Breaking Rocks In the Hot Sun..

Cool bro. Appreciate your post.

When did the Bobby Fuller Four have a hit with it? 

1959

Mike

No, it was a hit single in 1966. Bobby was murdered that same year, his body found in the front seat of his mother’s car, which was parked in the carport of his Hollywood apartment. He had been beaten up (there was asphalt gravel ground into his face), and his lungs filled with gasoline. Gas had been poured down his throat until he drowned. Bobby had been warned to stop seeing a local mobster’s girlfriend, but he foolishly chose to ignore the warning. The Los Angeles Chief Of Police at that time was notoriously corrupt, and had the coroner rule Bobby’s death a suicide!

His mother and brother (Randy, who played bass in the BF4) hired a detective to investigate, but he disappeared and his body never found (the Southern California desert holds many secrets).

When I moved to L.A. in 1979 the first place I visited was Forest Lawn Cemetery, to pay my respects at his gravesite. If you go there, ask for the location of Robert Fuller’s grave.

The Clash's version of I Fought The Law captures the spirit of the song perfectly.

@yoyoyaya + 1

Jerry did a cover with The Dead 

My dad was a police officer and that was my theme song during the mid 60's, my teenage years.

The Crickets appeared at The House Of Blues in Hollywood in the mid-to-late 2000’s, with Sonny Curtis taking Buddy Holly’s place in the band (as he had at the time of Buddy’s death). The singer of one of the L.A. Glam Metal bands (Vince Neil of Motley Crue? Bret Michaels of Poison? I don’t know, they all look the same to me) joined The Crickets for a pathetic run through of "I Fought The Law" (his fault, not theirs). Cause, ya know, he’s such a rebel.

Thanks @bdp24. Yes, my mistake 1966 not 1959!

Mike

@strawj - I had no idea the GD covered 'I Fought the Law' - they never did it when I saw them or on any of my annual box sets. Very cool.... 

I met Sonny when he was the special guest at an L.A. songwriting workshop in the early 1990s. He was a great guy with a lot of wisdom to impart. I got to talk to him one-on-one afterwards and that was a special moment.