Time for a Tractor resurgence. This is one of the most interesting bands of the early 70's, adopted by John Peel and signed to his Dandelion label, they still have a cult following today. Their fascinating story is widely documented on loads of websites, including:
www.tractor-ozit.com/
Their eponymous album, Tractor, had a lot of people thinking it was an anonymous superstar collaboration, not a couple of guys recorded by a very talented engineer in a bedroom in Heywood. You can listen to this on Spotify, but try to get hold of Worst Enemies if you can, this album didn't see the light of day for a long time because Dandelion folded, ending with the 21 minute Peterloo, of which allmusic.com says:
"A piece of English folk-rock that is at least comparable to Fairport Convention's similarly historical Babbacombe Lee, the suite stands among the most ambitious pieces of music in the entire '70s folk canon. One can only imagine the effect it might have had, had it only been released when it was meant to be!"
A Candle for Judith, an excellent earlier album of theirs, is also on Spotify, recorded when they were called The Way We Live. John Peel renamed them Tractor.
One of Tractor's other claims to fame is their involvement with the legendary Deeply Vale festivals, where they played some epic sets when Steve Clayton was so stoned he had to be carried to his drum kit. Happy days. Rumours of another Deeply Vale festival abound.
Just after John Peel died, Julian Cope made Tractor his record of the month on Head Heritage and said:
"Listen to Tractor with 21st century ears and see how deeply psychedelic the underground still sounded in 1972 – I wish more English bands had been so far out, but this Northern duo's catchy songs recorded in an overtly unbalanced style still represent the pre-punk ‘us’ magnificently; and the LP is still one of the most extreme sonic experiences of its period."
www.headheritage.co.uk/unsung/albumofthemonth/1222
I feel a Tractor for the 2010 Christmas number 1 campaign coming on. They do still play occasionally today, it would be great to see them gigging again regularly.
