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Exciting New Folk Chorus
THE NEW CHRISTY MINSTRELS
EXCITING NEW FOLK CHORUS
Original 1962 album liner notes
Under the direction of RANDY SPARKS
A folk chorus devoted to the performance
and perpetuation of the great American
tradition of balladry.
SIDE 1 – 16:12
THIS LAND IS YOUR LAND 2:12
-W. Guthrie-
Ludlow Music, Inc. (BMI)
DEEP BLUE SEA 3:09
-Arr. & New Material: R. Sparks-N. Woods-
DON’T CRY, SUZANNE 2:41
-T. Wadsworth-
New Christy Music (BMI)
THE COTTON PICKERS’ SONG 2:40
-Arr. & New Material: A. Podell-W. Schorr-R. Cowger-
Marapunta-Shayne Music (ASCAP)
THAT BIG ROCK CANDY MOUNTAIN 1:20
-Arr. & New Material: R. Sparks-
OH! SHENANDO 2:26
-Arr. & New Material: R. Sparks-
WHISTLE 1:14
-R. Sparks-
SIDE 2 – 16:49
RAILROAD BILL 2:12
-Arr. & New Material: R. Sparks-
CALIFORNIO 2:08
-Arr. & New Material: R. Sparks-
I KNOW WHERE I’M GOIN’ 2:35
-Arr. & New Material: R. Sparks-
SPRINGFIELD FAIR 2:09
-R. Sparks-N. Woods-
IN THE PINES 2:27
-Arr. & New Material: R. Sparks-
WELLINBROOK WELL 2:23
-T. Wadsworth-
New Christy Music (BMI)
NINE HUNDRED MILES 2:25
-Arr. & New Material: R. Sparks-N. Woods-
The selections – Cherrybell Music Publishers (ASCAP) except where noted.
Barry McGuire, Barry Kane, Peggy Connelly, Jackie Miller, Randy Sparks, Nick Woods, Art Podell, Dolan Ellis, Clarence Treat and Larry Ramos.
Produced by Jim Harbert
Cover Photo: Leigh Weiner
Barry Kane and Barry McGuire courtesy of Horizon Records.
In 1842, Edwin P. Christy had a bright idea. He combined the earthly simplicity of folk music with the commanding talents of polished musicians and performers and thereby wooed and won the world. His group was at first called the Virginia Minstrels, but after some degree of success was renamed the Christy Minstrels. They toured throughout the South and the West and finally found their way to New York, where in six years they played a record 2500 performances. They were accredited with establishing the tradition of minstrel shows, and their billing carried the boast that they were “The first to harmonize and originate the present type of minstrelsy,” meaning singing in harmony and introducing various acts within the show. It was the Christy Minstrels who sang, shouted, played and popularized songs like “Old Folks At Home,” “Oh, Susanna” and “Camptown Races.”
Today, sans the blackface of the 19th-century minstrels, the tradition which Christy fathered is being given new life by a host of young people who call themselves the New Christy Minstrels. All sing together and play folk instruments together, and all are accomplished performers in smaller groups and individually. As one member explained, “We’re nor just singers and we’re not a choir…nor are we a sing-along group; we’re a new concept of an all-but-forgotten tradition. We’re an unbelievable combination of the Norman Luboff Choir, the Kingston Trio and the Weavers, all in one. Mostly, as the name implies, we’re an amplified recapitulation of the Christy Minstrels…and no matter what our future, we have made folk music more fun than ever, at least for ourselves.”
There have been a vast number of innovations since the Minstrels of the 1800’s passed on. Christy, for example, was never privileged to hear his group via the phonograph, and he lived in an age when the word stereo referred to an invention involving picture cards and a special pair of spectacles. Christy had no womenfolk in his aggregation; his present-day followers have two. Some of the music has changed too, but there is still the warm, earthly flavor in the “folk music” of today.
Founder and guardian of the new group is Randy Sparks, a solo folk singer who occasionally strays into the realm of pop music, and a leader of the Randy Sparks Three, his own faction within the big group. Sparks has long been a critic of choral groups who have invaded the folk field. “They sing too prettily and too delicately to transmit the message of folk music,” he claims, “and I think there is a great need for a choral-instrumental group whose performance is from the heart.”
The New Christy Minstrels project is in itself a monument to the energy and inventiveness of young people. Sparks, who calls himself “the old man of the group” looks younger than his 28 years, and the remaining nine members are 21 to 24 years old. From concept to product, it has been a point of pride that the entire undertaking has been carried out by young people. The real distinction of the Christys, besides the fact that it’s a large group where everyone plays and sings with gusto, is that it is a group of groups. This offers a great advantage when recording in stereo, as it is possible to utilize well-rehearsed and perfectly matched individuals – true folk singers – within a trio or quartet as a single voice, and to achieve the harmonious blending of voices in chorus. When the listener experiences such a performance in stereo recordings, he is able to perceive a unique separation of individuals, groups and mass.
UNBREAKABLE
COLUMBIA (Lp)
GUARANTEED HIGH FIDELITY
This Columbia GUARANTEED HIGH FIDELITY recording is scientifically designed to play with the highest quality of reproduction on the phonograph of your choice, new or old. If you are the owner of a new stereophonic system, this record will play with even more brilliant true-to-life fidelity. In short, you can purchase this record with no fear of its becoming obsolete in the future.
© Columbia Records 1962 / All Rights Reserved. ® “Columbia” Marcas Reg. Printed in U.S.A.
Monaural CL 1872
EXCITING NEW FOLK CHORUS
Original 1962 album liner notes
Under the direction of RANDY SPARKS
A folk chorus devoted to the performance
and perpetuation of the great American
tradition of balladry.
SIDE 1 – 16:12
THIS LAND IS YOUR LAND 2:12
-W. Guthrie-
Ludlow Music, Inc. (BMI)
DEEP BLUE SEA 3:09
-Arr. & New Material: R. Sparks-N. Woods-
DON’T CRY, SUZANNE 2:41
-T. Wadsworth-
New Christy Music (BMI)
THE COTTON PICKERS’ SONG 2:40
-Arr. & New Material: A. Podell-W. Schorr-R. Cowger-
Marapunta-Shayne Music (ASCAP)
THAT BIG ROCK CANDY MOUNTAIN 1:20
-Arr. & New Material: R. Sparks-
OH! SHENANDO 2:26
-Arr. & New Material: R. Sparks-
WHISTLE 1:14
-R. Sparks-
SIDE 2 – 16:49
RAILROAD BILL 2:12
-Arr. & New Material: R. Sparks-
CALIFORNIO 2:08
-Arr. & New Material: R. Sparks-
I KNOW WHERE I’M GOIN’ 2:35
-Arr. & New Material: R. Sparks-
SPRINGFIELD FAIR 2:09
-R. Sparks-N. Woods-
IN THE PINES 2:27
-Arr. & New Material: R. Sparks-
WELLINBROOK WELL 2:23
-T. Wadsworth-
New Christy Music (BMI)
NINE HUNDRED MILES 2:25
-Arr. & New Material: R. Sparks-N. Woods-
The selections – Cherrybell Music Publishers (ASCAP) except where noted.
Barry McGuire, Barry Kane, Peggy Connelly, Jackie Miller, Randy Sparks, Nick Woods, Art Podell, Dolan Ellis, Clarence Treat and Larry Ramos.
Produced by Jim Harbert
Cover Photo: Leigh Weiner
Barry Kane and Barry McGuire courtesy of Horizon Records.
In 1842, Edwin P. Christy had a bright idea. He combined the earthly simplicity of folk music with the commanding talents of polished musicians and performers and thereby wooed and won the world. His group was at first called the Virginia Minstrels, but after some degree of success was renamed the Christy Minstrels. They toured throughout the South and the West and finally found their way to New York, where in six years they played a record 2500 performances. They were accredited with establishing the tradition of minstrel shows, and their billing carried the boast that they were “The first to harmonize and originate the present type of minstrelsy,” meaning singing in harmony and introducing various acts within the show. It was the Christy Minstrels who sang, shouted, played and popularized songs like “Old Folks At Home,” “Oh, Susanna” and “Camptown Races.”
Today, sans the blackface of the 19th-century minstrels, the tradition which Christy fathered is being given new life by a host of young people who call themselves the New Christy Minstrels. All sing together and play folk instruments together, and all are accomplished performers in smaller groups and individually. As one member explained, “We’re nor just singers and we’re not a choir…nor are we a sing-along group; we’re a new concept of an all-but-forgotten tradition. We’re an unbelievable combination of the Norman Luboff Choir, the Kingston Trio and the Weavers, all in one. Mostly, as the name implies, we’re an amplified recapitulation of the Christy Minstrels…and no matter what our future, we have made folk music more fun than ever, at least for ourselves.”
There have been a vast number of innovations since the Minstrels of the 1800’s passed on. Christy, for example, was never privileged to hear his group via the phonograph, and he lived in an age when the word stereo referred to an invention involving picture cards and a special pair of spectacles. Christy had no womenfolk in his aggregation; his present-day followers have two. Some of the music has changed too, but there is still the warm, earthly flavor in the “folk music” of today.
Founder and guardian of the new group is Randy Sparks, a solo folk singer who occasionally strays into the realm of pop music, and a leader of the Randy Sparks Three, his own faction within the big group. Sparks has long been a critic of choral groups who have invaded the folk field. “They sing too prettily and too delicately to transmit the message of folk music,” he claims, “and I think there is a great need for a choral-instrumental group whose performance is from the heart.”
The New Christy Minstrels project is in itself a monument to the energy and inventiveness of young people. Sparks, who calls himself “the old man of the group” looks younger than his 28 years, and the remaining nine members are 21 to 24 years old. From concept to product, it has been a point of pride that the entire undertaking has been carried out by young people. The real distinction of the Christys, besides the fact that it’s a large group where everyone plays and sings with gusto, is that it is a group of groups. This offers a great advantage when recording in stereo, as it is possible to utilize well-rehearsed and perfectly matched individuals – true folk singers – within a trio or quartet as a single voice, and to achieve the harmonious blending of voices in chorus. When the listener experiences such a performance in stereo recordings, he is able to perceive a unique separation of individuals, groups and mass.
UNBREAKABLE
COLUMBIA (Lp)
GUARANTEED HIGH FIDELITY
This Columbia GUARANTEED HIGH FIDELITY recording is scientifically designed to play with the highest quality of reproduction on the phonograph of your choice, new or old. If you are the owner of a new stereophonic system, this record will play with even more brilliant true-to-life fidelity. In short, you can purchase this record with no fear of its becoming obsolete in the future.
© Columbia Records 1962 / All Rights Reserved. ® “Columbia” Marcas Reg. Printed in U.S.A.
Monaural CL 1872
