"I Fought The Law" is a much-covered song originally recorded by Sonny
Curtis of The Crickets. The song is more identified in the eyes (and
ears) of many music fans with the Bobby Fuller Four, who recorded a
more successful version of the song in 1965.
Just as the song became a top ten hit, Bobby Fuller was found dead in
a parked automobile near his Los Angeles home. The police considered
the death an apparent suicide; however, many people still believe
Fuller was murdered.
It was the existence of a 45 of the Bobby Fuller version in a studio
jukebox that inspired The Clash to record a cover version of the song
in 1978. Their version first appeared on the EP The Cost Of Living in
May 1979 in England, 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 probably the most well-known cover version of the song, not
counting Fuller's.
The Dead Kennedys wrote and recorded a different version as a comment
on Dan White's 1978 murder of San Francisco mayor George Moscone and
City Supervisor Harvey Milk, and White's subsequent use of the
"Twinkie Defense" to influence the court to convict him of the lesser
charge of manslaughter. The song, sung from the perspective of White
and replacing the line "I fought the law and the law won" with "I
fought the law and I won," contains the following lines:
The law don't mean shit if you've got the right friends,
That's how this country's run,
Twinkies are the best friend I've ever had,
I fought the law and I won...
The song has also been covered, either in concert or on record, by
Bryan Adams, Green Day, Roy Orbison, Tom Petty, Hank Williams Jr,
Waylon Jennings, Johnny Cash, The Grateful Dead and numerous other
artists.
But back to the track,
Im afraid this is just another of those songs which were just not
released. And the album mentioned doesnt seem to be found anywhere
else but there with that tracklist. |
