Bobby Fuller

Bobby Fuller

It's 1966 and a group out of El Paso, Texas calling themselves The Bobby Fuller Four are enjoying considerable success with their recording of "I Fought The Law". The song went all the way to number 9 on the national charts. A follow up record "Loves Made A Fool Of You" (a Buddy Holly cover) reached Number 26 on the charts. Then on July 18th, 1966, Bobby Fuller was found dead in his car, parked in front of his Hollywood apartment. His body was beaten and a gasoline soaked rag was stuffed in his mouth The Los Angeles Police Dept. called it a suicide Those who knew the 23 year old singer, knew better. http://www.classicbands.com/MysteryofBobbyFuller.html In 1956, the Fullers moved from Salt Lake City to El Paso, where Bobby began attending Ysleta High School. In September 1957, he entered Burges High School as a sophomore and played in band and orchestra. Bobby returned to Ysleta in the fall of 1958. He was in ROTC, played drums for the school band (Randy played trombone) and was interested in journalism. His high school sweetheart was the envy of many girls mesmerized by Bobby’s green eyes. He transferred to Technical Center in 1959 and graduated from there July 29, 1960. He briefly studied music, with an emphasis on drumming, at North Texas State University. School bored Bobby, and his grades frequently slipped below average. As a teen-ager, he worked part-time at the Melody Shop in Basssett center and spent his free time flirting with girls and talking about guitars with musical cronies at the defunct Hilltop Oasis, El Paso’s leading hangout at the time. Bobby loved cars. His 1959 metallic blue Impala was one of the hottest dragsters on the East Side. He and other students occasionally congregated for hot rod races on Montana Street, near where Lee Trevino drive intersects today. They also gathered in front of Burges, where students carefully painted a quarter-mile strip, measured by counting the revolutions of a bicycle tire rolled along the asphalt. Light poles were striped and signs were erected proclaiming the spot “Burges Dragway.” http://elpasotimes.typepad.com/morgue/2011/07/1982-broken-melody-a-biography-of-bobby-fuller.html

Area: Mission Valley / Ysleta

Source: Rick Kern

Uploaded by: El Paso Museum of History

Comments

Add a comment
Thank you for your comment

i love history

i fight the law too...legalize it!

Report this entry

Choose the most important reason for this report

Your name

Your email address

Optional detail

Thank you for your report

More from the same community-collection

I. G. Gaal

Superintendent of the El Paso County Hospital, established in ...

Ysleta Courthouse

Ysleta had been the county seat since 1878, but it lacked a real ...

Ray Apodaca

Ray Apodaca, who grew up in Tortugas area of Las Cruces and is ...

Dr. Jerome D. Love - El Paso, Texas

Dr. Jerome D. Love was one of the first traveling doctors, he ...

Mision de San Antonio de la Ysleta del Sur

The oldest of the El Paso mission churches is the Ysleta ...

Ysleta Mission

The Ysleta Mission is one of the oldest missions in the El Paso ...

Ysleta Mission

The Ysleta Mission is one of the oldest missions in the El Paso ...

Father Pete Martinez Senior Citizens Center

Father Pete Martinez Senior Citizens located in 9311 Alameda ...

Father Pete Martinez Senior Citizens Center

Father Pete Martinez Senior Citizens located in 9311 Alameda ...

Father Pete Martinez Senior Citizens Center

Father Pete Martinez Senior Citizens located in 9311 Alameda ...

Ysleta Mission

The oldest of the El Paso mission churches is the Ysleta ...

Ysleta Mission

The oldest of the El Paso mission churches is the Ysleta ...

Temple Mt Sinai Synagogue - El Paso, Texas

To photograph all or even most of El Paso’s houses of worship ...

YISD Arts, 8455 Alameda 3-9-2010a

YISD arts 8455 Alameda 3-9-10a-e These walls are part of the ...

YISD Arts, 8455 Alameda 3-9-2010 - El Paso, Texas

YISD arts 8455 Alameda 3-9-10a-e These walls are part of the ...

Ysleta del Sur Pueblo

The Ysleta del Sur Pueblo ("the Pueblo") is a U.S. federally ...

Ysleta Spanish Mission

Notation on card: "Ysleta Spanish Mission, near El Paso, Texas ...

Tigua Tribal Leaders and Pueblo Indian Scouts

The Tigua Scouts in the photograph are Bernardo Holguin (left ...

Border Crossing

Border Crossing from the Juarez, Mexico Side.

J. J. Armes III

J. J. Armes III, son of J. J. Armes riding a pony. J. J. Armes ...

J. J. Armes III

J. J. Armes III, son of J. J. Armes riding a pony. J. J. Armes ...

J. J. Armes and Linda Armes

J. J. Armes and his wife Linda Armes, feeding one of the many ...

J. J. Armes and J. J. Armes III

Jay J. Armes is a real-life Texas private eye, and generally ...

home.search_collection