\n
The folk scene played out primarily in coffeehouses and on college campuses; Mr. Sparks\u2019s innovation was to bring his group to national attention by getting it on network television.<\/p>\n
Between 1962 and 1963, the New Christy Minstrels appeared on 26 episodes of \u201cThe Andy Williams Show,\u201d a popular variety series on NBC, and eight episodes of the folk-oriented ABC show \u201cHootenanny.\u201d<\/p>\n
In 1964, they even had their own 30-minute summer-season show on NBC, \u201cFord Presents the New Christy Minstrels,\u201d complete with comedy interludes by Tony Hendra and Jackie Mason. That same year, they performed on the steps of the White House, at the invitation of President Lyndon B. Johnson.<\/p>\n
Mr. Sparks demonstrated a keen eye for talent. In addition to the rotating roster of the New Christy Minstrels, he maintained what he called a \u201cfarm\u201d group, the Back Porch Majority, which he stocked with promising performers.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
\n
After watching a young Steve Martin win second place in a banjo competition at the Knott\u2019s Berry Farm amusement park near Los Angeles, Mr. Sparks invited him to join the Back Porch Majority and even let him live in a spare room about the Sparks family\u2019s garage.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
\n
Mr. Sparks also hired a budding singer-songwriter named Henry John Deutschendorf Jr. as an opening act for the Back Porch Majority, but insisted that Mr. Deutschendorf pick a shorter stage name. He chose John Denver.<\/p>\n
Among the other stars who began their careers under Mr. Sparks\u2019s tutelage were Kenny Rogers, who went on to sell more than 100 million records as a country star; Kim Carnes, best known for her 1981 hit \u201cBette Davis Eyes\u201d; Mr. McGuire, whose 1965 record \u201cEve of Destruction,\u201d like \u201cBette Davis Eyes,\u201d reached No. 1; Gene Clark, who became a founder of the Byrds; and Larry Ramos, who became the first Asian American to win a Grammy while a member of the New Christy Minstrels in 1963 and went on to join the Association.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
\n
As the group\u2019s popularity and touring schedule expanded, Mr. Sparks stepped back from performing to focus on managing the ensemble. He also opened his own club in Los Angeles, Ledbetter\u2019s, which he used as a testing ground for potential musicians.<\/p>\n
Mr. Sparks sold his interest in the New Christy Minstrels in the mid-1960s for $2.5 million, the equivalent of about $24 million today, and moved his family to rural Northern California. There he began a 30-year working relationship with his idol and mentor, Burl Ives. Mr. Sparks wrote songs for Mr. Ives and often performed as his opening act.<\/p>\n
Lloyd Arrington Sparks was born on July 29, 1933, in Leavenworth, Kan., though his family soon moved to Oakland, Calif., where he grew up. His father, Lee Sparks, built furniture and later worked in a shipyard. His mother, Pearl (Arrington) Sparks, ran the home.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
\n
He briefly attended the University of California, Berkeley, but left to write songs, which he had begun doing as a teenager. However, not long after relocating to San Diego and starting to perform under the stage name Randy Sparks, he was drafted into the U.S. Navy.<\/p>\n
During his assignment aboard the aircraft carrier Princeton, he kept writing songs and playing music. He won a Navy talent contest twice, an accomplishment that got him a spot on \u201cThe Ed Sullivan Show\u201d and a part in a touring entourage of Navy musicians.<\/p>\n
After leaving the service, Mr. Sparks signed a contract to appear alongside the comedian Bob Hope on television and on tour. He also recorded two solo albums, \u201cRandy Sparks\u201d (1958) and \u201cWalkin\u2019 the Low Road\u201d (1959), and made movies: He had the lead role in the 1960 crime thriller \u201cThe Big Night\u201d and a supporting part in the drama \u201cCollege Confidential\u201d that same year.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
\n
Clean-cut and square-jawed, Mr. Sparks had a face for television, and he became a regular on the many variety shows that were common fare on 1950s TV. At first he played calypso, but he soon shifted to the folk music that was increasingly popular in the bars and clubs around Los Angeles.<\/p>\n
His marriage to Jackie Miller, who was briefly in the New Christy Minstrels, ended in divorce. He married Diane Jergens, an actress, in 1962, and they were together until her death in 2018. Along with his son Kevin, he is survived by another son, Cameron; his daughters, Melinda and Amanda; his sister, Naomi Allen; and four grandchildren.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n