Robert Gaston Fuller (October 22, 1942 – July 18, 1966)[Bashe, P. R., & George-Warren, H., The Rolling Stone Encyclopedia of Rock & Roll (Third ed.). New York, Fireside, 2005, p. 360] 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.
Early life
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.
Career
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.
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.
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 Chicano Rock flourishes. His recordings, both Cover version and originals, also reveal the influences of Eddie Cochran, the Beatles, Elvis Presley, Little Richard, and the Everly Brothers, as well as Surf music. Less well known was Fuller's ability to emulate the Reverberation-laden surf guitar of Dick Dale and the Ventures. His first Top 40 hit was the self-penned "Let Her Dance".
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.
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 '
petechia', 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 also explored in the May 11, 2015, episode of the NPR program All Things Considered.
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,
and Atlanta
indie rock band The Rock*A*Teens released an identically titled song on their 1996 self-titled debut album.
referenced both Bobby Fuller by name and "I Fought the Law" on the track "Dirt" from his 1978 album
Street Hassle,
as did indie rock band Metric on their 2006 single "
Monster Hospital".
In 2013, producer and artist
Terry Manning released a tribute album to his friend and mentor Bobby Fuller entitled
West Texas Skyline.
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.
Discography
Studio albums
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KRLA King of the Wheels (1965)
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I Fought the Law (1966)
Live albums
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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
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"You're in Love"/"Guess We'll Fall in Love" (Yucca 45-140, 1961) 1
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"You're in Love"/"Guess We'll Fall in Love" (Yucca 45-140 re-recordings, 1962) 1
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"Gently My Love"/"My Heart Jumped" (Yucca 45-144, 1962) 2
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"Nervous Breakdown"/"Not Fade Away" (Eastwood NO8W-0344/NO8W-0345, 1962) 2
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"Saturday Night"/"Stringer" (Todd 45-1090, 1963) 2
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"Wine, Wine, Wine"/"King of the Beach" (Exeter EXT-122, 1964) 2
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"She's My Girl"/"I Fought The Law" (Exeter EXT-124, 1964) 2
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"Fool of Love"/"Shakedown" (Exeter EXT-126, 1964) 3
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"Those Memories of You"/"Our Favorite Martian" (Donna 1403, 1964) 3
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"Wolfman"/"Thunder Reef" (Mustang 3003, recorded 1964/released January 1965) 4
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"Take My Word"/"She's My Girl" (Mustang 3004, 1965) 5
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"Let Her Dance"/"Another Sad and Lonely Night" (Mustang 3006, 1965) 5
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"Let Her Dance"/"Another Sad and Lonely Night" (Liberty 55812 reissue, 1965) 5
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"Let Her Dance"/"Another Sad and Lonely Night" (Mustang 3012 re-release, 1965) 5
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"Never to Be Forgotten"/"You Kiss Me" (Mustang 3011, 1965) 5
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"I Fought the Law"/"Little Annie Lou" (Mustang 3014, 1965) 5
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"Love's Made a Fool of You"/"Don't Ever Let Me Know" (Mustang 3016, 1966) 5
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"The Magic Touch"/"My True Love" (Mustang 3018, 1966) 5
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"The Magic Touch"/"I'm a Lucky Guy" (Mustang 3018 alternate, 1966) 5
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"It's Love, Come What May"/"It's Love, Come What May" (Mustang 3020 DJ, 1966) 5
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"It's Love, Come What May" (with Randy Fuller's over-dubbed vocal)/"Wolfman" (Mustang 3020, 1966) 5
Compilations and reissues
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The Bobby Fuller Memorial Album (LP, President 1003, 1968) 5
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The Best of the Bobby Fuller Four (LP, Rhino RNDF-201, 1981) 5
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KRLA King of the Wheels (LP, Line LP-5146, 1981) 5
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I Fought the Law (LP, Line LP-5133, 1981) 5
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The Bobby Fuller Memorial Album (LP, Strand 6.24885, 1982) 5
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Let Them Dance (The Rare Sides) (LP, OutLine OLLP-5272, 1983) 5
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Live on Stage (LP, OutLine OLLP-5302, 1983) 5
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I Fought the Law (LP, Eva 12032, 1983) 5
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Live Again (LP, Eva 12046, 1984) 5
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The Bobby Fuller Tapes, Volume One (LP, Rhino RNLP-057, 1983) 2
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The Bobby Fuller Tapes, Volume Two (LP, Voxx 200.028, 1984) 2
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Memories of Buddy Holly (LP, Rockhouse 8407, 1984) 2
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The Bobby Fuller Instrumental Album (LP, Rockhouse 8504, 1985) 2
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The Best of the Bobby Fuller Four (CD, Rhino 70174, 1990) 5
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The Bobby Fuller Four (CD, Ace CDCHD-956, 1990) 5
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Live at PJ's...Plus! (CD, Ace CDCHD-314, 1991) 5
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The Best of the Bobby Fuller Four (CD, Ace CDCHD-388, 1992) 5
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The Bobby Fuller Four (CD, Del-Fi DFCD-70174, 1994) 5
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Shakedown! The Texas Tapes Revisited (2-CD box set, Del-Fi DFBX-2902, 1996) 2
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Never to Be Forgotten: The Mustang Years (3-CD box set, Mustang/Del-Fi DFBX-3903, 1997) 5
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El Paso Rock: Early Recordings, Volume 1 (CD, Norton 252, 1996) 2
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El Paso Rock, Volume 2: More Early Recordings (CD, Norton 260, 1997) 2
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The Mustang Years (2LP, Munster MR-184, 2000) 5
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I Fought the Law and Others (7-inch EP, Munster 7141, 2000) 5
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I Fought the Law: The Best of the Bobby Fuller Four (CD, Del-Fi/Rhino 71904, 2001) 5
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I Fought the Law and Other Hits (CD, Flashback/Rhino 78170, 2004) 5
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Rhino Hi-Five: The Bobby Fuller Four (CD, Rhino 7????, 2006) 5
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Rock And Roll King of the Southwest: The Best of the Texas Years 1962-64 (LP, Norton 325, 2007) 2
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Bobby Fuller Live!!! (LP, Norton 326, 2007) 2
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El Paso Rock: Early Recordings, Volume 3 (CD, Norton 318, 2010) 2
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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
External links
