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
The Applejacks (British band) Davies, the group did not even record "Chim Chim Chiree". Thanks to this quarrel, their next single, "Bye Bye Girl", was released half a year after "Three Little Words". Although Decca continued to issue Applejacks recordings during 1965 (including the first released version of Ray Davies's "I Go to Sleep"), they met with little response from the public, leading to a rapid return to playing local gigs. After 1966, the group became an act on some of the world's cruise liners, working for Cunard until the end of the decade and frequently aboard the RMS Queen Mary, RMS Queen Elizabeth