Tractors (CD - 1994)

The Tractors: Steve Ripley (vocals, guitar, drums); Ron Getman (acoustic & electric, slide guitars, dobro, mandolin, background vocals); Walt Richmond (vocals, horns, piano, Hammond B-3 organ, accordion, Wurlitzer, Clavinet, drums); Casey Vanbeek (bass, background vocals); Jamie Oldaker (drums, percussion).

Additional personnel includes: Jim Pulte (vocals); James Burton, Elvis Ripley, Ry Cooder, Bonnie Raitt, J.J. Cale, Jim Edwards, Richard Feldman, Huey Flannery, Don White, Eldon Shamblin (guitar); Steve Collier, Gene Crownaver, Steve Bagsby, Waddy Pass (steel guitar); Curly Lewis, Ed Richmond, Rick Morton (fiddle); Jimmy Junior Markham (harmonica); Joe Davis (saxophone); Larry Bell, Carl Pickhardt, Ed Robinson, Angelene Ripley (Hammond B-3 organ); Leon Russell (keyboards); Chuck Blackwell, David Teegarden, Jim Keltner (drums).

Recorded at The Church Studio, Tulsa, Oklahoma.

"Tryin' To Get To New Orleans" was nominated for a 1996 Grammy Award for Best Country Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocal.

Personnel: Walt Richmond (vocals, bass voice, accordion, horns, piano, grand piano, Clavinet, organ, Wurlitzer organ, drums); Steve Ripley (vocals, guitar, drums); Jim Pulte (bass voice, guitar); Ron Flynt (guitar, slide guitar, steel guitar); Tom Tripplehorn, Steve Hickerson (guitar, drums); John Crowder (guitar, background vocals); Mike Garrett, Doc James, Eldon Shamblin, Steve Allen, Jim Edwards, Gordon Shryock, Mark Brunner, J.J. Cale, Don White , James Burton, Rick Beilke, Jim Byfield, Richard Feldman, Roger Linn, Roger Tillison, The Steve Pryor Band, Gary Gilmore (guitar); Ron Getman (acoustic guitar, electric guitar, slide guitar, steel guitar, dobro, mandolin); Ry Cooder, Bonnie Raitt (slide guitar); Steve Collier (steel guitar); Ron Morgan (fiddle, upright bass); Curly Lewis (fiddle); Jimmy Markham (harmonica); Joe Lane Davis , Pat "Taco" Ryan (saxophone); Charlene Ripley (trumpet); Spencer Sutton (piano); Angelene Ripley (organ); Leon Russell (synthesizer, midi); Casey Van Beek (bass guitar, background vocals); Jamie Oldaker (drums, tambourine, percussion); Chuck Dewalt, Chuck Browning, Jim Keltner, Jim Karstein, Rick Brown , Bill Belknap, David Teegarden, Chuck Blackwell (drums); Emily Smith (tambourine); Debbie Campbell, Jim Sweney (background vocals).

Audio Mixers: Angelene Ripley; Ron Getman; Steve Ripley; Walt Richmond.

Recording information: Church Studio, Tulsa, OK; Sun Studio, Copenhagen, Denmark; The Church Studio, Tusla, OK.

Unknown Contributor Roles: Charlene Ripley; Leon Russell; Ron Getman.

In a musical milieu dominated by hat acts and assembly-line arrangements, Tulsa's Tractors have delved deep into their Oklahoma roots to rekindle some real down-home fire on the country charts. THE TRACTORS' chicken-fried, Southwestern sounds harken back to those wild nights at the local roadhouse, gettin' down to the sounds of hard drinkin' storytellers as the band pumps out dirt-floor boogie from behind a barbed-wire fence.

With "The Tulsa Shuffle." the Tractors give a nod to their favorite musical styles, while making a persuasive case for their own good-natured, down home mix of country, blues, R&B and western swing. A rocket-in-the-pocket version of Chuck Berry's "Thirty Days" reinforces these connections, as lead singer Steve Ripley's gruff, yard-dog vocals frame the tune in a decidedly back-porch context.

Elsewhere, the Tractors employ a host of legendary sidemen in telling cameo roles. On the terrific "The Little Man" the Tractors fantasize about bankers, IRS flunkies and politicians trading places with actual working people ("the little man is getting smaller all the time"), as Bonnie Raitt's slide guitar moans away in the distance. Telecaster guitar legend James Burton enlivens "Baby Likes To Rock It"; the venerable Bob Wills guitarist Eldon Shamblin puts the pedal to the metal on "Doreen," and Jim Keltner and Ry Cooder add a classic touch to "The Blue Collar Rock." THE TRACTORS is a classic jalopy. minimize