NEW CHRISTY MINSTRELS
The New Christy Minstrels is an American large-ensemble folk music group founded by Randy Sparks in 1961. From their beginnings as prominent figures in the early-1960s U.S. folk revival, the group 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. (More from Wikipedia)
Barry McGuire had a prominent and influential hit song in 1965 with “Eve of Destruction” (written by P. F. Sloan); he was with New Christy Minstrels for a time and sang lead on their first hit song, “Green, Green”. McGuire became a born again Christian in 1971 and released an album on Myrrh Records in 1973 called Seeds. Singing background vocals on the album is a family trio that later became an early CCM band, 2nd Chapter of Acts.
(July 2014)
