Tag: Bob Keane

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

Ritchie Valens – Come On, Let’s Go

Ritchie Valens is known now because of the plane crash, the 1987 movie La Bamba, and the music he made. His rise was short and he was only 17 years old when he died. I remember the movie in the 80s, I went in not knowing much about him except the song La Bamba. I came out with a new appreciation for Ritchie Valens and he carries more influence than his small catalog. Now before you think that I took the movie as gospel…I didn’t but it did get him noticed.

Valens recorded more songs than I ever knew. He recorded 29 songs and he wrote 21 of them. Come On, Let’s Go still sounds fresh and the quality is great. The song peaked at #42 on the Billboard 100 in 1958. It has been covered by Tommy Steel which peaked at #10 in the UK in 1958, The McCoys #22 on the Billboard 100, and Los Lobos for 1987 the movie which peaked at #21 on the Billboard 100 in 1987. After he died, a live album was released as well.

Bob Keane produced most of Ritchie Valens’ recordings. In the summer of 1958, the two hit the road to promote the young new rock singer’s first release which was this song. While in the car, Valens played him another song that he would like to try that he didn’t write. It was a Mexican folk song that Keane didn’t think that audiences would like because of the Spanish lyrics. On top of that…Valens didn’t know much Spanish at all.  But…that’s a song for another post.

Valen’s contributions are huge. He is considered a pioneer of Chicano and Latin rock, inspiring many musicians of Mexican heritage. Artists like Santana and Los Lobos are among the artists he influenced. Who knows how far Valens could have gone had the airplane crash hadn’t happened. Not only was he a great performer but he could write as well.

The B side…Framed

Come On, Let’s Go

Well, come on, let’s go, let’s go, little darlin’
Tell me that you’ll never leave me
Come on, come on, let’s go again
Go again and again

Well, now, swing me, swing me, swing me, little darlin’
Come on, let’s go, little darlin’
Let’s go, let’s go again once more

Well, I love you, babe
And I’ll never let you go
Come on, baby, so, oh, pretty baby, I love you so

Well, let’s go, let’s go, let’s go, little sweetheart
Forever we can always be together
Come on, come on, let’s go again

Oh, well, I love you, babe
And I’ll never let you go
Come on, baby, so, oh, pretty baby, I love you so

Well, come on, let’s go, let’s go, little darlin’
Tell me that you’ll never leave me
Come on, come on, let’s go again
Again, again, and again
Again, again, and again
Again, again, and again