Album Notes

THE CLOVIS ROBLAINE STORY

Buddy Holly, Del Shannon, the Drifters, Phil Spector, the Everlys, Link
Wray, the Ventures, and the Beatles were some of the main influences on
Clovis Roblaine.
"I wish I could say the first music that affected me was some old blues guy like Blind Lemon Pledge, but I can't. The songs I listened to were things like "Peggy Sue", "Runaway", "Stand by Me", and instrumentals like "Walk, Don't Run", "Jack the Ripper", and "Baja". The sound was different in the 60's,and that's the sound I like. Nobody I knew was recording like that in 1979, so I decided to do it myself."
Clovis played guitar, organ, and bass for various rock bands in Oklahoma before joining the notorious Texas singer-songwriter, Ray Wylie Hubbard and the Cowboy Twinkies as their bassist in 1973. "We literally got run out of town a couple of times for inserting Hendrix and Zepplin into Merle Haggard songs. Often we would open our supposed "country" set with "Jack the Ripper". At the same time we made fun of country, we goofed on heavy metal - nothing was sacred."
In 1978, Clovis and Twinkie drummer Jim Herbst built a garage studio in Norman, Oklahoma. Clovis proceeded to record demos in order
to get his engineering chops down, never intending to make an album.
"Most of the songs were written in a two week period just to give myself
material to engineer. I usually didn't finish the words until I was forced to do the vocals. That's why I like instrumentals - no words."
Twinkie guitarist Terry Joe "Buffalo" Ware played on almost all of the
sessions along with a host of Oklahoma musicians including the Lienke
brothers, Jim Hochanadel, and Johhny Hughes.
Today Clovis plays bass for the surf instrumental band The Plungers
and Terry Ware fronts his own instrumental combo, The Shambles. Terry
has 3 cds out under his own name. The Plungers have 4 cds out. They
also play on the last 3 bonus tracks on Clovis's reissue cd.
"People take rock n' roll too seriously" says Clovis. "Rock n' roll should be fun; it should be an escape; it should be Kugat!"

THE END

"The abundant talents of multi-instrumentalist / singer/ producer /
songwriter Clovis Roblaine are in clear evidence on this LP of tuneful,
well crafted pop creations. Roblaine easily handles Beatlesque ballads,
energetic rock n' roll and melodic power pop with consistent aplomb and
success. Very impressive and totally entertaining, with wit and intelligence." Ira A. Robbins, Trouser Press Record Guide

"One of the more obscure power pop albums of its time - and also
one of the finest - The Clovis Roblaine Story filters power pop through
the eyes (and ears) of a Midwestern Spector obsessive. The thrilling
"Monster Love", "My Heart" and "Too Choked Up" are all classics of the genre." John M. Borack, Shake Some Action, the Ultimate Power Pop
Guide

"One of the best undiscovered gems of power pop ever." The Foxx

"The songs are as out of fashion now as they were then, which is the beauty of the thing. A whole new meaning to the term "classic rock"!
Dan Forte, Vintage Guitar Magazine