Daniel Coston: What made you want to play music?
Ed Truman: Seeing my sister who was six years older play in folk groups got me thinking about learning an instrument, but when the Beatles came out and my mother one day ask if id like to play I said yes, buy me a set of drums mom, and it was on from there.
Coston: Describe the music scene in Fayetteville, and at your school.
Truman: Just about every neighborhood had an abundance of bands. Seems like everybody i knew was forming a band and playing if nowhere else, in their garages. We probably had at least six or seven good bands at the High School i went to, and it wasn’t a very big school.
Coston: How did the Marke 5 come together?
Truman: I came about joining the Marke 5 just by word of mouth going around. I was asked to join and help form this band.
Coston: What songs were in the Marke 5’s set? What were your favorite gigs to play?
Truman: I can’t remember all our songs but we did do several Rolling Stones songs, Under My Thumb, The Last Time. We had a driving sound and thats what won us the battle of the bands my sophmore year.
Coston: Talk about the single “Pay”, and recording that single. Where did you record it, and what do you remember about that session?
Truman: Our mentor band recorded a song so we wanted to record a 45 ourselves, we got together at practice one night and it was a group effort and we produced two songs. My mother who was very supportive put up three hundred dollars and we went to Raleigh, NC and recorded the songs at Jimmy Capps studio under the label JCP.
Coston: When did the Marke 5 break up, and why?
Truman: we played for probably a little over a year but two of the members were seniors, and they graduated and went on to the army and other jobs, so it just came to an end like the way it started, just happened.
Coston: I understand that you played with a latter [post-Liar Liar] version of the Castaways. Tell me about that.
Truman: It really wasn’t a Castaways remake band. The guitar player and lead singer on the song “Liar Liar”, named Bob Laroy Folschow, was drafted and finishing up his military obligation when me and a bass player hooked up with him near the end of my senior year. We became the house band at a bar called the Longbranch Saloon, and later house band at a bar called The Red Garter. There we met an english chap who was in Fayetteville putting together one of the first shows and the recently built Cumberland County Arena. The show was Iron Butterfly and they had the big hit “In-a-gadda-devita” going on at that time. We were ask to open for that show and it was a big thrill.
After graduation we became the house band at the first after hours club in Fayetteville, they only served set ups and technically did not sell alcohol so they could stay open all night if they wanted, we played there about a year and then went on the road playing holiday inns and other clubs and motels all up and down the east coast, usually playing about two weeks per gig. We did that for about two years and had a falling out with Bob Laroy Folschow and we broke up.
Coston: Tell me about The Symbols, who were your rivals at High School. And what other bands were around the area during that time?
Truman: The Symbols were one of our biggest idols, they were really a great band. Forty-five years later we merged members of the Symbols and the Marke Five and played a reunion gig that went over really great. Had big time fun playing with them.
Coston: Who else did you play with, after the Marke 5?
Truman: I’ve played with so many people and groups its hard to remember.
Coston: Do you still play today?
Truman: I still play today with a big band orchestra out of lumberton nc and also record, over 130 songs so far recorded and seven CDs out on the internet, with a partner in music named Paul Reichle.
Coston: What comes to mind, when you think about that time in your llfe?
Truman: it was so fun and exciting back then, we would play for some pretty large crowds sometimes and it felt like we were the Beatles or the Stones, great memories.
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