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

The Mess Around
Bobby Freeman Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

New dance that just hit town
New dance that just hit town
New dance that just hit town
New dance that just hit town
New dance that just hit town
It's called the mess around

Well, everybody's doing that dance

From America all the way to France
They've even doing it across the land
They've got them doing it on Bandstand

That dance that just hit town
Which is called the mess around

Me and my baby do that dance
When we're walking down the street
Me and my baby do that dance
Every time we meet

That dance that just hit town
Which is called the mess around, hey

Well, first you glide
Then you slide
Then you and your partner
Walk side by side

Round and round, up and down
Then you're doing the mess around

If you don't know how
To do the dance right now
Watch me and I'll show you how

First you glide, then you slide
Then you and your partner
Walk side by side

Then you're doing the dance
That just hit town
Which is called the mess around

Hey, hey (let's do the mess around)
Hey, hey (let's do the mess around)
Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey
(Let's do the mess around)
Hey, hey (let's do the mess around)

Mess around (mess around)
Mess around (mess around)
Mess around (let's do the mess around)

I said, come on, baby
(Let's do the mess around)
Come on, baby (let's do the mess around)

Come on, baby (let's do the mess around)
Come on, baby (let's do the mess around)

Overall Meaning

Bobby Freeman's song "The Mess Around" is a celebration of a new dance that has become a cultural phenomenon. The song describes the dance as easy to learn, and its popularity has spread from America to France. It's done by walking side by side with a partner, moving round and round and up and down. Furthermore, the lyrics highlight that the dance has even been featured on American Bandstand, showing how it has hit the mainstream.

The song portrays a sense of fun and joviality, with the emphasis on coming together to have a good time. The lyrics convey that it doesn't matter if you are a seasoned dancer or a novice; anyone can join in and enjoy themselves. The call-and-response vocals of "hey hey" and "let's do the mess around" add to the exuberant mood of the song. In conclusion, the song's message is that life should consist of enjoying oneself and having fun.

Line by Line Meaning

New dance that just hit town
There is a new dance craze in town

It's called the mess around
The new dance is known as the mess around

Well, everybody's doing that dance
The dance has become popular worldwide

From America all the way to France
People from different countries are doing the dance

They've even doing it across the land
The dance is being done everywhere

They've got them doing it on Bandstand
The dance has made it onto the music TV show, Bandstand

Me and my baby do that dance
My partner and I also do the dance

When we're walking down the street
We dance even while we are walking

Every time we meet
We dance the mess around whenever we see each other

Well, first you glide
To dance the mess around, you start by gliding

Then you slide
Then, you begin to slide