Monday, December 28, 2009

Bobby Fuller Four

Bobby Fuller (October 22, 1942 – July 18, 1966) was an American rock singer, songwriter, and guitar player best known for his singles "I Fought the Law" and "Love's Made a Fool of You," recorded with his mid-60s group The Bobby Fuller Four.

Life and career

Born in Baytown, Texas, Robert Gaston Fuller spent most of his youth in El Paso, Texas, where he idolized Buddy Holly, a fellow Texan (Holly was a native of Lubbock, Texas). He played in clubs and 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 Fuller himself (on vocals and guitar), and his younger brother, Randy Fuller (born on January 29, 1944, Hobbs, New Mexico) on bass. Most of these independent releases (except two songs that were recorded at the studio of Norman Petty in Clovis, New Mexico), and an excursion to Yucca Records, also in New Mexico, were recorded in the Fullers' own home-cum-studio, with Fuller 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.

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, group consisted of Bobby and brother Randy on vocals/guitar and bass respectively, Jim Reese on guitar and DeWayne Quirico (later replaced by Dalton Powell) on drums.

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 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 "Let Her Dance," written by Bobby Fuller. His second hit, "I Fought the Law," hit #8 on Billboard. It was written by Sonny Curtis, a former member of Holly's group The Crickets, and recorded by the line-up of the Fuller brothers, James Reese on guitar, and Dalton Powell on drums. His third Top 40 hit was the Buddy Holly cover song "Love's Made a Fool of You."

Death

Just after "I Fought The Law" became a top ten hit, Bobby Fuller was found dead in his automobile, which was parked near his Los Angeles home. The police considered the death an apparent suicide/accident, however, some people believe Fuller was murdered. The investigation was botched from the start. The crime scene was not secured and no fingerprints were obtained. A witness also claimed seeing a police officer throw a can of gasoline found at the scene into the trash. Fuller 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. Police later changed the cause of death to "accidental asphyxiation" citing no evidence of foul play. Despite the official cause of death stated by authorities, rumors and speculation still surround Fuller's mysterious death. Fuller is buried in the Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Los Angeles.

The relatives of Sam Cooke have noted similarities in the mysterious nature of his death with those surrounding the death of Bobby Fuller.

After his brother's death, Randy Fuller took over lead vocal duties and named the band after himself, but the band broke up within months of Bobby's death. Randy Fuller recorded a couple of solo singles, and in spring 1969 joined Dewey Martin's New Buffalo (Springfield), which evolved into Blue Mountain Eagle in July 1969. He appeared on the band's lone LP for Atco Records in early 1970 before briefly joining Dewey Martin and Medicine Ball.

Bobby Fuller's recordings have been reissued by Norton Records, Del-Fi Records, Rhino Records and Munster Records.

Compositions

Bobby Fuller's compositions included "Let Her Dance", "Another Sad and Lonely Night", "She's My Girl", "Take My Word", "Phantom Dragster", "King of the Wheels", "Fool of Love", "Never to be Forgotten", "My True Love", "Only When I Dream", "Little Annie Lou", "A New Shade of Blue", "Saturday Night", "You Kiss Me", and "Don't Ever Let Me Know".

Discography original US singles

  • "Guess We'll Fall In Love" / "You're In love" (Yucca 45-140, 1962) 1
  • "My Heart Jumped" / "Gently My Love" (Yucca 45-144, 1962) 2
  • "Nervous Breakdown" / "Not Fade Away" (Eastwood NO8W-0344/0345, 1962) 2
  • "Saturday Night" / "Stringer" (Todd 45-1090, 1963) 2
  • "Wine, Wine, Wine" / "King Of The Beach" (Exeter EXT 122, 1964) 2
  • "I Fought The Law" / "She's My Girl" (Exeter EXT 124, 1964) 2
  • "Fool Of Love" / "Shakedown" (Exeter EXT 126, 1964) 3
  • "Those Memories Of You" / "Our Favorite Martian" (Donna 1403, 1964) 3
  • "Wolfman" / "Thunder Reef" (Mustang 3003, 1964/65) 4
  • "Take My Word" / "She's My Girl" (Mustang 3004, 1965) 5
  • "Never To Be Forgotten" / "You Kissed Me" (Mustang 3011, 1965) 5
  • "Another Sad And Lonely Night" / "Let Her Dance" (Mustang 3012, 1965) 5
  • "Another Sad And Lonely Night" / "Let Her Dance" (Liberty 55812, 1965) 5
  • "I Fought The Law" / "Little Annie Lou" (Mustang 3014, 1965) 5
  • "Love's Made A Fool Of You" / "Don't Ever Let Me Know" (Mustang M 3016, 1966) 5
  • "The Magic Touch" / "My True Love" (Mustang 3018, 1966) 5
  • "It's Love, Come What May" / "It's Love, Come What May" (Mustang 3020 [promo], 1966)
Discography original US albums
  • KRLA King Of The Wheels (Mustang M-900 [mono] / MS-900 [stereo], 1966) 5
  • I Fought The Law (Mustang M-901 [mono] / MS-901 [stereo], 1966) 5
Discography compilations and reissues
  • The Bobby Fuller Memorial Album (LP, President 1003, 1968) 2
  • KRLA/King Of The Wheels (Line LP 5146, 1981) 5
  • I Fought The Law (Line LP 5133, 1981) 5
  • The Bobby Fuller Memorial Album (LP, Strand 6. 24885 AS, 1982) 5
  • The Best Of The Bobby Fuller Four (LP, Rhino 201, 1982) 5
  • Let Them Dance (The Rare Sides) (LP, Line LP 5272, 1983) 5
  • Live On Stage (Line OLLP 5302, 1983) 5
  • Bobby Fuller Tapes, Vol. 1 (LP, Rhino 057, 1983) 2
  • Bobby Fuller Tapes, Vol. 2 (LP, Voxx LP 200.028, 1984) 2
  • Memories Of Buddy Holly (LP, Rockhouse LP 8407, 1984) 2
  • I Fought The Law (LP, Eva 12032) 5
  • The Best Of The Bobby Fuller Four (CD, Rhino 70174, 1990) 5
  • The Bobby Fuller Four (CD, Ace 956, 1990) 5
  • Live At PJ's Plus! (CD, Ace CDCHD 314, 1991) 2
  • The Best Of The Bobby Fuller Four (CD, Ace 388, 1992) 5
  • El Paso Rock Vol. 1 : Early Recordings (CD, Norton 252, 1996) 2
  • El Paso Rock Vol. 2 : More Early Recordings (CD, Norton 260, 1997) 2
  • Shakedown! : The Texas Tapes Revisited (2CD box set, Del-Fi DFBX 2902, 1996) 2
  • Never To Be Forgotten : The Mustang Years (3CD box set, Mustang/Del-Fi DFBX 3903, 1997) 5
  • The Mustang Years (2LP, Munster 184, 2000) 5
  • I Fought The Law And Others (7" EP, Munster Ref. 7141, 2000) 5

1 Released as by Bobby Fuller / Guitarist Jim Reese And The Embers, Vocal. 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


Posted by DutchMusicFreaks at 4:57 AM

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