This perennially popular San Francisco rock`n'roll legend's career has been widely documented on CD, but his early 1960s sessions for King Records have never been anthologised in the CD era - until now.
Recorded in 1960 and 1961, these 18 sides represent an important transitional period in Freeman's career, as he successfully moved from `Do You Wanna Dance' rocker to `C'mon And Swim' soul man. King only released four singles on Bobby over a 5-year period - including the hit `(I Do The) Shimmy Shimmy' - plus one LP that duplicated many of the previously released sides (which means that many of our inclusions here have never seen the light of day before). (in Amazon)
Recorded in 1960 and 1961, these 18 sides represent an important transitional period in Freeman's career, as he successfully moved from `Do You Wanna Dance' rocker to `C'mon And Swim' soul man. King only released four singles on Bobby over a 5-year period - including the hit `(I Do The) Shimmy Shimmy' - plus one LP that duplicated many of the previously released sides (which means that many of our inclusions here have never seen the light of day before). (in Amazon)
Bobby Freeman (born June 13, 1940) is an African-American soul singer, songwriter, and record producer who recorded for the Autumn Records label in San Francisco, California. He is best known for his 1958 hit "Do You Want To Dance?" and his 1964 Top Ten hit "C'mon and Swim". "Do You Want To Dance?" was covered later (as "Do You Wanna Dance") by Del Shannon, The Beach Boys, Bette Midler, John Lennon, Cliff Richard and the Ramones. "C'mon and Swim" was written and produced by twenty-year-old Sylvester Stewart, later known as Sly Stone. In 1964, Bobby Freeman played nightly at the Condor Night Club in San Francisco where Carol Doda performed her topless Go-Go dancing shows.
Freeman began his recording career at age 14 with the Romancers who recorded briefly on the Dootone label. At 17, he scored a hit with "Do You Want To Dance?" and appeared on the pop charts with various follow-ups through 1961. In 1964, he was back in the Top Ten with the dance-craze hit "C'mon and Swim", which reached #5. The craze had cooled by the time he released his follow-up "S-W-I-M", but he continued to tour widely over the next few years. Mainly supporting himself as a singer in strip clubs by the late 1960s, he released another single in 1974 on Touch Records, but it met with little commercial success. He has performed at the Bay Area Music ("Bammy") Awards in recent years. (in Wikipedia)
Freeman began his recording career at age 14 with the Romancers who recorded briefly on the Dootone label. At 17, he scored a hit with "Do You Want To Dance?" and appeared on the pop charts with various follow-ups through 1961. In 1964, he was back in the Top Ten with the dance-craze hit "C'mon and Swim", which reached #5. The craze had cooled by the time he released his follow-up "S-W-I-M", but he continued to tour widely over the next few years. Mainly supporting himself as a singer in strip clubs by the late 1960s, he released another single in 1974 on Touch Records, but it met with little commercial success. He has performed at the Bay Area Music ("Bammy") Awards in recent years. (in Wikipedia)