Rock’n’Roll King of the Southwest

Robert Gaston Fuller was born on October 22, 1942, Baytown, TX. Bobby and his brother were in many bands with each other. In 1961 they began releasing singles through New Mexico-based Yucca Records. Some of their songs were put on the charts by local radio stations in El Paso. In 1962 Bobby and his brother created the band, Bobby Fuller Four. Bobby fuller four had a tough time being recognized because of the British invasion during the mid-'60s. The British invasion was when rock and pop music acts came from the United Kingdom, for example, The Beatles. Bobby Fuller Four finally had their big debut after their hit song I Fought The Law as well as let her dance. The Bobby Fuller Four was signed by Mustang Records in a deal put together by Bob Keane, who’d also worked with Ritchie Valens. in 1966 however Bobby Fuller would live to see his band succeed.

In the morning Bobby got a call around 2 in the morning and told his mother he wouldn't be too long. At 5 O’clock in the evening, Bobby's mother had noticed that her car was all of a sudden back in the parking lot. Bobby Fuller was dead at the age of 23 on July 18, 1966, of asphyxiation. Fuller was found dead by his mother in her blue Oldsmobile with a plastic hose in his hands leading to a gasoline can. At first, officers saw to it as a suicide and didn't do any further investigation and threw away a gasoline tank as if it was nothing. However, according to his mother, her car wasn't in the lot for at least 30 minutes. Bobby's body had been in a late stage of rigor mortis so he was dead before the alleged death by asphyxiation. One theory is that he had died after having an accident following a bad reaction to LSD after an LSD party that theory, however, was implausible because the ME did not find anything in his bloodstream. Bobby was going to meet a woman named melody who was the girlfriend of a mob member so someone took retribution for a dalliance with the girlfriend of a mob-connected Los Angeles nightclub owner. His brother Randy believes it is likely that his brother’s death was connected to a business deal he wanted to back out of. Bobby had scratches and scrapes as if he was being dragged on gravel or asphalt he also was bruised and beaten and his clothes were covered in gasoline. Many people had seen Bobby slumped over the wheel but his brother had remembered seeing at the crime scene Bobby was in the seat and was missing a part of his eyebrow and that there was a puddle of blood under his face.

There have been to believe that many people would have some kind of motive as to why they would kill him. One of the reasons was believed that their manager wants to collect an insurance policy Bobby had which was $800,000. However, no one would get the money if his death was a suicide so two months later they ruled his death as an accident of asphyxia by inhalation of gasoline fumes. Now whoever killed him could collect the money.

How come the police officers didn't investigate his murder after there was significant evidence of murder. Bobby had scratches and scrapes as well as bruises and the fact that Bobby was covered in gasoline and part of his eyebrow was missing and there was a pool of blood under his face. Some people think that the mob could have threatened the police to rule it as a suicide so there would be no further investigation. They might as well as threaten the ME as well. There has been no new information since then. Sadly his death/murder will remain a mystery.

“BOBBY FULLER (FOUR).” RAB Hall of Fame: Bobby Fuller, www.rockabillyhall.com/bobbyfuller.html.

Campion, Chris. “The Short Life and Mysterious Death of Bobby Fuller, Rock’n’roll King of Texas.” The Guardian, Guardian News and Media, 16 July 2015, www.theguardian.com/music/2015/jul/16/the-short-life-and-mysterious-death-of-bobby-fuller-rocknroll-king-of-texas.

Frankmastropolo. “50 Years Ago: ‘I Fought the Law’ Singer Bobby Fuller Dies Mysteriously.” Ultimate Classic Rock, 18 July 2016, ultimateclassicrock.com/bobby-fuller-death/.

Sexton, Paul. “The Short Life & Strange Death Of Bobby Fuller.” UDiscoverMusic, 22 Oct. 2018, www.udiscovermusic.com/stories/short-life-strange-death-bobby-fuller/.