Warning... this is an adult site. If reading or viewing things about what gay men do sexually with one another bothers you - you should not read this blog. This blog is a reflection of my adventures and thoughts. Some are fun, some not so pretty. I won't name names, or kiss and tell... but I will live to tell. And baby, trust me - I am gonna spill it all over your pretty little party dress. Enjoy!
Today, we take a first look at the Surree Stud Series imprint, also known as Surey Books.
The Surree Stud Series was an imprint brought to you by the good folks at Surree LTD, Inc. which operated out of offices at 9465 Mission Park Place in Santee, CA, 92071. Later, the company would become part of Star Distributors LTD., which operated out of a PO Box on Canal Street in New York City, NY.
The books were distributed by the Zorro Distributing company.
In all, from 1975 to 1982, the imprint published 88 titles. The catalog numbering system began as SS-001. After the 55th title, for some reason, most likely due to Star Distributor's acquiring the imprint, the numbering system would restart at SSS-101. It is also at this time that the use of 'Surey' replaced 'Surree'.
The book's covers would undergo only one major design change.
Initially, they appeared with an olive green border, a white background, with the imprint's distinctive wide read banner running at an angle near the top. The white space above the red banner held the distinctive Zorro 'mask' logo belonging to the Zorro Distributing company, the book's catalog number, and the book's price. The book's title would appear on the red banner in large, white block letters - all in caps, with the author's name in black in smaller print beneath it. Under the red banner, in the white space, an erotic ink drawing lending a clue as to what the book was about.
The book cover's design would be altered after the 32nd title. At that point, the distinctive Zorro 'mask' logo and the book's catalog number would jump up to the upper left corner of the olive green border, with the price appearing in the triangular space between the border and the title banner. The red banner would become more of an orange-red, and a bit narrower, while the ink drawings were replaced by erotic color photos of a single male model, duo, or group of male models. Typically, these photos, while professionally done, appear rather generic in nature, having little relation to the subject of the actual book.
The books were introduced on the market at $2.25. However, after the 12th title, the price was dropped $1.95, reverting to $2.25 when color photos replaced the ink drawings on the cover. Once acquired by Star Distributors, the price would rise to $2.95, and, by 1982, to $3.95. Many of the titles would enjoy 2nd and 3rd printings, and also be reprinted by other imprints.
The book's back covers would undergo several changes.
SS-001 to SS-032
SS-33 to SS-55
SSS-101 to SSS-119
SSS-120 - SSS-132
The books back pages advertised titles for the Blue Boy, HIS69 and Manhard imprints. Mail orders were sent to MMB at 9465 Mission Park Place in Santee, CA, 92071, or a PO Box in Santee, CA.
On the internet, these books are highly collectible and typically sell for between $30-125. The 2nd and 3rd printings of some of the titles make collecting these books a bit of a challenge.
Here are the first eleven titles.
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Bikers Slave
Author: Jim Lawrence
Surree Stud Series
1975
SS-001
Available as a downloadable PDF or ebook at Hommi Publishing.
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Straight Sucker
Author: Samuel West
Surree Stud Series
1975
SS-002
Available as a downloadable PDF or ebook at Hommi Publishing.
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Chicken Troop
Author: Lyle Jennings
Surree Stud Series
1975
SS-003
Available as a downloadable PDF or ebook at Hommi Publishing.
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Truckin', Suckin', Sailor
Author: Bob Hancock
Surree Stud Series
1975
SS-004
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The Itching Post
Author: Newt Jennings
Surree Stud Series
1975
SS-005
According to Hommi Publishing's Big Ass List, this one happens in a "Grand Canyon setting".
Available as a downloadable PDF or ebook at Hommi Publishing.
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Choice Chicken
Author: Stuart Rowen
Surree Stud Series
1975
SS-006
Available as a downloadable PDF or ebook at Hommi Publishing.
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Hard on His Buddy
Author: Marley Dennis
Surree Stud Series
1975
SS-007
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Trucker's Stud Sailor
Author: Bob Hancock
Surree Stud Series
1975
SS-008
According to Hommi Publishing's Big Ass List, this is a "sequel to SS-4".
Available as a downloadable PDF or ebook at Hommi Publishing.
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Bangin' Brothers
Author: Newt Jennings
Surree Stud Series
1975
SS-009
Available as a downloadable PDF or ebook at Hommi Publishing.
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Hard-Headed Dick
Author: Samuel West
Surree Stud Series
1975
SS-010
According to Hommi Publishing's Big Ass List, this one is about a "cop who tracks down a murderer and discovers his own sexual feelings".
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Trucker's Stud Son
Author: Bob Hancock
Surree Stud Series
1975
SS-011
According to Hommi Publishing's Big Ass List, this one is about "incest".
Available as a downloadable PDF or ebook at Hommi Publishing.
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And that's all for now.
Next week: more tantalizing titles from the Surree Stud Series.
In my own personal big gay church there are many wings. One is dedicated to The Rockbirds - so named after a turn of phrase coined by Deborah Harry, one of the divas who resides there. These ladies raged against a very specific machine: the misogynistic heart of the corporate music business. They endured countless interviews asking them how they felt being a woman in the world of rock n' roll - the assumption being that it was exclusively a man's world. Are they the women of rock? Hell, no... they just rock! And they did it all with a singular style and unique voice.
One such
Bonnie Raitt
Her music goes down smoother than a Long Island ice tea.
A true journeyman, this diva burst on the scene and the rock press was head over heals. Live, she was a firecracker, but on vinyl... well, something was frequently missing.
Her answer? To look for it at the bottom of a bottle.
After her label dropped her, she hit rock bottom, but didn't stay there long. She quickly righted the ship and kept on touring - but sober, now.
During this time period, she became known as an activist.
And though it took her a few years, she eventually found, not only what was missing, but a whole new audience, one that has remained with her to this day.
Grammy's followed - her most recent for Song of The Year in 2023 - demonstrating that this diva's work remains as vital as ever.
For her? The road is never-ending.
The gospel according to her?
Well, here are three from the hip, dropping from her lips.
The topic? Becoming An Artistic Heavyweight
"I think my fans will follow me into our combined old age. Real musicians and real fans stay together for a long, long time."
"I've watched my peers get better with age and hoped that would happen with me."
"I think it's our job to write about what we're going through at the moment, and being 41, I'm not going to write about the same things I wrote about at 20. I don't think artists should be farmed out to pasture just because they're in rock n' roll."
"Elvis might have compromised his musical style a bit towards the end, but that doesn't mean that artists from the rock n' roll/folk-roots culture - of which he was not really a part - shouldn't get better as they get older, like the great jazz or blues artists."
"I was always drawn to the blues. Alberta Hunter at the Cookery was a life-changing experience. I only wanted to get enriched as a performer as I got older, to have an audience which got older, too, and would come to see me when I'm 80."
"I like to think I get better with age, but maybe absence makes the heart grow fonder."
"There's nothing like living a long time to create a depth and soulfulness in your music."
"The great thing about the arts, and especially popular music, is that it really does cut across genres and races and classes."
"I never saw music in terms of men and women or black and white. There was just cool and uncool."
"In blues, classical and jazz, you get more revered with age."
"I'm sure I would have been considered a more significant artist if I was a singer-songwriter. It's just not the way I roll. I love being a curator and a musicologist. People write me letters and thank me for turning them on to Fred McDowell and Sippie Wallace, and that's partly my job this time around."
"I'm certain that it was an incredible gift for me to not only be friends with some of the greatest blues people who've ever lived, but to learn how they played, how they sang, how they lived their lives, ran their marriages, and talked to their kids."
"I've been lucky enough that I can gather all sorts of experiences and find inspiration by traveling around and by spending time with people I admire."
"I just play the music that I love with musicians that I respect, and fortunately, I'm in a position where people are willing to play with me, and perhaps I can do something to help them."
It is still a surprise when people tell me that I've had an influence on them, particularly when it's someone I really respect.
"One of the biggest obstacles I've overcome in my life was thinking I didn't deserve to be successful. Artistically I'm not as much of a heavyweight as someone like Paul Simon or Joni Mitchell, because I'm not a creator of original music, and I worried about that for years."
"Not being a natural songwriter... for me the appreciation of a great song and the writers came early on, growing up in a musical family. My dad got to sing songs by some of the greatest writers of all time, Rodgers and Hammerstein."
"Finding great songs is the hard part of my gig - it's not as hard as songwriting, that's much more daunting - but I love playing other people's music."
"When you find a song that you love, you just have to do it - why would I try to match it? When I wrote more of the songs in the '90s - Nick of Time and other songs I was surprised I came up with - it was because nobody else was saying what I wanted to say."
Runaway - Bonnie Raitt
Nick Of Time - Bonnie Raitt
Just Like That - Bonnie Raitt
"I grew up in Los Angeles in a Quaker family, and for me being Quaker was a political calling rather than a religious one."
"Religion is for people who are scared to go to hell. Spirituality is for people who have already been there."
"Quakers are known for wanting to give back. Ban the bomb and the civil rights movement and the native American struggle for justice - those things were very, very front-burner in my childhood, as were the ideas of working for peace and if you have more than you need, then you share it with people who don't."
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