The New Christy Minstrels throughout its run. After the group toured Europe in early 1965, McGuire left to embark on a solo career, and this spelled the end of the original New Christy Minstrels. Now under the direction of Greif and Garris the group moved towards a variety act, doing "novelty and pop tunes" and a little comedy, making them closer to the 19th century Christy's Minstrels from whom the group's name was derived. Reflecting this shift, they had a "Billboard" Top 100 hit later in 1965 with a cover of "Chim Chim Cher-ee" from the Disney film "Mary Poppins". Regular group membership changes
Jack Grimes (actor) a week. In 1944, Grimes moved to California to work for Universal. His credits include "Fairytale Murder", "Lady on a Train", and "Week-End at the Waldorf". In the early 1950s, he switched to television. His credits include "Alcoa Presents", "Love of Life", "The Aldrich Family", "Tom Corbett, Space Cadet", "Maude", "On the Rocks", and "All in the Family". In 1962, Grimes and Peter Fernandez worked together on a series of records for MGM. Five years later, Fernandez hired him to do the voices of Sparky and Chim Chim on "Speed Racer". Grimes died in Queens, New York in 2009 at