Return to Rock-and-Roll Page.Bobby Freeman was known for his dancing and his stage presence, and he managed to put a couple of songs in the top ten in the late 50's and early 60's.
He was born in San Francisco in 1940 and began singing with a group he formed called the Romancers at age 14. Bobby played piano with this group and developed his style as a teenager. He could dance up a storm if the situation called for it. Bobby went on to form an R&B group that he named the Vocaleers. He wrote a song called Do You Want To Dance and recorded it on the Josie label in 1958, when he was seventeen years old. It was a smash, going all the way to number five that summer.
Freeman followed with a less successful record, Betty Lou Got A New Pair Of Shoes, later that same year. He became very popular in the San Francisco area. Other songs followed, including Shame On You Miss Johnson and Need Your Love. Bobby Freeman proved to be a good R&B singer. Often working with his long-time manager, Walt Kohn, Freeman put on a great live show and is quite a dancer. He returned to the top forty in 1960 with (I Do The) Shimmy Shimmy on the King Records label.
Local disc-jockey-turned-record-promoter/performer Sly Stone signed Freeman to the Autumn label. Freeman's second release on Autumn, produced by Stone, was another big dance hit titled C'mon And Swim. Like his first big hit, it reached number five on the chart. Released in 1964, it proved to be his last major hit, although he continued to record some soul songs into the 70's. Bobby Freeman has always played music by ear, and he played the piano on all of his recordings.
Freeman's signature song Do You Want To Dance has returned to the top twenty in versions by the Beach Boys and Bette Midler, and there have been more covers of it by groups such as the Ramones.
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