Community hub
Recent from talks
Knowledge base stats:
Talk channels stats:
Members stats:
Bobby Fuller
Robert Gaston Fuller (October 22, 1942 – July 18, 1966) was an American rock singer, songwriter, and guitarist best known for "Let Her Dance" and his cover of the Crickets' "I Fought the Law," recorded with his group the Bobby Fuller Four.
Fuller was born in Baytown, Texas, to Lawson Sheppard Fuller and Eva Lorraine Barrett Fuller, the middle of three boys, having a maternal older half-brother, Jack, and a younger brother, Randy. Fuller moved as a small child to Salt Lake City, Utah, where he remained until 1956, when he and his family moved to El Paso, Texas. His father got a job at El Paso Natural Gas at that time. It was the same year that Elvis Presley became popular, and Bobby Fuller became mesmerized by the new rock and roll star. Fuller soon adopted the style of fellow Texan Buddy Holly, fronting a four-man combo and often using original material.
During the early 1960s, he played in clubs and bars in El Paso, and recorded on independent record labels in Texas with a changing line-up. The only constant band members were Fuller and his younger brother, Randy, on bass. These independent releases (except two songs recorded at the Norman Petty Studios in Clovis), and an excursion to Yucca Records, also in New Mexico, were recorded in the Fullers' own home studio, with Fuller acting as the producer. He even built a primitive echo chamber in the back yard. 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 offered the use of his "studio" to local acts for free so he could hone his production skills.[citation needed]
Fuller moved to Los Angeles in 1964 with his band the Bobby Fuller Four and was signed to Mustang Records by producer Bob Keane, who was noted for discovering Ritchie Valens and producing many surf music groups. By this time, the group consisted of Fuller and his brother Randy on vocals/guitar and bass respectively, Jim Reese on guitar and DeWayne Quirico on drums. This lineup recorded "I Fought The Law". (There are actually two versions of "I Fought The Law" by Fuller, the original hit that was released as a 45-rpm single and the re-recording that was issued on an album. The arrangements are identical, but the vocals by Fuller are slightly different.)
At a time when the British Invasion and folk rock were the dominant genres in rock, Fuller stuck to Buddy Holly's style of classic rock and roll with Tex Mex flourishes. His recordings, both covers and originals, also reveal the influences of Eddie Cochran, the Beatles, Elvis Presley, Little Richard, and the Everly Brothers, as well as surf guitar. Less well known was Fuller's ability to emulate the reverb-laden surf guitar of Dick Dale and the Ventures. His first Top 40 hit was the self-penned "Let Her Dance". His second hit, "I Fought the Law", peaked at No. 9 on the Billboard Hot 100 on March 12–19, 1966. The song was originally written and recorded by Sonny Curtis, who became a member of Buddy Holly's former group the Crickets after Holly's death. The group's third Top 40 single was a cover of Holly's "Love's Made a Fool of You".
Within months of "I Fought the Law" becoming a top 10 hit, Fuller was found dead in a car parked outside his Hollywood apartment. The Los Angeles deputy medical examiner, Jerry Nelson, performed the autopsy. According to Dean Kuipers, "The report states that Bobby's face, chest, and side were covered in 'petechial hemorrhages', probably caused by gasoline vapors and the summer heat. He found no bruises, no broken bones, no cuts. No evidence of beating." Kuipers further explains that boxes for "accident" and "suicide" were checked, but next to the boxes were question marks. Despite the official cause of death, some commentators believe Fuller was murdered.
Fuller was buried at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in the Hollywood Hills of Los Angeles. His death was profiled in a segment of Unsolved Mysteries.
His death was also explored in the May 11, 2015, episode of the NPR program All Things Considered. The program references the book I Fought the Law: The Life and Strange Death of Bobby Fuller by Miriam Linna, with contributions by Randy Fuller. Sometime after the Unsolved Mysteries segment in question initially aired, the cause of Fuller's death was officially changed from "suicide" to "accident".
Hub AI
Bobby Fuller AI simulator
(@Bobby Fuller_simulator)
Bobby Fuller
Robert Gaston Fuller (October 22, 1942 – July 18, 1966) was an American rock singer, songwriter, and guitarist best known for "Let Her Dance" and his cover of the Crickets' "I Fought the Law," recorded with his group the Bobby Fuller Four.
Fuller was born in Baytown, Texas, to Lawson Sheppard Fuller and Eva Lorraine Barrett Fuller, the middle of three boys, having a maternal older half-brother, Jack, and a younger brother, Randy. Fuller moved as a small child to Salt Lake City, Utah, where he remained until 1956, when he and his family moved to El Paso, Texas. His father got a job at El Paso Natural Gas at that time. It was the same year that Elvis Presley became popular, and Bobby Fuller became mesmerized by the new rock and roll star. Fuller soon adopted the style of fellow Texan Buddy Holly, fronting a four-man combo and often using original material.
During the early 1960s, he played in clubs and bars in El Paso, and recorded on independent record labels in Texas with a changing line-up. The only constant band members were Fuller and his younger brother, Randy, on bass. These independent releases (except two songs recorded at the Norman Petty Studios in Clovis), and an excursion to Yucca Records, also in New Mexico, were recorded in the Fullers' own home studio, with Fuller acting as the producer. He even built a primitive echo chamber in the back yard. 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 offered the use of his "studio" to local acts for free so he could hone his production skills.[citation needed]
Fuller moved to Los Angeles in 1964 with his band the Bobby Fuller Four and was signed to Mustang Records by producer Bob Keane, who was noted for discovering Ritchie Valens and producing many surf music groups. By this time, the group consisted of Fuller and his brother Randy on vocals/guitar and bass respectively, Jim Reese on guitar and DeWayne Quirico on drums. This lineup recorded "I Fought The Law". (There are actually two versions of "I Fought The Law" by Fuller, the original hit that was released as a 45-rpm single and the re-recording that was issued on an album. The arrangements are identical, but the vocals by Fuller are slightly different.)
At a time when the British Invasion and folk rock were the dominant genres in rock, Fuller stuck to Buddy Holly's style of classic rock and roll with Tex Mex flourishes. His recordings, both covers and originals, also reveal the influences of Eddie Cochran, the Beatles, Elvis Presley, Little Richard, and the Everly Brothers, as well as surf guitar. Less well known was Fuller's ability to emulate the reverb-laden surf guitar of Dick Dale and the Ventures. His first Top 40 hit was the self-penned "Let Her Dance". His second hit, "I Fought the Law", peaked at No. 9 on the Billboard Hot 100 on March 12–19, 1966. The song was originally written and recorded by Sonny Curtis, who became a member of Buddy Holly's former group the Crickets after Holly's death. The group's third Top 40 single was a cover of Holly's "Love's Made a Fool of You".
Within months of "I Fought the Law" becoming a top 10 hit, Fuller was found dead in a car parked outside his Hollywood apartment. The Los Angeles deputy medical examiner, Jerry Nelson, performed the autopsy. According to Dean Kuipers, "The report states that Bobby's face, chest, and side were covered in 'petechial hemorrhages', probably caused by gasoline vapors and the summer heat. He found no bruises, no broken bones, no cuts. No evidence of beating." Kuipers further explains that boxes for "accident" and "suicide" were checked, but next to the boxes were question marks. Despite the official cause of death, some commentators believe Fuller was murdered.
Fuller was buried at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in the Hollywood Hills of Los Angeles. His death was profiled in a segment of Unsolved Mysteries.
His death was also explored in the May 11, 2015, episode of the NPR program All Things Considered. The program references the book I Fought the Law: The Life and Strange Death of Bobby Fuller by Miriam Linna, with contributions by Randy Fuller. Sometime after the Unsolved Mysteries segment in question initially aired, the cause of Fuller's death was officially changed from "suicide" to "accident".