New York, NY (Top40 Charts) On July 18, 1966, at the age of 23 and with a Top 10 hit on the charts,
Bobby Fuller was found dead in the front seat of a car doused in gasoline outside his Hollywood apartment. 'I Fought The Law,' named after Fuller's most iconic recording, is the first ever authorized biography of the ill-fated 1960's
Texas music legend. Norton Records/Kicks Books co-founder and Fuller biographer Miriam Linna, has teamed up with Bobby's brother and bandmate Randell, to reveal the true story of the short life and strange death of
Bobby Fuller.
Randell opens up for the first time about growing up with Bobby-- from their idyllic Southwestern childhood in Texas, New Mexico, and Utah, to their teen-age years in the burgeoning El Paso music scene, to the Hollywood helter skelter that would claim Bobby's life. His death remains a mystery, with much conjecture and misinformation on al fronts.
Bobby Fuller was immersed in all aspects of music--writing, performing, recording, and marketing. He first appeared on record in 1958, at the age of fifteen. While still in his teens, he started his own band and record company, and built a home studio with Randell. By the age of 21, he owned his own teen club in El Paso, with his group, the Fanatics, as the house band. The club closed in '64, and the group lit out for Los Angeles. They were soon recording for the Mustang label as the
Bobby Fuller Four. Enormously popular locally, the BFF landed two singles in the Billboard charts - 1965's "Let Her Dance," and the iconic "
I Fought The Law" in 1966, which vaulted them to the national and international stage.
Though recorded by everyone from
Buddy Holly to The Clash,
Bobby Fuller's version of "
I Fought The Law" remains definitive. Next month it will be inducted into the GRAMMY Hall of Fame. More info here.
Miriam Linna has written extensively about
Bobby Fuller, particularly for several collections of his recordings, which appear on New York's Norton Records label. She collects and catalogs true crime magazines, paperback books and pulps, and edits Bad Seed, a compendium of teen-age crime in pop culture from 1949-1959. She has written about music and crime since 1975. Her articles have appeared in several publications including Crime Beat, the Guardian, Spin, Seventeen, and Loops Journal.
Randell Fuller is
Bobby Fuller's brother and band mate. Only two years apart in age, they were often mistaken for twins as children. As bass player for the
Bobby Fuller Four, and the El Paso Fanatics before that, Randell and
Bobby were inseparable. The gruesome death of his brother sent Randell into a tailspin from which it would take him years to recover. He has rarely given interviews, and only now opens up to reveal untold information.
A book launch with the authors in Los Angeles is set for March 7 at La Luz Gallery. Randell Fuller and original
Bobby Fuller Four drummer Dewayne Quirico will perform songs of the
Bobby Fuller Four that night at a separate show.
I FOUGHT THE LAW: The Life and Strange Death of
Bobby Fuller 1942-1966
By Miriam Linna and Randell Fuller
Kicks Books (KBM1) ISBN 978 1 940157 95 5
