| The Tractors | |
|---|---|
| Origin | Oklahoma, United States |
| Genres | Country |
| Years active | 1988-present |
| Labels | Arista Nashville, Audium, Boy Rocking |
| Associated acts | Bonnie Raitt |
| Website | http://thetractors.com |
| Members | |
| Steve Ripley | |
| Past members | |
| Ron Getman Jamie Oldaker Walt Richmond Casey van Beek |
|
The Tractors is an American country rock band composed of a loosely associated group of musicians, headed by guitarist Steve Ripley. Under the band's original lineup, The Tractors was signed to Arista Records in 1994, releasing their self-titled debut album that year; the album went on to become the highest-selling country album of 1994, even though it only produced one Top 40 hit on the Billboard country charts. To date, the band has followed up with five more albums.
Since their foundation, most of the band's original members have moved on to separate projects, although they often collaborate with frontman Ripley on The Tractors' more recent recordings. Ripley is the only official member of the group; he has stated that The Tractors is more of a "state of mind",[1] and the band contains a largely undefined cast of unofficial contributors.
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The Tractors were formed in 1988,[2] with the original lineup comprising Ron Getman (electric guitar, slide guitar), Jamie Oldaker (drums), Walt Richmond (bass vocals, keyboards), Steve Ripley (guitar, lead vocals), and Casey van Beek (bass guitar, baritone vocals).[3] All five members had previously been backing musicians for other notable artists, including Eric Clapton, Bonnie Raitt, Linda Ronstadt, and Leonard Cohen.[2] Oldaker had also worked with Bob Seger and Eric Clapton.[4]
By 1990, the group was signed to Arista Records, a newly-formed record label based in Nashville, Tennessee.[2] In 1994, the group released its self-titled debut album. The album, which produced the single "Baby Likes to Rock It", soon became the fastest-selling debut album from a country group to go platinum; it also became the top-selling country music album of 1994.[1][5] That album was soon followed by a Christmas album called Have Yourself a Tractors Christmas.[3]
The group's true follow-up, Farmers in a Changing World, was released in 1998.[6] The band's members, except for Ripley, soon departed for other projects, although they and Ripley remained close friends, and made cameo appearances on subsequent albums.[7] Ripley, along with several other musicians, released the next Tractors album, Fast Girl, on Audium Entertainment in 2001. After Fast Girl, the Tractors left Audium as well, and soon formed its own label, Boy Rocking Records. In 2009 "Trade Union" was released on E1.
The Tractors achieved their distinctive sound in several ways, most notably from the use of only one microphone, or recording a song in only one take.[5] Ripley often constructs guitars and cords for use in the band.
| Title | Album details | Peak chart positions | Certifications (sales thresholds) |
|||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US Country [8] |
US [9] |
CAN Country | CAN | |||
| The Tractors |
|
2 | 19 | 1 | 36 | |
| Have Yourself a Tractors Christmas[A] |
|
12 | 68 | — | — | |
| Farmers in a Changing World |
|
39 | — | 17 | — | |
| Fast Girl |
|
65 | — | — | — | |
| Big Night |
|
— | — | — | — | |
| The Kids Record |
|
— | — | — | — | |
| Trade Union |
|
— | — | — | — | |
| "—" denotes releases that did not chart | ||||||
| Year | Single | Peak chart positions |
Album | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| US Country [10] |
CAN Country [11] |
|||
| 1994 | "Baby Likes to Rock It" | 11 | 8 | The Tractors |
| 1995 | "Tryin' to Get to New Orleans" | 50 | 28 | |
| "Badly Bent" | — | 80 | ||
| 1998 | "Shortenin' Bread" | 57 | 61 | Farmers in a Changing World |
| "I Wouldn't Tell You No Lie" | 72 | — | ||
| 2001 | "Can't Get Nowhere" | — | — | Fast Girl |
| "The Big Night" | — | — | ||
| "Fast Girl" | — | — | ||
| 2002 | "Ready to Cry" | — | — | |
| "—" denotes releases that did not chart | ||||
| Year | Single | Peak chart positions |
Album | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| US Country | US | |||
| 1995 | "The Santa Claus Boogie" | 41 | 91 | Have Yourself a Tractors Christmas |
| "Santa Claus Is Comin' (In a Boogie Woogie Choo-Choo Train)" |
43 | — | ||
| 1996 | "The Santa Claus Boogie" (re-entry) | 63 | — | |
| 1997 | "The Last Time" | 75 | — | Stone Country: Country Artists Perform the Songs of the Rolling Stones |
| 1998 | "Santa Claus Is Comin' (In a Boogie Woogie Choo-Choo Train)" (re-entry) |
65 | — | Have Yourself a Tractors Christmas |
| "—" denotes releases that did not chart | ||||
| Year | Video | Director |
|---|---|---|
| 1994 | "Baby Likes to Rock It" | Michael Salomon |
| "The Santa Claus Boogie" | Michael McNamara | |
| 1995 | "Tryin' to Get to New Orleans"[12] | Michael Oblowitz |
| "Badly Bent" | ||
| "Santa Claus Is Comin' (In a Boogie Woogie Choo-Choo Train)" |
||
| 1997 | "The Last Time" | |
| 1998 | "Shortenin' Bread" | Michael Oblowitz |
| 2001 | "Can't Get Nowhere" |