Alternative covers: #19 "I Fought the Law" The Clash (1979)

Tweet

Trivia question: Who replaced Buddy Holly at guitar with the Crickets? Sonny Curtis. He wrote “I Fought the Law” in 1958 and it appears on the 1960 album “In Style with the Crickets.” The song was not released as a single. The tune is very simplistic with the lyric “I fought the law and the law won” repeated over and over. However, “I Fought the Law” is ranked among the greatest rock songs. The 1966 cover from the Bobby Fuller Four from El Paso, Texas put “I Fought the Law” on the map. From the album of the same name, “I Fought the Law” charted at Billboard #9. Just months after the single’s release, Fuller was found dead at 23 of an apparent suicide. The Clash are the most important and influential British punk/new wave/alternative band. They have achieved legend status. “I Fought the Law” was ideal for the rebellious anti-establishment Clash and lead singer Joe Strummer. From the album “The Cost of Living,” “I Fought the Law” was the first Clash singe released in the US thus introduction to the band for many of us.