Randy Sparks

Randy Sparks (born July 29, 1933, Leavenworth, Kansas) is an American musician, singer-songwriter, and founder of The New Christy Minstrels and The Back Porch Majority. Biography Sparks grew up in Oakland, California, and attended the University of California at Berkeley. His first musical engagement was at the Purple Onion in San Francisco. In the late 1950s during his solo career, he released two albums on the Verve label, a self-titled album in 1958 and Walking the Low Road in 1959. The single "Walkin' the Low Road" 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 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.