Randy Sparks, the Grammy-winning singer-songwriter and founding father of the people music group the New Christy Minstrels, died Feb. 11 at an assisted-living facility in San Diego. He was 90. 

His son, Kevin, confirmed the information to the New York Occasions, including that Sparks was residing on his 168-acre ranch in Jenny Lind, Calif., northeast of San Francisco, till just a few days earlier than his dying.

Sparks was an American musician, songwriter and founding father of the people group the New Christy Minstrels — gaining recognition for his work within the folks music revival of the Sixties. 

He shaped the group in 1961, which turned recognized for its vocal harmonies and folk-pop sound. Underneath Sparks’ management, the New Christy Minstrels achieved industrial success with hits like “Inexperienced, Inexperienced,” which Sparks wrote with future “Eve of Destruction” singer Barry McGuire, “At this time” and “Denver.” 

The group additionally gained a Grammy Award in 1963 for greatest efficiency by a refrain for his or her debut album “Presenting the New Christy Minstrels,” which stayed on the Billboard albums chart for 2 years. Sparks was additionally influential in serving to increase the careers of Steve Martin, John Denver and Kenny Rogers, with Rogers enjoying double bass for the group in 1966. 

Moreover his work with the New Christy Minstrels, Sparks additionally wrote for different artists and was concerned in varied musical initiatives all through his profession. He was a big determine within the music trade, significantly the people music scene.

Within the mid-Sixties, Sparks offered his curiosity within the New Christy Minstrels for $2.5 million and moved to rural Northern California. There, he started a 30-year collaboration with Burl Ives and opened a nightclub in Los Angeles referred to as Ledbetter’s.

Sparks was born on July 29, 1933, in Leavenworth, Kan. His profession started within the Nineteen Fifties as a solo folks singer in California. He was a part of the burgeoning folks music scene in locations like Los Angeles, the place he carried out in coffeehouses and golf equipment. 

Sparks’ expertise as a songwriter and musician rapidly gained consideration, and he started to determine connections throughout the music trade earlier than ultimately founding the New Christy Minstrels. 

Sparks is survived by his sons Kevin and Cameron, daughters Melinda and Amanda, sister Naomi Allen, and 4 grandchildren.