San Francisco's original

There is an old story -- probably false -- that a 15-year-old Jerry Garcia played on Josie 835.
The record with that label, "Do You Wanna Dance?" from 1958, generates that sort of myth-making because it is both an early R&B/rock-n-roll classic and because the artist is a true San Francisco original. Bobby Freeman.
I will be heading to "The City by the Bay" later this month, a return to my roots provided by my sister and timed to mark my 40th birthday.
Excitement about the trip has triggered a wave of "hometown pride" manifested in my current musical choices.
I have been listening to loads of Oakland's Tower of Power and Edwin Hawkins, Vallejo's Con Funk Shun and San Francisco's Sly and the Family Stone.
Sly Stone, aka Sylvester Stewart (born in Texas but raised in Vallejo), worked with Freeman. Stone served as songwriter and producer at Autumn records and penned Freeman's 1964 hit "C'Mon and Swim."
I have to work a relatively rare Sunday shift today. Be assured I will be listening to plenty of Bobby Freeman as I drive around in the sparkling sunshine. My mind might be elsewhere... on the Bay Area? Probably!