John Deere Tractor, released on Rebel in 1980, is one of the defining albums of Larry Sparks's long run as a bandleader. Sparks had come up through Ralph Stanley's Clinch Mountain Boys in the late 1960s before forming the Lonesome Ramblers, and by 1980 he had settled into the lean, unhurried style — a dark baritone over spare, blues-tinged guitar — that became his signature. The title song, which Sparks made his own, stands among the most requested numbers of his career, a piece of plainspoken rural melancholy that suited his voice perfectly. The set ranges across devotional, romantic, and hard-luck themes without straining for variety, trusting the directness that defined the band. Sparks's playing and singing here make the case he would spend decades sustaining: that traditional bluegrass, performed without ornament or apology, remains a living and expressive form.
Tracklist
- 1 John Deere Tractor Source Recording 4:28
- 2 Girl at the Crossroads Bar Source Recording 2:35
- 3 Hot Sauce 2:24
- 4 I’d Rather Be Alone alt version 2:33
- 5 Great High Mountain Source Recording 3:13
- 6 Love of the Mountains Source Recording 2:58
- 7 Making Believe 4:07
- 8 Nobody’s Business Source Recording 1:52
- 9 When I Lay My Burdens Down alt version 3:57
- 10 Carter’s Blues alt version 2:35
