“I Fought the Law” (19) 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. Maudlin and Jerry Allison continued their positions on the stand-up bass and drums, respectively, while Earl Sinks filled the role for vocals. The song was included on their 1960 album, In Style with the Crickets, and the following year appeared as the B-side of their single, “A Sweet Love”. The song received very little airplay.
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).
IIn mid-1978, the Clash were working on their second album, Give ‘Em Enough Rope. Singer Joe Strummer and guitarist Mick Jones flew 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. 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, London, in December 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. n July 26, 1979, “I Fought the Law” was the first single by the band to be released in the United States.
Green Day’s version of the song was used in 2004 for a Pepsi/iTunes commercial that premiered during Super Bowl XXXVIII. The single became a live favourite for the band throughout 2005, including television performances. If anything, the irony of this establishment/commericalisation of the song just re-inforces its essential message.
And just because there has to be reggae version of any song here are the Jolly Boys from their 2011 album Great Expectations.
