Bobby Fuller
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Bobby Fuller (October 22, 1942 – July 18, 1966) was an American rock singer and guitarist best known for his classic "I Fought the Law".
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Early career
Born in Baytown, Texas, Fuller spent most of his youth in El Paso, Texas, where he idolized Buddy Holly, a fellow West Texan. He played clubs, bars, and recorded on independent record labels in Texas, with a constantly-changing line-up, during the early 1960s. The only constant band members were Bobby himself (on vocals and guitar), and his older brother, Randy, on bass. All of these independent releases were recorded in the Fullers' own home-cum-studio, with Bobby acting as the producer. He even built a primitive echo chamber in the backyard. The quality of the recordings, using a couple of microphones and a mixing board purchased from a local radio station, was so impressive that he even offered the use of his 'studio' to local acts for free so he could hone his production skills.
Bobby moved to Los Angeles in 1964 with his band The Bobby Fuller Four and was signed to Mustang Records by producer Bob Keane, noted for discovering Ritchie Valens and producing many surf music groups.
At a time when the British invasion and folk rock were culturally dominant, Fuller stuck to Buddy Holly's style of classic rock and roll with Tex Mex flourishes. His recordings reveal the influence of Eddie Cochran, the Beatles, Elvis Presley, Little Richard and the Everly Brothers in cover recordings and original compositions, as well as instrumental surf guitar. Less well known was Fuller's ability to emulate the reverb-laden surf guitar sounds of Dick Dale and the Ventures. His first Top 40 hit was the Buddy Holly cover song "Love Made a Fool of You". His second hit "I Fought the Law" was written by Sonny Curtis, a former member of Holly's group The Crickets.
Death
Just as "I Fought The Law" became a top ten hit, Bobby Fuller was found dead in a parked automobile near his Los Angeles home. The police considered the death an apparent suicide, however many people still believe Fuller was murdered. He was found with multiple wounds all over his body and covered in gasoline leading many to speculate that the perpetrators fled before they could set the car on fire. He is buried in the Forest Lawn - Hollywood Hills Cemetery in Los Angeles.
The 2002 novel Dead Circus, by John Kaye, includes the murder of Bobby Fuller as a major plot point. At the end of the book, the main character decides that Fuller had been killed by mafia henchmen trying to please Frank Sinatra.
The Rock*A*Teens refer to Fuller's alleged murder in the song "Who Killed Bobby Fuller?", on their 1995 self-titled debut. The song was originally recorded by New York rock band Black 47 in 1994.
Legacy
"I Fought The Law" has been covered by the punk rock group The Clash in 1978, as well as the Dead Kennedys, who rewrote the lyrics to comment on the murder of gay San Francisco politician Harvey Milk. The Grateful Dead performed live rendtions of the song regularly. The song was covered again by Green Day in 2004 and used as a promotional song for the iTunes Music Store's free songs giveaway.
Canadian indie rockers Metric refer to "I fought the law" in the song "Monster Hospital" on their 2005 album "Live it Out." This song adapts the lyric to "I fought the war but the war won." They mention Bobby Fuller by name in the song.
Fuller's recordings have been reissued by Norton Records.
Quotation
- "I fought the law. And the law won." (Really a Sonny Curtis lyric)