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Pop-folk chorus organized in 1961 by singer/songwriter Randy Sparks, who also served as their first Music Director. They got their first big break the following year when Andy Williams first heard them and signed them on as regulars on his TV show. A recording contract with Columbia records soon followed, and their many hits on that label included "Green, Green", "Saturday Night", "Today" and "Chim Chim Cheree". After leaving the Williams show, they remained busy for the balance of the decade, recording prolifically, guesting on many of the top variety shows of the period, and making perso
Pop-folk chorus organized in 1961 by singer/songwriter Randy Sparks, who also served as their first Music Director. They got their first big break the following year when Andy Williams first heard them and signed them on as regulars on his TV show. A recording contract with Columbia records soon followed, and their many hits on that label included "Green, Green", "Saturday Night", "Today" and "Chim Chim Cheree". After leaving the Williams show, they remained busy for the balance of the decade, recording prolifically, guesting on many of the top variety shows of the period, and making personal appearances. They also provided the score for the 1964 film "Advance to the Rear," starring Glenn Ford, Stella Stevens and Melvyn Douglas. The Christies are unique among performing groups in the number of distinguished alumni that moved on from the group to successful careers of their own. A brief list would have to include: Karen Black, Kenny Rogers and most of the First Edition, Barry McGuire (#1 hit with "Eve of Destruction" 1965), Skyles and Henderson, Larry Ramos of the Association, Art Podell and Jerry Yester of the Livin' Spoonful.
Took their name from the Christy Minstrels, the most popular minstrel show troupe of the 1800s. Under the leadership of Edwin P. Christy (1815 - 1862) and his successors, they are perhaps best known today for having introduced many of Stephen Foster best-known songs. "Swanee River," "My Old Kentucky Home," and "Camptown Races" were all introduced by the original Christy Minstrels. The original Christy Minstrels were "blackface" performers - white men wearing stage make-up to change their appearance to a caricature of African Americans. Their shows, like most "minstrel shows", were a mixture of music, comedy, dance, and bits of theater, with the majority of their material being deeply racist and/or promoting the idea that black people were not only happy as slaves, but better off in slavery. It is unknown why Randy Sparks was either unaware of, or chose to ignore, the racist history of his group's name.
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