Born in Baytown, Texas, Fuller was born to Leonard and Eva 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.[2] His father got a job at El Paso Natural Gas at that time.[2] 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 he recorded on independent record labels in Texas with a constantly 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 studio of Norman Petty 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.[3] 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".[4] 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.[5] The group's third Top 40 single was a cover of Holly's "Love's Made a Fool of You".[6]
Death
Within months of "I Fought the Law" becoming a top 10 hit, Fuller was found dead in an automobile parked outside his Hollywood apartment.[1] The Los Angeles deputy medical examiner, Jerry Nelson, performed the autopsy. According to Dean Kuipers:[7] "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.[8][9]
Erik Greene, a relative of Sam Cooke, has cited similarities in the deaths of Cooke and Fuller. Fuller's bandmate Jim Reese suspected that Charles Manson played a role in Fuller's death, but never provided credible evidence; Manson was in prison from 1961 to 1967. A sensationalist crime website has speculated that the Los Angeles Police Department may have been involved because of Fuller's connection to a Mafia-related woman.[10]
His death was also explored in the May 11, 2015, episode of the NPR program All Things Considered.[13] 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.[14] Sometime after the Unsolved Mysteries segment in question initially aired, the cause of Fuller's death was officially changed from "suicide" to "accident".[12]
In popular culture
New York City Celtic rock band Black 47 released a song titled "Who Killed Bobby Fuller" on their second album, Home of the Brave, in 1994,[15] and Atlanta indie rock band The Rock*A*Teens released an identically titled song on their 1996 self-titled debut album.[16]Lou Reed referenced both Bobby Fuller by name and "I Fought the Law" on the track "Dirt" from his 1978 album Street Hassle,[17] as did indie rock band Metric on their 2006 single "Monster Hospital".[18] In 2013, producer and artist Terry Manning released a tribute album to his friend and mentor Bobby Fuller entitled West Texas Skyline.[19] In 2016 the Austin band Holy Wave (whose members are originally from El Paso) released the song "California Took My Bobby Away" about Bobby Fuller, featured on their album Freaks of Nurture. In 2017, Chuck Prophet released an album titled Bobby Fuller Died for Your Sins.
Celebrity Night at PJ's (cancelled — originally to be released as Mustang M-902 [mono] / MS-902 [stereo]; finally issued in the Never to Be Forgotten: The Mustang Years box set) 5
Original US singles
"You're in Love"/"Guess We'll Fall in Love" (Yucca 45–140, 1961) 1
"You're in Love"/"Guess We'll Fall in Love" (Yucca 45-140 [re-recordings], 1962) 1
"Gently My Love"/"My Heart Jumped" (Yucca 45–144, 1962) 2
Never to Be Forgotten: The Mustang Years (3-CD box set, Mustang/Del-Fi DFBX-3903, 1997) 5
El Paso Rock: Early Recordings, Volume 1 (CD, Norton 252, 1996) 2
El Paso Rock, Volume 2: More Early Recordings (CD, Norton 260, 1997) 2
The Mustang Years (2LP, Munster MR-184, 2000) 5
I Fought the Law and Others (7-inch EP, Munster 7141, 2000) 5
I Fought the Law: The Best of the Bobby Fuller Four (CD, Del-Fi/Rhino 71904, 2001) 5
I Fought the Law and Other Hits (CD, Flashback/Rhino 78170, 2004) 5
Rhino Hi-Five: The Bobby Fuller Four (CD, Rhino 7????, 2006) 5
Rock And Roll King of the Southwest: The Best of the Texas Years 1962-64 (LP, Norton 325, 2007) 2
Bobby Fuller Live!!! (LP, Norton 326, 2007) 2
El Paso Rock: Early Recordings, Volume 3 (CD, Norton 318, 2010) 2
Magic Touch: The Complete Mustang Singles Collection (CD, Now Sounds [UK] WCRNOW-57, 2018) 5
1 Released as by 'Bobby Fuller / Guitarist Jim Reese and the Embers, Vocal'. Note: issued twice with the same catalog number, but with completely different versions of both tracks. 2 Released as by Bobby Fuller 3 Released as by Bobby Fuller and the Fanatics 4 Released as by the Shindigs 5 Released as by the Bobby Fuller Four
References
^ abBashe, P. R., & George-Warren, H., The Rolling Stone Encyclopedia of Rock & Roll (Third ed.). New York, Fireside, 2005, p. 360
^Lehmer, Larry (2004). The Day The Music Died: The Last Tour Of Buddy Holly, The Big Bopper, and Richie Valens. Music Sales Group. pp. 212, 213. ISBN0-8256-7287-2.
^Corcoran, Michael Joseph (2005). All Over the Map: True Heroes of Texas Music. University of Texas Press. p. 147. ISBN0-292-70976-5.
^Lehmer, Larry (2004). The Day The Music Died: The Last Tour Of Buddy Holly, The Big Bopper, and Richie Valens. Music Sales Group. p. 213. ISBN0-8256-7287-2.
^Whitburn, Joel (2004). The Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits. Billboard Books. p. 246. ISBN0-8230-7499-4.
^SPIN. April 1991. p. 41. Retrieved July 19, 2016.
