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
C'mon & Swim
Bobby Freeman Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Bobby's gonna show you how to do the swim
Kinda like the monkey, kinda like the twist
Pretend you're in the water and you go like this
Now baby swim, baby do the swim
Just like the dog but not so low
Like the hully gully but not so slow
Now baby swim, baby do the swim
C'mon baby now and swim like a fish
Baby swim, now baby come on in
Shake it up baby twist and shout
Now do the swim baby now work it on out
Now baby swim, baby do the swim
Do what you want to, it's alright
Bobby's gonna show you how to swim tonight
Now baby swim
C'mon baby, I want you to swim
Oh yeah, do the dog paddle baby
Now do the backstroke
Shake it up baby, twist and shout
Now do the swim baby now work it on out
Now baby swim, baby do the swim
Do what you want to it's alright
Cause Bobby's gonna do the swim for you tonight
Now baby swim
The lyrics to Bobby Freeman's song C'mon & Swim are a call to action, inviting listeners to come and join in the fun by learning a new dance called "the swim". The first verse describes how to do the dance, comparing it to other popular dances of the time such as the monkey and the twist. The chorus then encourages listeners to give it a try, comparing the movement to swimming like a fish. The second verse adds in additional swimming movements such as the dog paddle and backstroke, keeping the energy and enthusiasm high. The repetition of "now baby swim" throughout the song reinforces the message to get up and start dancing.
Overall, the lyrics to C'mon & Swim embody the carefree spirit of the 1960s, with an emphasis on having fun and letting loose. The dance moves described in the song were popularized by a number of dance shows that were popular at the time, including American Bandstand and Hullabaloo. While the song never reached the top of the charts, it remains a classic example of the upbeat, dance-oriented music that defined the era.
Line by Line Meaning
C'mon everybody, c'mon in
Welcome everyone to join in
Bobby's gonna show you how to do the swim
The singer will teach how to swim
Kinda like the monkey, kinda like the twist
Similar to two popular dances
Pretend you're in the water and you go like this
Imagine being in water and emulate the motion
Now baby swim, baby do the swim
Start doing the swim dance move now
Just like the dog but not so low
Like the dog paddle, but not as close to the water
Like the hully gully but not so slow
Like the hully gully dance, but faster
Do what you want to, do like you wish
Dance however you'd like
C'mon baby now and swim like a fish
Encouragement to swim gracefully, like a fish
Shake it up baby twist and shout
Reference to another popular dance song
Now do the swim baby now work it on out
Swim and move your body to the music
Do what you want to, it's alright
Encouragement to dance freely and enjoyably
Bobby's gonna show you how to swim tonight
The singer is the dance instructor for the night
C'mon baby, I want you to swim
A plea for the listener to join in and dance
Oh yeah, do the dog paddle baby
A prompt to do the dog paddle dance move
Now do the backstroke
An instruction to do the backstroke dance move
Lyrics © Warner/Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: RONALD L MACK
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Playbyplaymedia
Even though this record is not one of my favorites, I did buy it as a kid in the Summer of 1964 and I can't think of an earlier record that is more driving in its tone than this one.
Mike Cook (Cookie) All Things Soulful ✊️
A Wigan Casino classic 👌
Pounding soul that set the dance floor on fire 🔥 ✊️
conigjo62
I found a stash of my OLD 45s and this one was there. I had to listen to it again after a few decades!!!!
riff tipton
Good song and some really cool guitar.
eoj2495
Very cool!!
RichieRugs
just as good as like a rolling stone
louis hubbard
i love dance themed songs
Maurice Belk
A young Sly Stone co-wrote, played keys & did some of the mixing on this one!!!!!
Samuel Griffin
Bringing back those beach movies of the sixties
C Peake
Dig the 15 seconds worth of boss kool organ riffs...Sly? (nifty guitar as well)