Bobby Freeman

For the football player, see Bobby Freeman (American football).

Bobby Freeman
Born	June 13, 1940 (1940-06-13)
Origin	San Francisco, California, United States
Genres	Soul music R&B pop
Occupations	Singer, songwriter, record producer
Instruments	Vocals, piano, keyboards
Years active	1958–present
Labels	Autumn Records

Bobby Freeman (born June 13, 1940) is an African-American soul singer, songwriter, and record producer who recorded for the Autumn Records label in San Francisco, California. He is best known for his 1958 hit "Do You Want To Dance?" and his 1964 Top Ten hit "C'mon and Swim". "Do You Want To Dance?" was covered later (as "Do You Wanna Dance") by Del Shannon, The Beach Boys, Bette Midler, John Lennon, Cliff Richard, The Mamas & The Papas and the Ramones. "C'mon and Swim" was written and produced by twenty-year-old Sylvester Stewart, later known as Sly Stone. In 1964, Bobby Freeman played nightly at the Condor Night Club in San Francisco where Carol Doda performed her topless Go-Go dancing shows.

Freeman began his recording career at age 14 with the Romancers who recorded briefly on the Dootone label. At 17, he scored a hit with "Do You Want To Dance?" and appeared on the pop charts with various follow-ups through 1961. In 1964, he was back in the Top Ten with the dance-craze hit "C'mon and Swim", which reached #5. The craze had cooled by the time he released his follow-up "S-W-I-M", but he continued to tour widely over the next few years. Mainly supporting himself as a singer in strip clubs by the late 1960s, he released another single in 1974 on Touch Records, but it met with little commercial success. He has performed at the Bay Area Music ("Bammy") Awards in recent years.

Discography

Notable singles

• 1958 "Do You Want To Dance?" (#5 Pop, #2 R&B)
• 1958 "Betty Lou Got a New Pair of Shoes" (#37 Pop, #20 R&B)
• 1958 "Need Your Love" (#54 Pop, #29 R&B)
• 1959 "Mary Ann Thomas" (#90 Pop)
• 1959 "Ebb Tide" (#93 Pop)
• 1960 "(I Do the) Shimmy Shimmy" (#37 Pop)
• 1961 "The Mess Around" (#89 Pop)
• 1964 "C'mon and Swim" (#5 Pop, #5 R&B)
• 1964 "S-W-I-M" (#56 Pop, #56 R&B)
• 1974 "Everything's Love" (Uncharted)

Albums

• 1958 Do You Wanna Dance (Jubilee)
• 1959 Get in the Swim (Josie)
• 1960 Lovable Style of Bobby Freeman (King Records)
• 1964 C'mon and Swim (Autumn)

Bibliography

• The Rolling Stone Encyclopedia of Rock & Roll, Pareles, Jon & Romanowski, Patricia, eds., Summit Books 1983