>Individual Honors

>

>A Message From Randy Sparks

>

>As many of our audience members know, one of my pet gripes is anybody's

>having the audacity to call himself (or herself) 'the former lead singer of

>The New Christy Minstrels.'  We all were!  And in the current reincarnation,

>we all are!  This doesn't mean that there weren't and aren't outstanding

>performers within the ranks, or that we are not allowed to celebrate various

>nightly triumphs of individual Minstrels.  Everybody's being the star of the

>show was one of the most important aspects of my invention of the big folk

>group. It was also the fact of life that made my group so difficult to

>manage.  It was never controlled.  There were always over-the-top egos to

>deal with, but the individual performers in competition, one with another,

>and every other, were a necessary part of our excitement.  I have often said

> 'If you don't know in your heart that you're a better entertainer than I am

> I don't want you on my on my stage...and by the way, I don't take a back

>seat to anybody!'  That's the the root of the inherent positive turmoil that

>we dump onto each and every audience.  'You ain’t seen nothin' yet!'

 

 

>Whenever Barry McGuire is with us (and that's getting to be a rarity, as he

>has his own program these days, and simply doesn't have the time or

>convenience to be included in The NCM concerts), I make a point of

>introducing him as 'the Star of our show, whenever he graces our stage.'

>This shows my respect for his having made good use of the group's launching

>pad for his own solo career, and having had a 'number-one' hit record.  I

>also designate individual members of the group as Stars of our program, when

>we play in their home territory.  A good example is Buffalo Bill Boycott's

>having been 'the star of our show' in Lander, Wyoming, his hometown.  I

>might also call him the star of our show when we play Michigan next year.

>Bill was born in Michigan.  When we play Banning, California in January, I

>shall be introducing Chuck Cole as the star of our show.  He'll be the

>proudest Minstrel on our stage, as Banning, a small town by Los Angeles or

>Chicago standards, is where he was born and graduated with honors from high

>school.  His parents are buried there in the cemetery on the hill.  Why

>wouldn't he be considered the star of our show in Banning?

>

>>The home-town or native territory chip can be an especially effective tool

>in the winning of an audience.  I first learned this from former-Minstrel

>Larry Ramos.  Larry was born in Hawaii of Filipino ancestry, and of course,

>he looked a lot different than the rest of us, although we didn't notice

>that after a while.  He was just another Minstrel, a wonderful performer (he

>wouldn't have been there if he hadn't been) and a dear friend.  When we were

>about to play in Phoenix, AZ for the first time, Larry said to me, “Hey,

>Randy, I want that little extra jolt of audience enthusiasm, so when you

>introduce me tonight, tell them that I'm a Hopi or a Navajo.”  I played

>along, and the crowd went nuts.  He looked not unlike the Native Americans

>we all saw thereabouts, and the ploy was quite effective.  I should have

>seen it coming, but I didn't.  I really thought this was a one-time bit of

>inspiration of the moment, but it wasn't.  In San Francisco, he insisted

>that I tell the crowd that he was born in Chinatown.  I did, and they roared

>with partisan approval.  In the concerts thereafter, Larry was always some

>other minority member of regional importance, and the trick never failed to

>generate the desired effect.  After a while, I had no idea who he was or

>where he'd actually come from.

>

>Please understand that I will no longer resort to such chicanery, and when

>we play New York, and when I introduce Art Podell as being from Brooklyn,

>that'll be true.  Clarence was born in Arkansas, and if we play in Little

>Rock, it'll be a huge moment of celebration for his homecoming.  We'll

>likely also be entitled to extra mileage for his having gone to high school

> and played in track and field events for Kingsburg, CA, and

>I wouldn't want anybody in Central California to suppose that's just another

>Larry Ramos/Indian trick.  Dolan and I were both born in Kansas, and that's

>one of the places that we'll be cheered as local-boys-who've-made-good, and

>of course, he always gets special attention for his being the Official

>Balladeer of Arizona.   Jackie was born and went to high school in Spokane, WA.

  Becky Jo was born in French Camp (Stockton, CA), and

>was a foster child in many places in California and Oregon.  We may be

>entitled to extra applause for these trivial truths, and we're not above

>exploiting everyone's personal history, but we'll no longer lie about it

>when we do.

>

>RS

>