or most frequently broadcast popular music. Record charts have traditionally consisted of a total of 40 songs. "Top 40" or " con ...

radio hits in 1963, Green, Green and "Saturday Night", but creative tensions within the organization led to Sparks' decision to leave. On the verge of exiting the group, whose name he would sell to its managers, Sparks The final song on The New Christy Minstrels' May 1964

Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music, Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the North American division of Japanese Conglomerate (company), conglomerate Sony. It was founded on Janua ...

album ''Today'', the title track was released as the single Columbia 43000 with the

B side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph records and cassettes; these terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or record company ...

"Miss Katy Cruel". The record peaked at No. 17 on the ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

'' magazine "Hot 100" chart and No. 4 on the magazine's

Adult Contemporary Adult contemporary music (AC) is a form of radio-played popular music, ranging from 1960s vocal and 1970s soft rock music to predominantly ballad-heavy music of the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul, R&B, quie ...

chart."Today" at No. 17 on ''Billboard'' magazine'
"The Hot 100" chart for week of June 20, 1964
Retrieved May 11, 2020
Archived
from the original on July 11, 2018.

Production

Vocalists on the original release of "Today" include New Christy Minstrels members

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 ...

, later to issue the solo hit " Eve of Destruction", and

Gene Clark Harold Eugene Clark (November 17, 1944 – May 24, 1991) was an American singer-songwriter and founding member of the folk rock band the Byrds. He was the Byrds' principal songwriter between 1964 and early 1966, writing most of the band's best ...

, who would go on to co-found the rock band

The Byrds The Byrds () were an American rock band formed in Los Angeles, California, in 1964. The band underwent multiple lineup changes throughout its existence, with frontman Roger McGuinn (known as Jim McGuinn until mid-1967) remaining the sole cons ...

Critical analysis

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

reviewer William Ruhlmann called it a "lovely folkish ballad", while AllMusic's Bruce Eder, reviewing the album, found the song "achingly beautiful."

References

External links

"Today"
(single) 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 ...

. Retrieved May 11, 2020
Archived
from the original on May 11, 2020.
''Today''
(album) at Discogs. Retrieved May 11, 2020
Archived
from the original on May 11, 2020. {{DEFAULTSORT:Today (folk song) 1964 singles 1964 songs Columbia Records singles American folk rock songs Songs written for films 1960s ballads Folk ballads