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
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
'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
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
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
's
set released in 2000, is a mystery almost on par with
's death. You should probably just forget about this collection and buy all the
you can get your hands on, especially the
Never to Be Forgotten: The Mustang Years
box on
and the
Shakedown! The Texas Tapes Revisited
Norton
. ~ Tim Sendra