New Christy Minstrels Reunion Photos          Randy Sparks & The Minstrels

The New Christy Minstrels

They were the brainchild of Randy Sparks, and they were almost literally an overnight success. The formula was to bring together folk music acts that were already successful and create a group of 8 to 10 who played a variety of instruments, and who all had voices worthy of solo parts.

Dolan's own career was going great, and when Randy Sparks approached him about the New Christy Minstrels, he had to make a choice, because Terry Gilkyson had also asked him to join a group that was already well-established, the Easy Riders.

The decision was tough, but the factor that broke the tie was that the Christies were brand new. Dolan was up for the challenge of making a new group successful.

Dolan did help tremendously. He had the clean-cut handsome look, the great 12-string guitar, the baritone voice, and the humor. The comedian we know and love today certainly was there from the beginning. Randy Sparks once proclaimed that "Dolan had always been counted on to fire up the deadest of audiences."

Two of his solo parts from the LP, "Tall Tales, Legends & Nonsense " illusrate the versatility of his voice: romantic (as in his solo on "Jimmy Grove and Barbara Ellen" or raspy (as in his solo in "Hallelujah I'm a Bum").

With the Christies, Dolan had quite a ride, and quite a grueling schedule. He was living in Los Angeles, where most of their work was done. Mornings, they'd be taping the Andy Williams Show and many afternoons they would be in the recording studio (they recorded 5 albums in just over a year). At night they'd play at a local venue, usually the famous Troubadour. And on weekends, they'd be on the road, going to Carnegie Hall or one of the other major concert halls, or to the big university campuses.

Dolan was the first to leave the group. There were a lot of reasons: he wanted to get back to Arizona and enjoy the people and the land there, he wanted to spend more time with his family. But most of all, Dolan Ellis always was and always will be a very creative person, and he needed to be writing and singing his own songs.

The Christies were at a major Reno casino, Harold's Club, in mid-1963. Dolan had given his notice, and the time was up. He got on a plane headed for Phoenix, thinking about the major choice he had just made. He wrote the song "Springerville" (full title is "Goin' Home to Springerville"), which became the closing song for the play "Cowgirls." In the play it has a poignant meaning, and in Dolan's life, it had just as much meaning.

"Springerville" is available on Dolan's "Cowgirls" CD, and is also, appropriately, the final song of Act I of his "...after the show (TM)" DVD. Appropriate because Act I is about his early career, and Act II is about his Arizona music.

Thus ended an important chapter in Dolan Ellis' life, an exciting whirlwind of activity and celebrity and national exposure. It's great for Arizona that he made the choice he did. And Dolan will tell you that it was also the right choice for him. Show