The year was 1966.  Bobby Fuller was a 23-year-old Texas rocker, riding high off the chart topping success of “I Fought the Law.”  He had moved out to California, been experimenting with LSD like the rest of his generation, and then suddenly, he died.  How?  Why?  Nobody is really certain to this day.  He was found dead in Hollywood, in his car.  Authorities found his body covered in petechial hemorrahages, unsightly red and purple marks caused  by exposure to gasoline vapors.  Some figured he must have guzzled gasoline, and the cops ruled his death a suicide.  Others say it was murder, with speculation ranging from Charles Manson to a nefarious LAPD coverup due to Fuller’s involvement with mafia women.  Whatever happened, his tragic death ended an incredibly promising career.  Fuller was a remarkable beautiful singer and songwriter with a bright and driving sound of joy.  In many ways he seemed like the heir to Buddy Holly’s legacy.  Like Buddy, Bobby was also a brash rockabilly Texan.   Bobby even got famous off a song Sonny Curtis wrote, the guitar player in the Crickets, Buddy Holly’s band.  “I Fought the Law” is just a fantastic piece of pure rock and roll.  As catchy and addictive as rock and roll gets, the song has mutated through different rock genres over the years, most famously by the Clash’s punk rock take on it.  I like the Bobby Fuller version the best, and the video below is a monument Bobby’s brilliance and talent.