''KRLA King of the Wheels'' is the debut studio album by

The Bobby Fuller Four The Bobby Fuller Four (sometimes stylized as Bobby Fuller 4) was a popular mid-1960s American rock & roll band started by Bobby Fuller. First formed in 1962 in Fuller's hometown of El Paso, Texas, the group went on to produce some of its most m ...

. It was released by Mustang Records in November 1965 in stereo and mono. It was released in promotion of the local Los Angeles radio station,

KRLA KRLA (870 kHz) "AM 870 The Answer" is a commercial AM radio station broadcasting a talk radio format. Licensed to Glendale, California, it serves Greater Los Angeles and Southern California. The station is owned by Salem Media Group, which al ...

Background

The album was put out soon after "

Let Her Dance "Let Her Dance" is a song by The Bobby Fuller Four. It was the group's fourth single under Del-Fi Records, and the first to achieve national attention. "Let Her Dance" is a modified version of an earlier Bobby Fuller song, "Keep on Dancing". The ...

" made the top 40 charts locally.

Bob Keane Robert Verrill Kuhn (January 5, 1922 – November 28, 2009), professionally known as Bob Keane, and also sometimes known as Bob Keene, was an American musician, producer and the founder and owner of the record label Del-Fi Records. He was the ...

wanted a

drag racing Drag racing is a type of motor racing in which automobiles or motorcycles compete, usually two at a time, to be first to cross a set finish line. The race follows a short, straight course from a standing start over a measured distance, most c ...

album, featuring surf instrumentals, covers, and some singles, however, his original vision changed along the way. In the end, four new drag racer songs were recorded for the album. The title track, "King of the Wheels", is a reworking of an earlier Bobby Fuller song, "King of the Beach". "KRLA Top Eliminator" was based on the real-life customized dragster made by KRLA (seen on the cover), and a reworking of a live cover of "El Paso Rock" by Long John Hunter; Fuller's band used to perform in El Paso. In addition, six songs were also taken from his three latest singles (including "Let Her Dance"), and three new songs were recorded ("Fool of Love" and "Saturday Night" were re-recordings of older Bobby Fuller tracks, and "Little Annie Lou" would go on to become a B-side for their next single, "

I Fought the Law "I Fought the Law" is a song written by Sonny Curtis of the Crickets and popularized by a cover by the Bobby Fuller Four, becoming a top-ten hit for the band in 1966. Their version of the song was ranked No. 175 on the ''Rolling Stone'' lis ...

"). "The Lonely Dragster" is a reworking of the song "Wolfman", a B-side from a previous single, "Thunder Reef". In 1990, this album was re-released on CD by Ace Records, bundled with ''

'', along with seven bonus tracks (later put out by

Del-Fi Records Del-Fi Records was an American record label based in Hollywood, California and owned by Bob Keane. The label's first single released was "Caravan" by Henri Rose released in 1958, but the label was most famous for signing Ritchie Valens. Valens' fi ...

in 1994). In 1992,

Repertoire Records Repertoire Records is a German record label from Hamburg, Germany, specialising in reissues of classic pop and rock albums originally issued in the 1960s and 1970s. The chairman is Thomas Neelsen. See also * List of record labels File:Alvin ...

reissued this album on CD with fifteen bonus tracks.

Track listing

Bonus tracks

Personnel

The Bobby Fuller Four

Bobby Fuller Robert Gaston Fuller (October 22, 1942 – July 18, 1966)Bashe, P. R., & George-Warren, H., ''The Rolling Stone Encyclopedia of Rock & Roll'' (Third ed.). New York, Fireside, 2005, p. 360 was an American Rock and roll, rock singer, songwriter, ...

–

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...

lead vocals The lead vocalist in popular music is typically the member of a group or band whose voice is the most prominent melody in a performance where multiple voices may be heard. The lead singer sets their voice against the accompaniment parts of t ...

DeWayne Quirico Robert DeWayne Quirico (better known as simply DeWayne Quirico; born June 19, 1942) is a professional drummer, best known for his work with The Bobby Fuller Four. One of his most notable works is his unique percussion work on the band's biggest hi ...

–

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

* Jim Reese – guitar,

backing vocals A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are use ...

* Randy Fuller –

bass guitar The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and ...

, lead and backing vocals

Technical

* Robert Keane – producer

References

{{Authority control 1965 debut albums Albums produced by Bob Keane The Bobby Fuller Four albums