Freeman was born in Alameda County and raised in San Francisco, California. He attended Mission High School. He started singing in a doo-wop group, the Romancers, in his early teens, and first recorded with them for Dootone Records in 1956. Their recordings included "House Cat", included on several later rock and roll compilations. However, the group soon fell apart, and Freeman started a new group, the Vocaleers (not to be confused with an earlier group of the same name who recorded "Is It a Dream").
When asked by a local DJ if he had written any songs, he wrote several and recorded them as solo demos. These included "Do You Want to Dance", which were heard by a visiting record label executive, Mortimer Palitz of Jubilee Records. He signed Freeman to the label and had the original recording overdubbed in New York by session musicians including guitarist Billy Mure. Released on the Jubilee subsidiary label Josie, "Do You Want to Dance" quickly rose to number 5 on the pop chart and number 2 on the R&B chart in early 1958, when Freeman was still only 17. The song was covered later (as "Do You Wanna Dance") by Del Shannon, Bobby Vee, the Beach Boys, Johnny Rivers, Bette Midler, John Lennon, Cliff Richard, Marc Bolan & T.Rex, the Mamas & The Papas and the Ramones.
Freeman appeared on American Bandstand and toured with such musicians as Fats Domino, the Coasters, and Jackie Wilson. Several of his follow-ups on Laurie, including "Betty Lou Got a New Pair of Shoes" and "Need Your Love", a ballad, also made the pop charts. He left Laurie in 1960 and signed with King Records, reaching the charts again with "Shimmy Shimmy".[6] However, several of Freeman's later recordings for King in the early 1960s went unreleased, for unexplained reasons. He did not return to the charts again until 1964, after signing for the Autumn label, when he had his second top ten hit with "C'mon and Swim". The song was co-written by label owner and radio DJ Tom Donahue (credited under his birth name, Thomas Coman), and 20-year-old Sylvester Stewart, later known as Sly Stone, and was produced by Stewart. Freeman's final hit was "S-W-I-M", later in 1964.
In 1964, Bobby Freeman played nightly at the Condor Club in San Francisco where Carol Doda performed her topless go-go dancing shows. Mainly supporting himself as a singer in clubs by the late 1960s, he continued to release singles on various small local labels through to the mid-1970s but met with little commercial success. He performed at the Bay Area Music ("Bammy") Awards in later years.
He died of natural causes on 23 January 2017.
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 "Mess Around" (#89 Pop)
1964 "C'mon and Swim" (#5 Pop)
1964 "S-W-I-M" (#56 Pop)
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)
1964 C'mon and Swim (Autumn)
Bibliography
The Rolling Stone Encyclopedia of Rock & Roll, Pareles, Jon & Romanowski, Patricia, eds., Summit Books 1983
Betty Lou Got a New Pair of Shoes
Bobby Freeman Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Betty Lou got a new pair of shoes (whooo)
Betty Lou got a new pair of shoes
Betty Lou got a new pair of shoes
Betty Lou ah-whoo, ah-whoo, ah-whoo
Betty Lou got a new pair of shoes
Well she walked in the shoe-store, picked out a shoe
Betty Lou got a new pair of shoes
Betty Lou bought a new pair of shoes
Betty Lou ah-whoo, ah-whoo, ah-whoo
Betty Lou got a new pair of shoes
Well, she cracked up over the solid fit
Walkin' down the street with her brand new kit
Well, she's walkin' down the street, she met an undertaker
He tried to burry her new shudebakers
Well, she went to a rock 'n' roll party the other night
Someone stepped on her shudebakers and she started a fight!
Well, she walked in the shoe-store, gave the man a tip
She told him to go buy himself a rocketship
The lyrics of Bobby Freeman's "Betty Lou Got a New Pair of Shoes" is a fun and upbeat song about Betty Lou getting a new pair of shoes. The song starts and ends with the repetition of the line "Betty Lou got a new pair of shoes", establishing the excitement that Betty Lou feels about her recent purchase. The first verse describes her trip to the shoe store, where she picks out a shoe but realizes that it doesn't fit. The second verse talks about Betty Lou's joy in finding a pair of shoes that fits her perfectly. The third verse introduces a humorous element to the song as Betty Lou encounters an undertaker who tries to bury her new shoes, and in the final verse, she attends a rock 'n' roll party where someone steps on her new shoes, and she starts a fight.
The song is an example of the rockabilly genre which was a popular sub-genre of rock and roll in the 1950s. The lyrics are simple and repetitive, lending themselves well to the fast-paced style of the music. The song was released in 1958 and became a hit, reaching number ten on the Billboard charts. "Betty Lou Got a New Pair of Shoes" has since become a classic of the rockabilly genre and has been covered by various artists.
Line by Line Meaning
Betty Lou got a new pair of shoes
Betty Lou purchased footwear for her feet
Betty Lou got a new pair of shoes (whooo)
Betty Lou enthusiastically acquired a new set of shoes
Well she walked in the shoe-store, picked out a shoe
Betty Lou entered the shoe store and selected a specific shoe
She tried on a twelve, but that wouldn't do
Betty Lou attempted to fit her foot in size twelve shoes but found them insufficient
Well, she cracked up over the solid fit
Betty Lou was pleased with how comfortably the new shoes fit
Walkin' down the street with her brand new kit
Betty Lou strolled down the road in her fresh footwear
Well, she's walkin' down the street, she met an undertaker
While on a walk, Betty Lou encountered an undertaker
He tried to burry her new shudebakers
The undertaker attempted to damage or ruin her shoes
Well, she went to a rock 'n' roll party the other night
Betty Lou attended a social gathering featuring rock music
Someone stepped on her shudebakers and she started a fight!
A person unintentionally damaged Betty Lou's shoes, causing her to become aggressive
Well, she walked in the shoe-store, gave the man a tip
Upon returning to the shoe store, Betty Lou generously tipped the worker
She told him to go buy himself a rocketship
Betty Lou urged the employee to use the tip to purchase an extravagant item like a rocketship
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Spirit Music Group
Written by: Bobby Freeman
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
I_Only_Harley
I’ve been searching for this song for so long, I can finally rest.
Arlene Lemieux
Two thumbs up!!
Mara
Love this!!! It cracks me up for some reason lol
Mark Pippin
This should have gone to number 1.
Bob Poet
if you wanna take it up a notch, play this tune just ahead of the Cadillac Kings' "Betty Lou's Last Pair of Shoes"
A rockin' 1-2 punch!
Rogelio calderon mares
En su LP de Rockabilly Neil Young realiza un buen y curioso cover de esta canción
Neal Gordon
In 1963 Bobby had a big hit with "The Swim" as many artists had choice dances, Chubby Checkers with "the Twist" the Pony, the Popeye. Joey and the Flips " the Bongo Stomp" and I'm sure. there's more.
ClarkeMarek
Wasn't this covered by Eddie and the Cruisers?
Bruce McGee
The 'B' side is "Starlight." It's good, too. This is the oldest 45 in my collection, and is no longer playable.
Howie Karpe
I wonder if Profs gotta copy of this one?