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Founded by musician, singer-songwriter, and New Christy Minstrels leader Randy Sparks, The Back Porch Majority was a folk group formed in 1963. After The New Christy Minstrels had achieved great success in the US, Sparks left his role as director and arranger of the group in order to focus on his folk music club Ledbetter’s and found a new, smaller folk group that he called The Back Porch Majority. Initially intended to be training ground for little-known folk artists, several artists who found favor at Ledbetter’s ended up as members of the revolving line-up of The New Christy Minstrels. One trio, The Surf Riders, featured Gene Clark, who was plucked from the group to fill a vacancy in the Minstrels, so Randy Sparks formed a new group around the remaining two members of The Surf Riders and named the new group The Back Porch Majority. While members of the group would be incorporated into the Minstrels, The Back Porch Majority began to build an audience with a series of television appearances on variety shows like Hullabaloo. In 1965, The Back Porch Majority was invited to perform for then-President Lyndon B. Johnson at the White House, which thrust the group into the spotlight. That year, they released a total of three successful albums: Live from Ledbetter’s, Meet the Back Porch Majority, and Riverboat Days. Unfortunately, the public’s interest in folk music began to wane and after the release of the albums That’s The Way It’s Gonna Be (1966) and Willy Nilly Wonder of Illusion (1967), the group split up. Band member Kin Vassey went on to record with Frank Zappa, Lionel Richie, Kenny Rogers, Dolly Parton, and many others. In 1971, the group’s founder formed a new band called Randy Sparks and The Back Porch Majority and released the album, R. S. & The B.P.M. Initial Album, in 1971. The album was not a success and the group’s name was put to rest. Folk music icon and band founder Randy Sparks died on February 11, 2024, at the age of 90.
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