Dane Sturgeon: Wild ‘n’ Tender
Yet another record that Will Louviere’s Show And Tell site put me up on. This is a hard one to classify. It’s definitely raw enough to appeal to garage or rockabilly enthusiasts, yet it lacks the naive quality of most records of that genre. The mix of crooner vocals with charging overdrive at times reminds one of the Seeds backing a Roy Orbison impersonator. And the macabre lyrics that really put it over the top. A Queen Bee lover who mates & kills, a drag racing ghost, a sado-masochistic “whip of love” – these are the subjects at hand here. Awesome, awesome record!
There is also another later pressing with this cover…
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First time I heard this record I was blown away. For me it’s an ultimate real people/outsider LP. Dane Sturgeons strange visions backed by a 50’s/early 60’s rockband, trying to be hip. It’s really folkrock in a stonegroove. a must have. The B/W cover is a secondprint. Vinyl is from the same pressing. I played a cover of “Queen bee” in my old band Ghost Rocket. Dane Sturgeon rules.
I love this – it’s my favorite private release…the westcoast/Spanish hombre moves fused w/early fuzzfolkrock & a melancholy, far off romantic sound all add up to a great makeout record.
THERE IS AN ARTIST NAMED DAVID CROSBY ON THIS ALBUM AND HE SINGS ALL THE SONGS ON SIDE TWO. IS THIS THE DAVID CROSBY OF THE BYRDS AND CROSBY STILLS AND NASH FAME?
NO
My dad was Tony Sturdivant and he co-wrote a couple of songs on this album, which I still have. Hurricane was one of my favorites!
IN MEMORY OF
MY DAD
Your baby girl
Where can I obtain a copy?
dane was my next door neighbor when i was a kid. he had a wild beard and a beer belly. my dad had lots of tools and asked if he could rent out danes garage. dane said yes if we would just clean out the decades of junk inside. i found a copy of this lp and listened to it for years!
I am the David Cosby that sang side two, the “Tender” side. That’s “Cosby” with no “R”. I declined to sing the songs on side one. They were, especially for 1967, pretty demented and wacky, just too crazy. Now, I wish I had; I all the singing would be mine and I wouldn’t have to listen to Sturgeon, but he is pretty good – in a demented sort of way. Water under the bridge.
Of the original cover, I was told only 10,000 copies were ever pressed. Six years after the release, I found a still wrapped, new copy, of “Wild-N-Tender” in a Santa Cruz, CA, record store’s budget bin. Price… $.50, yes, fifty cents. Does wonders for the ego, ya know.
I have several copies, reserved for my descendants, if there should ever be any.
Cosby
Ok so my grandpa is tony sturdivant and i dont understand why hes not getting any credit for this at all i have the record of crazy dreams and hurricane and it clearly states sturdivant on the record
If anyone has any contact with the players on this record let me know (Caleb.t.gomes@gmail.com).. I am from Tulare and am looking to meet and film a documentary as well as press a rerelease of their record for them.
If you have any leads please let me know (none of this project will be for profit)