|  What
do the 1960's psychedelic bubblegum band the Strawberry Alarm Clock,
the schlocky movie Beyond the Valley of the Dolls, and the
libertarian philosophy have in common?
The answer: Paul Marshall. You may not have heard of him, but he's
lived an almost-Forest Gump life, landing smack-dab in the middle
of some of the most interesting musical, cultural, and political movements
of the last four decades. A songwriter, singer, and musician,
Marshall
performed with the Strawberry Alarm Clock, toured with Lynryd Skynryd,
appeared in Beyond the Valley of the Dolls, wrote songs for
Patty Loveless -- and has been a committed libertarian since the mid-1970s.
He currently plays with the award-winning alt-country band I See Hawks
in L.A., and Gritz magazine called him "one of the best
country singer/songwriters working today."
Marshall started early in music. While still in junior high school,
his band, The Treetoppers, signed to Mustang Records and released
a few singles. In college, he joined a band that played rock-n-roll
at frat parties. In 1969, he became the new singer for one of the
country's leading psychedelic/pop bands, the Strawberry Alarm Clock,
which had hit #1 in 1967 with "Incense and Peppermint."
With the band, Marshall toured the country (once with just-out-of-high
school Lynryd Skynryd as an opening act) and performed in the 1970
movie Beyond the Valley of the Dolls (Russ Meyer's outrageous
quasi-sequel to Jacqueline Susann's campy Valley of the Dolls).
When the Strawberry Alarm Clock split up in 1971, Marshall learned
to play the bass guitar and returned to his first love, country music
("the white man's blues," he says). Over the next three
decades, he toured the USA with various country bands; wrote songs
for Patty Loveless, Juice Newton, Highway 101, and others; worked
as a studio musician (including a stint with Brent Mydland of the
Grateful Dead); and produced records for Russell Scott and His Red
Hots, Single Bullet Theory, and others. Marshall also released a solo
album, Weed and Water, in 2000.
Marshall is now the bass player for the Los Angeles-based I See Hawks
in L.A., which combines country-folk, bluegrass-gospel, and "redneck
stomp." The band has released two critically acclaimed CDs,
I See Hawks in L.A. (2001) and Grapevine (2004), and
won the L.A. Weekly's Music Award as Best Country Band in
2003.
One thing that has remained constant during Marshall's idiosyncratic
career: his belief in liberty. He told Gritz magazine (September
2001) that he joined the Libertarian Party in the mid-1970s because
it was the only "party dedicated to the Constitution. To the
Bill of Rights. To individual liberty. To responsibility for one's
own actions. As soon as I heard about it, I knew it was my political
party."
The Libertarian Party, Marshall continued, is the only party not motivated
by a "lust for power. The Democrats abandoned their support of
individual rights and responsibility in favor of group rights and
society's responsibility. The Republicans give lip service to small,
less-involved government, but continue to grow it... The differences
between the two parties are minor. Their similarities are many."
Marshall told Gritz that he is especially passionate about
Second Amendment issues ("I'm a responsible gun owner who enjoys
shooting at ranges. But I also know that if I were to depend on the
LAPD or the state for protection to defend my home and my family,
I would be at the mercy of the criminals and plain old luck");
Drug Prohibition ("The laws against drugs... have caused more
harm to our society than the drugs themselves ever could"); and
personal responsibility ("I think we should all be held responsible
for our actions, specifically, actions that directly harm others").
Marshall's libertarianism has had a definite influence on his new
band mates. I See Hawks in L.A. guitarist Paul Lacques noted in the
Arcata, California newspaper North Coast Journal (June 16,
2005): "Our bass player's a libertarian and we have huge political
arguments, but we all agree that the government should leave people
alone. We all feel the hammer coming down and America slowly turning
into an oppressive society with a powerful central government."
--
Bill Winter |
