The Bobby Fuller Four, I Fought the Law

Posted in Bobby Fuller on September 12th, 2012 by Willie

The year was 1966.  Bobby Fuller was a 23-year-old Texas rocker, riding high off the chart topping success of “I Fought the Law.”  He had moved out to California, been experimenting with LSD like the rest of his generation, and then suddenly, he died.  How?  Why?  Nobody is really certain to this day.  He was found dead in Hollywood, in his car.  Authorities found his body covered in petechial hemorrahages, unsightly red and purple marks caused  by exposure to gasoline vapors.  Some figured he must have guzzled gasoline, and the cops ruled his death a suicide.  Others say it was murder, with speculation ranging from Charles Manson to a nefarious LAPD coverup due to Fuller’s involvement with mafia women.  Whatever happened, his tragic death ended an incredibly promising career.  Fuller was a remarkable beautiful singer and songwriter with a bright and driving sound of joy.  In many ways he seemed like the heir to Buddy Holly’s legacy.  Like Buddy, Bobby was also a brash rockabilly Texan.   Bobby even got famous off a song Sonny Curtis wrote, the guitar player in the Crickets, Buddy Holly’s band.  “I Fought the Law” is just a fantastic piece of pure rock and roll.  As catchy and addictive as rock and roll gets, the song has mutated through different rock genres over the years, most famously by the Clash’s punk rock take on it.  I like the Bobby Fuller version the best, and the video below is a monument Bobby’s brilliance and talent.

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The Bobby Fuller Four, Let Her Dance, Another Sad and Lonely Night

Posted in Bobby Fuller, Wes Anderson on September 10th, 2012 by Willie

Anyone lucky enough to see Wes Anderson’s “Fantastic Mr. Fox” has heard Bobby Fuller’s incredible rock and roll classic, “Let Her Dance.”  The song is just full of joy.  The ultra catchy background vocals bleat incessantly, Bobby Fuller’s lead vocal is drenched in the kind of echo you get from singing at a drive in movie theater, and the guitars just fill up your ears with the sweetest combination of nostalgia and fun.  The video below, introduced by Gene Weed, (who I like to think of as the original Gene Ween) captures Bobby and his boys rocking their hit song in the middle of a mob of teenagers and go go dancers.  Its the true highlight of the video, because you also get to here a take of “Another Sad and Lonely Night.”  That song is standard 60s pop fair, and no where close to the majesty of “Let Her Dance.”  Tomorrow, I’ll have one more Bobby Fuller classic, and detail the rockers tragic and mysterious death at the height of his powers.  For now, I personally cannot stop repeating “Let Her Dance.”

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