Bobby Fuller Four – I Fought The Law

I fought the law and the law won

When I hear this song, I think of it as an early punk song. It’s a song that garage bands can sink their teeth into. I Fought The Law is pure rebellion. At the same time, it has a Buddy Holly feel, and there is a reason for that. The Crickets’ Sonny Curtis wrote this song, and he played with Holly off and on, and when Buddy died, he took over the lead guitar for The Crickets. Earl Sink was brought in to sing it and to sound like Buddy. Thanks to Randy for that info!

The Crickets recorded this song in 1959 with Sonny Curtis playing guitar and singing. In 1962, Paul Stefen and the Royal Lancers recorded it, and it was a local hit in Milwaukee, but it didn’t break nationally. Sammy Masters released a version in 1963 as well. 

Bobby Fuller was a Texas-born rock & roller heavily influenced by Buddy Holly. He formed The Bobby Fuller Four in El Paso before moving to L.A. Bobby was DIY before DIY was cool, he built a home studio in his parents’ house in El Paso and recorded local singles there with his brother Randy Fuller.

In the early ’60s, Bobby moved to Los Angeles to chase bigger opportunities. He signed to Mustang Records (run by Bob Keane, who also discovered Ritchie Valens). He then formed The Bobby Fuller Four with his brother Randy and other rotating members. In 1965, the band recorded I Fought the Law with a tighter arrangement, crisp guitar work, and Fuller’s vocals. It was released in late 1965 but hit the charts in 1966. 

Fuller was found dead in the front seat of his mother’s car shortly after I Fought The Law became a national hit. His death was ruled a suicide, but there were signs of foul play, and the investigation was tainted, leaving the circumstances of his death a mystery, and rumors continue to run rampant to this day. The song peaked at #9 on the Billboard 100, #11 in Canada, and #33 in the UK in 1966. Sonny Curtis would later write “Love Is All Around,” The Mary Tyler Moore Theme.

The Clash covered this song in 1979 and changed the lyrics from “I left my baby” to “I killed my baby.” So they made it quite a bit darker. Their version got them noticed in the US.  

Rick Stone (roadie for Fuller): My mom, Mary Stone, wrote music with Bobby at our home at 7420 Catalpa Lane in El Paso, Texas. Bobby did NOT have gas in his mouth when he was found in the car, but he did die of asphyxiation. Bobby had “I Fought The Law” released on his own label in El Paso two years earlier where it was a Top 10 Hit regionally. The original lyric was “Robbin’ people with a six gun,” but he would sing it as “Zip Gun,” “Shotgun” or “Six Gun,” and joked about other guns when he sang it live.

I Fought The Law

I’m breakin’ rocks in the hot sun
I fought the law and the law won
I fought the law and the law won

I needed money ’cause I had none
I fought the law and the law won
I fought the law and the law won

I left my baby and I feel so sad 
I guess my race is run
But she’s the best girl I’ve ever had
I fought the law and the law won
I fought the law and the law won

Robbin’ people with a six-gun
I fought the law and the law won
I fought the law and the law won

I miss my baby and the good fun
I fought the law and the law won
I fought the law and the law won

I left my baby and I feel so sad
I guess my race is run
But she’s the best girl I’ve ever had
I fought the law and the law won
I fought the law and the law won

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Author: Badfinger (Max)

Power Pop fan, Baseball, Beatles, Alternative music, old movies, and tv show fan. Also anything to do with pop culture in the 60s and 70s... I'm also a songwriter, bass and guitar player. Not the slightest bit interested in politics at all.

42 thoughts on “Bobby Fuller Four – I Fought The Law”

  5. Pingback: Bobby Fuller Four – I Fought The Law – MobsterTiger

    1. They might have done it live….I just pulled it up and went through it with their lyrics…I can’t find it on the original recording but I bet anything that they did that live.
      Maybe I missed it on the original….but the lyrics have The Law Won….but like I said…live it probably happened.

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  7. My band, The American Classics played that song at every gig, for twenty years:2000-2020. A great rock tune that always got the folks on the floor, plus fun to play. Good digging, Max. I read a piece in Texas Monthly years ago about Fuller’s death. He was mixed up with some shady folks and a shadier gal. Money, drugs and other things. The investigation was sloppy.

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    1. It is a great song Phil…up there with Gloria, Louie Louie, and others.
      Yea I read where the police threw things away from the scene and didn’t preserve it. I’ve also read where it was mob connections…of course you always get that but in this case I believe it. The record business back then was really bad with that problem.

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  8. I remember my siblings having this single. Great song. Clash version is good, but does not compare to the Fuller version. I was reading an interview with John Mellencamp, and he said when he mentioned Fuller in the lyrics of “R.O.C.K. in the U.S.A.”, Fuller’s family was so appreciative, it was like he gave them a million dollars. I think he said they gave him a belt buckle that belonged to him.

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    1. I never heard that story before…that is great! I love when artists respect and show gratitude for the people that came before. Dave Grohl…like him or hate him…does that a lot to older artists which I respect.

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    1. Yea I was telling Phil that it’s up there with Gloria, Louie Louie, and other songs of that ilk. As a songwriter…I would have loved to have written this just as much as A Day in the Life…yes this is simple but that is the attraction.

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  11. Great post about a great song, which I knew because of the Clash cover. I like all renditions you highlighted here. As I was reading your post, it also occurred to me Bobby Fuller was called out in John Mellencamp’s “R.O.C.K. in the U.S.A.”: …There was Frankie Lyman, Bobby Fuller, Mitch Ryder (They were rockin’). Another great rocker, btw!

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    1. Oh yes…look at the comments! MY told that story and the Fuller family was so happy John did that…they gave him one of Fuller’s belt buckles.

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  14. The Four version I remember best. It’s one of those songs that just sounded right coming out of a tinny Pye Caddy transistor speaker. PS; I like it when the producer or whoever breaks up a song, in this cas with that drum break around the ‘six gun’ line. Another one is the tape loop glitch in the Mamas & Papas ‘I Saw Her Again Last Night,’ it reasserts the driving beat rather than leave it as a straight seamless run to the finish. (Sorry, that reads a bit like I know WTF I’m talking about musically- I really only know what I like!)

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      1. Yeah, I really appreciate good production. On the other hand I rally hate it when they stuff it up. My real tooth-grinder is when the fade a song way too quick.

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  16. I remember and like the original. Had no idea on the back story and that it was The Crickets without Buddy. I like The Clash cover but not as much. I do like their video. It’s the anthem for teenagers and young adults everywhere.

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      1. What’s going on there with the weather? Storms? Ice? I know there were some major ice storms in 10-12 counties in the upper lower peninsula. It encased power lines in 2 inch thick ice! It’s a little chilly here but it’s been sunny all day. Good luck on getting power back on and staying on.

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      2. We have bad storms and now flooding. They called schools off tomorrow. Our electricity is out right now… just waiting!

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      3. 😦 Oh no. Do you have to charge your device in your car, or do you have a generator? Sorry I forgot. I saw some battery-type generators that you can carry around. Have been thinking about getting one. The flooding isn’t near you is it??

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      4. We have a small battery recharger that we are using. No…we didn’t even get flooded in 2010 when it was really bad.
        I’ll be by your site tomrrow Lisa! I hate reading blogs on my phone if you don’t mind.

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  18. I have always loved this record. Bobby Fuller’s second album, at least here in Los Angeles, calls out the second Top 40 radio station in Los Angeles in terms of popularity at the time of its release, KRLA. I always thought that was kinda fishy, and I have long heard the stories about somebody pouring gasoline down Fuller’s throat (referencing the roadie’s quote about what wasn’t found on or in the dead body).

    Would the song make sense if the lyrics read “I found the law and I won”? I know, I’m just an old fart who stands by the original. 🙂

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