Lloyd Arrington Sparks (July 29, 1933 – February 11, 2024), known professionally as Randy Sparks, was 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 (song), Green, Green", "Saturday Night", "Tod ...

and The Back Porch Majority.

Biography

Sparks was born on July 29, 1933 in

Leavenworth, Kansas Leavenworth () is the county seat and largest city of Leavenworth County, Kansas, Leavenworth County, Kansas, United States. Part of the Kansas City metropolitan area, Leavenworth is located on the west bank of the Missouri River, on the site o ...

and grew up in

Oakland, California Oakland is a city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area in the U.S. state of California. It is the county seat and most populous city in Alameda County, California, Alameda County, with a population of 440,646 in 2020. A major We ...

. He 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, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after the Anglo-Irish philosopher George Berkele ...

. His first musical engagement was at the Purple Onion in

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

. In the late 1950s during his solo career, he released two albums on the Verve label, a self-titled album in 1958 and ''Walkin' the Low Road'' in 1959. The title single from the album 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"; 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". He was later a singer and songwriter of contemporary Christian music. Early life McGuire was born in Oklahoma City; ...

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 Country music, country and Folk music, folk singer, songwriter, and actor. He was one of the most popular acoustic m ...

. Sparks composed the musical score for the 1964 movie '' Advance to the Rear'', a

Civil War A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.J ...

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 said that

Robert Mitchum Robert Charles Durman Mitchum (August 6, 1917 – July 1, 1997) was an American actor. He is known for his antihero roles and film noir appearances. He received nominations for an Academy Award and a BAFTA Award. He received a star on the Holl ...

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, which was co-written by Mitchum. In 1975, Sparks provided the new vocal tracks for the characters Ernest the "Dude" and Zeke in the

Country Bear Jamboree The Country Bear Jamboree is an attraction in the Magic Kingdom theme park at Walt Disney World, Walt Disney World Resort and Tokyo Disneyland at Tokyo Disney Resort. It was formerly located at Disneyland, Disneyland Park at Disneyland Resort. T ...

. In 2009, a Golden Palm Star on the

Palm Springs, California Palm Springs (Cahuilla language, 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 Rivers ...

, Walk of Stars was dedicated to the New Christy Minstrels and him.

Personal life and death

Sparks was married to Jackie Miller from 1958 to 1962. After their divorce, he was married to actress Diane Jergens from 1962 until her death in 2018. The couple had four children, Kevin Ray (born 1963), twins Cameron Michael and Melinda Anne (born 1966), and Amanda Hamilton (born 1970). Sparks died in San Diego on February 11, 2024, at the age of 90.

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. Database contents are user-generated, and described in ''T ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sparks, Randy 1933 births 2024 deaths American male singer-songwriters American banjoists American folk singers American folk musicians People from Leavenworth, Kansas The New Christy Minstrels members The Back Porch Majority members Singer-songwriters from Kansas