Bobby Fuller

For other people named Robert Fuller, see Robert Fuller (disambiguation).
Bobby Fuller

Fuller performing with The Bobby Fuller Four in 1966
Background information
Birth name Robert Gaston Fuller
Born (1942-10-22)October 22, 1942
Baytown, Texas, United States
Origin El Paso, Texas, United States
Died July 18, 1966(1966-07-18) (aged 23)
Los Angeles, California, United States
Genres Rock, pop
Occupation(s) Singer-songwriter, musician
Instruments Vocals, guitar, piano, drums
Years active 1958–1966
Labels Liberty, Yucca Records, Mustang Records Todd
Associated acts The Bobby Fuller Four, Randy Fuller, The Shindigs

Robert Gaston "Bobby" Fuller (October 22, 1942 – July 18, 1966) was an American rock singer, songwriter, and guitarist best known for "Love's Made a Fool of You" and his cover of "I Fought the Law", recorded with his mid-1960s group, the Bobby Fuller Four.

Early life

Born in Baytown, Texas, Fuller had 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.[1] His father got a job at El Paso Natural Gas at that time.[1] 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 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 Fuller (born on January 29, 1944, in Hobbs, New Mexico) on bass. Most of 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.

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.[2] 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 was the lineup that recorded "I Fought The Law". (There are actually two versions of "I Fought The Law" by Fuller: the original hit was released as a 45-rpm single, and the re-recording 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, though not on the Billboard Hot 100, was the self-penned "Let Her Dance".[3] His second hit, "I Fought the Law", peaked at #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.[4] The group's third Top 40 single was a cover of Holly's "Love's Made a Fool of You."[5]

The Bobby Fuller Four appeared in the 1966 movie The Ghost in the Invisible Bikini, apparently backing up Nancy Sinatra on the song "Geronimo" and continuing to play during a pool-party scene.

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:[6] "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.[7][8]

Erik Greene, a relative of Sam Cooke, has cited similarities in the deaths of Cooke and Fuller. Fuller bandmate Jim Reese suspected that Charles Manson may have had something to do with Fuller's death but never provided credible evidence. A sensationalist crime website has speculated that the LAPD may have been involved because of Bobby's connection to a Mafia-related woman.[9]

Fuller was buried in the Forest Lawn Memorial Park in the Hollywood Hills of Los Angeles.[10] His death was profiled in an episode of Unsolved Mysteries. His death was also explored in the May 11, 2015 episode of the NPR program All Things Considered.[11] 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.[12]

After his brother's death, Bob Keane attempted to continue the success by having Randy Fuller taking over lead vocal duties; naming the resulting constellation "The Randy Fuller Four". But it broke up within months of Bobby's death. Randy Fuller recorded a couple of solo singles, then 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

Studio albums

Live album

Original US singles

Compilations and reissues

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

  1. 1 2 Poore, Billy (1998). Rockabilly: A Forty-Year Journey. Milwaukee: Hal Leonard Corporation. p. 146. ISBN 0-7935-9142-2.
  2. ↑ 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. ISBN 0-8256-7287-2.
  3. ↑ Corcoran, Michael Joseph (2005). All Over the Map: True Heroes of Texas Music. University of Texas Press. p. 147. ISBN 0-292-70976-5.
  4. ↑ 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. ISBN 0-8256-7287-2.
  5. ↑ Whitburn, Joel (2004). The Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits. Billboard Books. p. 246. ISBN 0-8230-7499-4.
  6. ↑ SPIN. Books.google.com.au. p. 41. Retrieved 2016-07-19.
  7. ↑ R. Gary Patterson (2008-06-16). Take a Walk on the Dark Side: Rock and Roll Myths, Legends, and Curses. Books.google.com.au. p. 30. Retrieved 2016-07-19.
  8. ↑ Queenan, Joe (April 11, 2008). "A Golden Age of One-hit Wonders". guardian.co.uk. Retrieved 2008-07-26.
  9. ↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on March 24, 2009. Retrieved 2009-04-20.
  10. ↑ Scott Stanton. The Tombstone Tourist: Musicians. Books.google.com.au. p. Front cover. Retrieved 2016-07-19.
  11. ↑ Alex Cohen (2015-05-11). "New Book Explores Bobby Fuller's Mysterious Death". NPR.org. Retrieved 2016-07-19.
  12. ↑ Miriam Linna; Randell Fuller. I Fought The Law: The Life and Strange Death of Bobby Fuller. Amazon.com. ISBN 9781940157115. Retrieved 2016-07-19.

External links

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