1. History

2. Bobby Fuller Four version
    Chart positions  Personnel  Chart positions 

3. Hank Williams Jr. version
    Chart positions 

4. Dead Kennedys version

5. Other versions

6. References

7. External links

"I Fought the Law" is a song written by Sonny Curtis of the Crickets and popularized by a cover by the Bobby Fuller Four, which went on to become a top-ten hit for the band in 1966 and was also recorded by the Clash in 1979. The Bobby Fuller Four version of this song was ranked No. 175 on the Rolling Stone list of The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time in 2004, and the same year was named one of the 500 "Songs that Shaped Rock" by the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

History

The song was written in 1958 by Sonny Curtis, and recorded in 1959 when he joined the Crickets, taking the place of the late Buddy Holly on guitar. Joe B. Mauldin and Jerry Allison continued their positions on the standup bass and drums, respectively, while Earl Sinks filled the role for vocals. The song was on their 1960 LP, In Style with the Crickets, and the following year appeared as the b-side of their single, "A Sweet Love". The song never received any airplay. Milwaukee's Paul Stefen and the Royal Lancers covered the song in 1962; it provided them with a local hit, but it never made the national charts.^[1] In 1964, Sammy Masters recorded his cover of the song. That same year, the song was recorded by Bobby Fuller and his band on his own Exeter label in El Paso, which solidified the band's popularity in the West Texas area with one of his biggest local hits.

Bobby Fuller Four version

After enjoying regional success in Texas, Bobby Fuller and his band decided to switch to a major label—Del-Fi Records under Mustang Records—and they became known as the Bobby Fuller Four. While producing minor hits, the band broke the national top ten when they re-recorded "I Fought the Law" in 1965 with Bobby Fuller (vocals, guitar), Randy Fuller (backing vocals, bass guitar), Jim Reese (backing vocals, guitar), and DeWayne Quirico (drums).

Just six months after the song made its first appearance on the Billboard Top 100 chart, Fuller was found dead from asphyxiation in his mother's car in a parking lot near his Los Angeles, California apartment. The Los Angeles Police Department declared the death an apparent suicide, but others believed him to have been murdered.^[3] Fuller was 23 years old.

The mono and stereo mixes differ in both Fuller's vocals and the guitar riffs.

Chart positions

==The Clash version{{anchor|The Clash cover version}}==

In mid-1978, the Clash were working on their second album, Give 'Em Enough Rope. Singer Joe Strummer and guitarist Mick Jones flew out to San Francisco to record overdubs in September–October at the Automatt studio. The owner of the Automatt kept his collection of classic jukeboxes distributed around the various rooms of the studio complex. Strummer and Jones listened to the Bobby Fuller version of "I Fought the Law" for the first time on one of the jukeboxes, and by the time they returned to England, they could perform the song.^[6]

Their version first appeared on the EP The Cost of Living in May 1979 in the UK and then later in 1979 was made part of the American edition of the Clash's eponymous album. This cover version helped gain the Clash their first taste of airplay in the States and is one of the best-known cover versions of the song. The live recording of the song, performed at the Lyceum Theatre, West End, London, on December 28, 1978, features as the last piece of the 1980 film Rude Boy directed by Jack Hazan and David Mingay. The Clash were dressed all in black for that gig, and the song, at that stage, was considered the film's title song.^{[7][8][9][10]} On July 26, 1979, "I Fought the Law" was the first single by the band to be released in the United States.

In 1988, CBS Records re-issued the single (catalog number) in CD, 12" and 7" vinyl formats, with "City of the Dead" (2:24) and "1977" (1:40) as its 7" B-side. The song is featured as a downloadable track in the music video game series Rock Band.^[11]

In 1989 during Operation Just Cause, the US military surrounded the Apostolic Nunciature in Panama while trying to capture Manuel Noriega, the strongman of Panama. US forces blasted loud rock music—including "I Fought the Law" by the Clash—to put pressure on Noriega to give himself up.^[12]

In 2012, the Clash's version of the song was featured in the video game Sleeping Dogs, as part of a karaoke mini-game.

The song appears during the end credits of the 2014 film RoboCop and the 2016 film War on Everyone.

Personnel

• Joe Strummer – lead vocals, rhythm guitars
• Mick Jones – backing vocals, lead guitars
• Paul Simonon – backing vocals, bass guitar
• Topper Headon – drums

Chart positions

Hank Williams Jr. version

In 1978 country artist Hank Williams Jr. recorded a version of the song that would appear on his 1979 album Family Tradition. Released as the album's first single, it was a moderate hit and peaked at #15 on Billboard's Hot Country Singles & Tracks chart, giving Williams his first Top 15 single in four years.

Chart positions

Dead Kennedys version

• Sonny Curtis
• Jello Biafra
• East Bay Ray

The punk band Dead Kennedys put together their own version of "I Fought The Law" shortly after San Francisco politician Dan White murdered city Supervisor Harvey Milk and Mayor George Moscone in 1978. Most of the lyrics were re-written so the song was from White's point of view; the chorus was changed to "I fought the law, and I won", with the final line in the final chorus changed to "I am the law, so I won." The song portrays White as someone who got away with first-degree premeditated murder and is unrepentant about it and specifically cites his use of the diminished responsibility defense. It also makes use of the reference "Twinkie defense", where lead singer Jello Biafra sings "Twinkies are the best friend I ever had".^[16]

Other versions

• Sam Neely's version of the song went to No. 54 on the Billboard pop charts and no. 61 on the country charts in 1975. Hank Williams Jr. had a No. 15 country hit with the song in 1978 and another country version by the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band went to No. 66 in 1992.^[17]

• Dave Courtney recorded a version for the Scottish pop-punks Mute. Mute's frontman Jay Burnett wrote new lyrics based on Courtney's court case. Like the Dead Kennedys' version, the chorus is changed to "I fought the law and I won".

• In 1999, Mike Ness of Social Distortion covered the tune on his second solo album, Under the Influences, which peaked at No. 174 on the Billboard 200 (November 27, 1999).

• Green Day's version of the song was used in 2004 for a Pepsi/iTunes commercial that premiered during Super Bowl XXXVIII.^[18] The single became a live favorite for the band throughout 2005, including television performances.

• "I Fought the Lloyds" was a comedy version released in 2008 by British band Oystar in support of the campaign by Lloyds TSB customers mounting legal challenges to get their charges refunded. In this version lyrics were changed; the key line became "I fought the Lloyds and Lloyds lost".^[19] It reached No. 25 on the UK Singles Chart.^[20]

• EBM artist Leæther Strip adapted the chorus in the song Law of Jante (Golem Mix) which is featured on his 2009 Yes, I'm Limited Vol. IV EP.

• Adam Brand and the Outlaws covered the song on the 2016 album Adam Brand and the Outlaws.

• Metric released a song called "Monster Hospital" in 2005 that has a chorus that largely references "I Fought the Law".

• Black Lab released a version on their 2016 album “A New World” and released a music video.

References

External links

• {{MetroLyrics song|the-clash|i-fought-the-law}}

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