Happy Birthday, Ricky Tractor

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  Crime - ca 1977 

photo by Ron Howie Klein   

Ricky Tractor (Richard Williams) was the vocalist and second drummer for Crime, San Francisco's first punk band, and the original singer for Flipper; he also sang for The Sleepers and the Toiling Midgets. He was born on the 4th of October in 1956 in Palo Alto located in the northwestern corner of Santa Clara County, California, United States, in the San Francisco Bay Area. Palo Alto is named after a coastal redwood tree known as El Palo Alto.         

 

Crime was an early American punk band from San Francisco. It was formed in 1976 by Johnny Strike (vocals, guitar), Frankie Fix (vocals, guitar), Ron "The Ripper" Greco (bass; ex-Flamin' Groovies), and Ricky Tractor (Ricky Williams) (drums). I first saw them at the Valencia Tool & Die (link below).     

 

Ricky "Tractor" Williams was the drummer and an early member of Crime until he was kicked out in 1977 for his "inconsistencies" both on his instrument and in his personality. In 1979, he was a founding member of Flipper. He sang vocals, and was the one who named the band, but was fired "for being too weird" before the band had released any recordings. He was invited that year by Michael Belfer to become the vocalist for The Sleepers, which released one EP, one single and one album before breaking up in 1981. After the breakup of The Sleepers, he joined Toiling Midgets as vocalist from 1981 until 1983.      

 

  

Ricky "Tractor" Williams - 1979

The Sleepers vocalist 

photo by James Stark

  

 

According to guitarist Michael Belfer of The Sleepers, Williams' father was gay, and his father's homosexuality had a huge impact on Williams, as he was bisexual. He was also known to indulge in substance abuse throughout his life, including speed, LSD and alcohol. Ricky Tractor died of a heroin overdose at the age of 37 in 1992.         

 

James Stark, who shot many images of Williams as well as the punk era in San Francisco, began photographing Crime in 1976. and in 2006 wrote a history about the seventies punk scene.           

Punk '77 - 2006

written by James Stark

Punk '77: An Inside Look at the San Francisco Rock n' Roll Scene, 1977

ISBN 10: 1889307149 / ISBN 13: 9781889307145
Published by Re/Search Publications, 2006       

 

 

        

Viewfinder links:          

         

Crime         

Johnny Strike         

Ricky "Tractor" Williams          

      

Net links:          

             

Joel Gausten ~ Toiling Midgets: Little Ricky        

vipfaq ~ Ricky "Tractor" Williams  

       Crime       

       Crime Releases       

James Stark ~  

      The Band Crime: Punk '77 Revisited                     

      James Stark                     

           

           

     

YouTube links:                       

     
     

     

     
     

     

     
     

     

Styrous® ~ Tuesday, October 5, 2021         

       

 

 

 

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Music People

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