Famous Like Me > Singer > F > Bobby Fuller
Profile of Bobby Fuller
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| Name: |
Bobby Fuller |
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| Date of Birth: |
18th July 1942 |
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| Place of Birth: |
Baytown, Texas |
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| Profession: |
Singer |
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From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia
Bobby Fuller (October 22, 1942 - July 18, 1966) was an American rock singer and guitarist best known for his classic "I Fought the Law".
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 during the early 1960s. He 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 Cochrane, the Beatles, Elvis Presley, Little Richard and the Everly Brothers in cover recordings and original compositions, as well as instrumental surf guitar. Less well know 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.
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.
"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.
Quotation
- "I fought the law. And the law won." (Really a Sonny Curtis lyric)
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