I Fought the Law: The Best of the Bobby Fuller Four [Del-Fi]

by The Bobby Fuller Four, Bobby Fuller

Overview

For someone with such a short recording career as Bobby Fuller, there are way too many collections, box sets, and best-ofs to sort through. Best known for his classic "I Fought the Law" single, there is much more to Fuller and his group than that. He was a master synthesist combining rockabilly, Buddy Holly, folk-rock, British beat group sounds, soul, and good old rock & roll into a rollicking, totally one of a kind sound that has no peers. I Fought the Law: The Best of the Bobby Fuller Four rounds up 12 songs from his mid-'60s tenure at Mustang Records, where he had his biggest hit and many of his best songs, like the amazing "Let Her Dance," "Another Sad and Lonely Night," "Baby My Heart," "I'm a Lucky Guy," and "Julie." It makes for a spine-tingling half hour of music, but ultimately it's not good enough. There are far too many omissions; great songs like the blue-eyed soul stomper "The Magic Touch," the aching folk-rock of "It's Love Come What May," the moody ballad "My True Love," the frantic rocker "Saturday Night," and the dramatic and heartbreaking (due to Fuller's early demise) "Never to Be Forgotten" are nowhere to be found. Any disc that leaves these songs off can hardly be considered a best-of, not to mention that it doesn't take into account any of the fine recordings Fuller made for small labels in Texas before he moved to Los Angeles. Probably the reason none of those songs are here is that Del-Fi can't get the rights. Fair enough. There is no good reason why the disc only has 12 songs and misses so many songs that are vital to understanding why Fuller is so good. If you just want one disc of his best stuff, better to hunt down a used copy of the Rhino collection from the early '90s. Why they decided to take that fine disc out of print and replace it with this inferior issue, which is just a reissue of Del-Fi's I Fought the Law: The Best of the Bobby Fuller Four set released in 2000, is a mystery almost on par with Fuller's death. You should probably just forget about this collection and buy all the Bobby Fuller you can get your hands on, especially the Never to Be Forgotten: The Mustang Years box on Del-Fi and the Shakedown! The Texas Tapes Revisited box on Norton. ~ Tim Sendra

Product Details

Release Date:	09/14/2004
Label:	Del-Fi Records, Inc. / Rhino
UPC:	0081227649425

Tracks

1. Love's Made a Fool of You
2. Another Sad and Lonely Night
3. She's My Girl
4. Julie
5. Take My Word
6. I Fought the Law
7. Let Her Dance
8. Phantom Dragster
9. King of the Wheels
10. Don't Ever Let Me Know
11. Baby My Heart
12. I'm a Lucky Guy
13. Big Kahuna

Album Credits

Performance Credits

The Bobby Fuller Four   Primary Artist
Bobby Fuller   Primary Artist

Technical Credits

Bobby Fuller   Composer
Joe Strummer   Composer
Mark London   Graphic Assistant
Brian Thomas   Liner Notes
Bryan Thomas   Liner Notes
Randy Fuller   Composer
Buddy Holly   Composer
Manny Curtis   Composer
Tom Fletcher   Graphic Design
Chip Taylor   Composer
Gary Tanenbaum   Reissue Producer,Digital Mastering,Digital Remastering
Bobby Montgomery   Composer
Dennis Loren   Graphic Design
Neval Nader   Composer
Mick Jones   Composer
Charlie Watts   Digital Mastering
L. Brown   Composer
Raymond Bloodworth   Composer
Bob Montgomery   Composer
Mary Stone Huffman   Composer
Robert Montgomery   Composer
Sonny Curtis   Composer
Bob Keane   Executive Producer