A lot of people have asked why John Brierley hasn’t anything to do with Tractor anymore, here John explains;

It seems an awful long time ago probably 1968 or 69, still at school in the sixth form some mates of mine, Jim Milne and Steve Clayton had a band called “the Way We Live”. They used to do Cream & Hendrix numbers at school gigs, very talented. I couldn’t play a thing but I had a tape recorder a “state of the art” stereo Brenell. We somehow got together to record bits of stuff at Steve’s mum & dads and recorded some live gigs, I think the tapes are still around somewhere. Sort of started managing them and persuaded Jim to have a go at writing his own songs. Converted my bedroom at my mum & dads into a studio and the attic into a control room and over a summer hols recorded “A Candle for Judith” album. Just the two of them and me. Jim doing the vocals and guitars, Steve on all the percussion and me putting the whole lot together as producer. We did it for a laugh. Two stereo tape machines, a Vortexion and a Ferrograph, a Grampian spring reverb and a home made mixer. We suddenly realised we had recorded a proper album of original material. Cos I was always impressed with Elektra records I sent a copy to them, it never reached them. Clive Selwood who worked for CBS and handled Elektra in the UK heard the tape and rang me straight away, wanted to sign us up to his Dandelion label a small record company he had set up with John Peel. We signed the dotted line and were sent off to re-record the album in a “proper studio” we ended up in Spot Studios in London cos they had just gone to 8 track and Hollick & Taylor in Birmingham. The album was eventually finished, it was OK but it had lost much of the spontaneity and energy of the original tapes, though the sound was better. You can buy this album and the album using my original tapes from Ozit/Morpheus records. Anyhow it got good reviews, but Dandelion were too cash strapped to really promote it so it sold but not much, however a cult following started to happen. Started on the second album and a change of name, a suggestion from John Peel, we were now called Tractor. I insisted we record this album back at my home studio and Dandelion paid for a second Ferrograph, a very small 6 channel Allen & Heath mixer and an AKG mic. Hey last of the big spenders! The second album was an epic job, the songs were better, the playing was better and at last as producer I created a “Tractor” sound, that had real depth and with just so much going on it was impossible to get bored. I used to record the drums and bass in stereo onto one of the ¼ inch machines and then take the tape off and put it onto a second machine, play that back and add guitars, and then go through the same procedure with the vocals, and guitar and percussion overdubs. This sometimes amounted to around ten takes, and if the drums didn’t sound right at the end there was no way back it meant starting all over again from scratch. Luckily I think we only had to do that twice. When the album came out it received ecstatic reviews, and I thought we’d made it. But it was not to be, again Dandelion did not have the finances to do a proper promotion job, so it became a sort of underground cult record. It still sells today which must say something about it. But we were getting some serious gigs now and TV and radio, things were looking good. Started talking about the third album, Jim wanted to do an album about the Battle of Peterloo which took place on St. Peters Field in Manchester. So I spent about a week at the central library in Manchester reading everything I could about the battle. I thought of recording it live on St. Peters Field with as many Tractor fans as possible to join in but it didn’t happen. Jim decided he didn’t like the direction I would have liked to have taken the music so we split up. Jim & Steve got a new manager, Chris Hewitt, and they went into a studio in Chipping Norton to record some new tracks with Dandelions backing. That was that then, I had been sidelined, these things happen. So I went off to be a cameraman and then in 1978 started Cargo Studios

Over the intervening 35 years or so I’ve heard some of the things that Tractor have recorded but to me they don’t sound like Tractor they sound like Jim Milne + guitar and a drummer. Most of the later Tractor CDs comprise of old recordings made when I was producing them. Jim always needed pushing hard to produce his best but he surrounded himself with too many yes men. The Tractor sound which was raved about on the second album was my concept in my head and that’s why they haven’t been able to repeat it. I don’t think it was appreciated by the band or Dandelion then or even now the extent of my involvement. I can’t say I’m bitter about it, I’m disappointed maybe, I just think it’s a real shame and a waste of some real talent. But there were no hard feelings I even joined up again with them briefly in ’77 to record the single No More Rock & Roll. Several times over the years I have offered to produce Tractor again but the invitation has been declined, and now I really can’t be bothered. Contractually I’m still a member of Tractor, which doesn’t really mean that much except that if they ever make it big after 35 years I may make some money but I’m not holding my breath.