Bobby Fuller Four - I Fought The Law

Written by Sonny Curtis in 1958, recorded by the Crickets in 1959 (Sonny replaced Buddy Holly on guitar), released in 1960 on a Crickets LP, covered in 1962 by Paul Stefen and the Royal Lancers, covered in 1964 by Sammy Masters, covered in 1964 by Bobby Fuller on his own Exeter label in El Paso, rerecorded as Bobby Fuller Four in 1965, released in October 1965 to be big hit. Whew!

The details below are for the hit version.

Mono 45 version

The first CD with the mono 45 version did it wrong. Warner Special Products' Highs Of The Sixties (1986) takes the song from vinyl, where it plays too fast. This wouldn't be too bad, but in 1986, compilations CDs had to have the songs in stereo or even fake stereo, just as long as it wasn't mono. So Warner Special Products added fake stereo added to it. It sounds bad. The same analog transfer is used for:

• DCC Compact Classics' Toga Rock (1987, first pressing only) - left and right channels swapped
• Sessions/Warner Special Products' 2-CD Hot Rod Classics (1990)

Avoid all three of the above for the song.

In 1997, Del-Fi/Mustang Records released a superb 3-CD Bobby Fuller Four set called Never To Be Forgotten: The Mustang Years, which neatly sums up the two albums and handful of singles they recorded for the Mustang label in 1965 and 1966. The sound is superb, with low-generation source tapes, great dynamic range, very nice EQ, no evidence of added noise reduction on the fade, and a very long tail of the fade that seems to run out to the end of the tape. I give this set an A+ for sound quality for this track, especially compared with what came before it.

According to the database, there are five more discs that use the mono 45 version, and two are on Rhino. I'd bet they all use the Never To Be Forgotten mastering, but can't confirm.

Stereo LP version

The song opens with a drum fill in the left channel, and nothing at all in the right channel until the guitars kick in. The stereo LP mix is very wide stereo, with the lead vocals being dead center and everything else being panned hard left or hard right. It's not ideal for headphones.

Audiofidelity's Super Oldies Of The Sixties Vol. 7 (1986) takes the song from vinyl, narrows the soundstage, and gets the left and right channels swapped. It sounds terrible; avoid. (I think the same advice applies to just about everything on Audiofidelity.)

Original Sound's Oldies But Goodies Vol. 9 (1986) also narrows the soundstage and swaps the left and right channels, but it appears to be from a tape source. The EQ is a little treble-heavy/bass-shy, but only a little, and the sound is quite clear. It actually sounds pretty good here, if you overlook the narrowed soundstage. The same analog transfer is used on:

• Time-Life's Classic Rock Vol. 2 1966 (1987 original pressing) - EQ brings down the high-end
• Time-Life's Classic Rock Vol. 2 1966 (1987 RE-1 reissue) - swaps left and right channels (so that they're now correct), EQ brings down the high-end
• DCC Compact Classics' Toga Rock (1988, later pressings mastered by Steve Hoffman)
• Time-Life's 2-CD Guitar Rock (1990) - swaps left and right channels (so that they're now correct), tail of fade shortened by about 0.3 second
• New Gold On CD week of 1990-03-19 (1990)
• Time-Life's History Of Rock 'N' Roll Vol. 4 California Pop 1963-1967 (1993)
• Westwood One's Canadian promo compilation Rarities On Compact Disc Vol. 15 (1993)
• Time-Life's Guitar Rock Vol. 9 1966-1967 (1994, RE-1 reissue; unclear if there is a release without RE-1) - swaps left and right channels (so that they're now correct), tail of fade shortened by about 0.3 second
• Time-Life's Spirit Of The '60s Garage Kings (2001) - swaps left and right channels (so that they're now correct)
• TM Century track no. 00000464 - swaps left and right channels (so that they're now correct)
• TM Century track no. 00012064 - swaps left and right channels (so that they're now correct)

I found one more analog transfer that narrows the soundstage slightly, but not nearly as much as all of the above - Ace UK's Radio Gold Vol. 1 (1992).

Here are some other analog transfers that preserve the wide soundstage (which is what you want if you want the stereo LP version):

• Silver Eagle's mail-order 2-CD Rockin' Down The Block (1987), later repackaged as 1st & Ten - The Party Animal Album
• K-Tel's Battle Of The Bands Vol. 1 (1988) - runs too slow and left/right channels are swapped
• Time-Life's Animal Rock (1994)
• Sony/Risky Business's Jailhouse Rock (1995) - uses same analog transfer as Animal Rock, which tells me that they're both based on another mastering that I don't have
• Del-Fi/Mustang Records' 3-CD Bobby Fuller Four set Never To Be Forgotten: The Mustang Years (1997)
• Ace UK's Chartbusters USA Vol. 1 (1999) - uses same analog transfer as Animal Rock but adds some compression/limiting; avoid

The Animal Rock/Jailhouse Rock sound quality is quite good, but the balance is set so the lead vocals are panned slightly to the left.

The Never To Be Forgotten: The Mustang Years mastering has the lead vocals panned dead center, which is where you want them.

Mono LP version

I don't know if the real mono LP from the '60s uses a dedicated mix or is a fold-down of the stereo LP mix.

If it's a fold down, then it's available on Rhino's Lil Bit O' Gold 3-inch CD single from 1988. The same analog transfer is used on Rhino's Son Of Frat Rock (1988).

My recommendations

For the mono 45 version and the stereo LP version, go with Del-Fi/Mustang's Never To Be Forgotten: The Mustang Years (1997). It's superb. And it even throws in a decent live version of the song. (Minor gripe: This set would be truly definitive for Bobby Fuller, but it doesn't have the original local El Paso hit version on Exeter Records).

For the fold-down of the stereo LP mix, go with Rhino's Lil Bit O' Gold 3-inch CD single from 1988. Rhino's Son Of Frat Rock (1988) will work just as well if you can't find the 3-inch CD.