Bobby Freeman (Robert Thomas Freeman, June 13, 1940 – January 23, 2017) was… Read Full Bio ↴Bobby Freeman (Robert Thomas Freeman, June 13, 1940 – January 23, 2017) was an American rhythm & blues and soul singer, songwriter and record producer. He is best known for his two Top Ten hits, the first in 1958 on Josie Records called "Do You Want to Dance" and the second in 1964 for Autumn Records, "C'mon and Swim".

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

Shame On You Miss Johnson
Bobby Freeman Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

Shame on you miss Johnson
Girl you′ve done me wrong
Shame on you miss Johnson
You never stayed at home
I caught you running around oh yeah
With another clown
Well shame on you miss Johnson
Girl why can't you answer the phone

Shame on you miss Johnson
When I woke up you were gone
I told you once, I told you twice
Why be so hard, when you can be so nice
Yeah
Well shame on you miss Johnson
Girl you′ve done me wrong
Shame on you miss Johnson
You know you ain't never home
I caught you running around
Oh yes, with another clown
Well, shame on you miss Johnson
Shame on you miss Johnson
Shame on you miss Johnson
Girl you've done me wrong

Girl you′ve done me wrong
Girl you′ve done me wrong

Overall Meaning

The lyrics of "Shame On You Miss Johnson" by Bobby Freeman tell the story of a man who feels betrayed by his lover, Miss Johnson. He accuses her of being unfaithful and never staying at home. He caught her with another man and she never answers his phone calls. He had asked her to be nice to him, but she was too hard on him. He ends the song by repeating the refrain of "shame on you Miss Johnson," emphasizing how much she has wronged him.

Line by Line Meaning

Shame on you miss Johnson
It is disappointing that you, Miss Johnson, are behaving badly.

Girl you've done me wrong
Your actions have hurt me, Miss Johnson.

You never stayed at home
You were not home, Miss Johnson, when you should have been.

I caught you running around oh yeah
I saw you, Miss Johnson, spending time with someone else.

With another clown
You were spending time with a foolish person, Miss Johnson.

Girl why can't you answer the phone
Miss Johnson, why don't you respond to my calls?

When I woke up you were gone
You left without warning, Miss Johnson, when I was asleep.

I told you once, I told you twice
Miss Johnson, I have informed you more than once of my expectations.

Why be so hard, when you can be so nice
It would be better if you were kind, Miss Johnson, instead of causing me pain.

You know you ain't never home
Miss Johnson, you are always absent from home.

Shame on you miss Johnson
You are disappointing me again, Miss Johnson.