Larry Sparks served a brief apprenticeship as lead guitarist with the Stanley Brothers and a somewhat longer one as guitarist and lead singer with Ralph Stanley before going out on his own at the end of the '60s. A decade later, when he went into a Lexington, KY, studio to record John Deere Tractor, he was a subtle, soulful singer and distinctive guitarist who had blended bluegrass, country and blues influences into a sound all his own. The title track, a lonesome account of a country boy's encounter with a city gal, would become one of Sparks'signature tunes, but the album's filled with gems like Allen Mills'rural tale, “Love of the Mountains,” Californian Bill Bryson's archetypal “Girl at the Crossroads Bar,” the bouncy instrumental “Hot Sauce” and Keith Whitley's haunting gospel song, “Great High Mountain” — a last-minute addition to the set that became its most widely covered.