“Green, Green”/”Today” (The New Christy Minstrels)

Today’s classic songs of the day that my parents liked and listened to way too much come from a folk group called the New Christy Minstrels. The first song up is “Green, Green,” the lead track on the group’s Ramblin’ album and released as a single in June of 1963, during the folk revival period immediately preceding the Beatles and the British Invasion. The single rose to #14 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #3 on the Easy Listening chart.

“Green, Green” was written by Randy Sparks, the group’s founder and leader, and Barry McGuire, the singer with the growling baritone. You probably remember Mr. McGuire better for his solo hit “Eve of Destruction,” released after he left the New Christy Minstrels. (That’s Mr. McGuire singing lead on the verses of this single.)

Mr. Sparks founded the New Christy Minstrels in 1961 to cash in on the then-current folk music craze. The group consisted of 14 singers—three from his own group, the Randy Sparks Three; four from the Fairmount Singers; three from the Inn Group; and four other solo folk artists. The group’s name came from Christy’s Minstrels, a blackface minstrel group popular in the mid-1800s that was known for performing the songs of Stephen Foster.

Sparks’ New Christy Minstrels had a number of minor hits over the years, the biggest being “Today,” a pleasant little ballad that peaked at #17 in 1964. The song was written for and featured in the 1964 film, Advance to the Rear, which starred Glenn Ford, Stella Stevens, and Melvyn Douglas. (The movie was not a hit, although it may have inspired the 1965 TV series, F-Troop.) “Today,” like “Green, Green,” was written by Randy Sparks, who left the group shortly after the single was released.

The Minstrels had more success with their albums and concert performances and even hosted their own TV variety show in 1964 (Ford Presents the New Christy Minstrels). My parents had several of their albums and played them constantly. (I tired quickly of that white bread, heavily reverbed sound; I found the group to be just a short step removed from Sing Along with Mitch, which I consider the nadir of popular music in my lifetime.)

The New Christy Minstrels went through myriad personnel changes over the years. Barry McGuire joined the group in 1962 (and left in 1965) and several other well-known singers circulated through the group over time, including Larry Ramos, later of the Association; Gene Clark, who later helped to found the Byrds; Kim Carnes, later famous for “Bette Davis Eyes” and other hits in the early ’80s; and Kenny Rogers, who later formed the First Edition (“Ruby, Don’t Take Your Love to Town,” “Something’s Burning,” “Just Dropped In”) with some other former Minstrels and then had a massive career as a solo artist.

Despite growing increasingly out of favor as the years went by, the New Christy Minstrels continued to perform and record in one form or another over the years. Some variation of the group is still performing today, presumably for rapidly aging audiences.

And here’s your bonus video of the day, from Christopher Guest’s mockumentary A Mighty Wind. It’s the New Main Street Singers, modeled closely on the New Christy Minstrels, performing “Never Did No Wanderin’.” Yes, that’s Jane Lynch, John Michael Higgins, Parker Posey, and Paul Dooley among the strumming and singing masses. It sure sounds a lot like that other “New” folk group we’ve been talking about today; it’s an on-the-nose but affectionate parody.