“Be Young, Be Foolish, Be Happy” (The Tams)

Your real honest-to-goodness mid-tempo shuffle Carolina beach music song of the day is “Be Young, Be Foolish, Be Happy” by the Tams. Unlike yesterday’s classic song of the day, Brenton Woods’ “The Oogum Boogum Song,” which fell into the beach music category despite its straight beat, “Be Young, Be Foolish, Be Happy” has that shuffle beat that defines the true beach music sound. It’s something to do the Shag to.

The Tams’ version of “Be Young, Be Foolish, Be Happy” was released in 1968 and was a moderate chart success, hitting #61 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #26 on Billboard’s Hot R&B Singles chart. It had a life of its own, however, especially in the Southeast, and has become one of the most popular beach music songs of all time.

Carolina beach music is a regional form of R&B with occasional national and (thanks to the British Northern Soul scene) international appeal. It’s dance music, short and simple, typically with a mid-tempo groove and often but not always a shuffle beat. It got its start in the late ’50s, came into its own in the ’60s, got its moniker in the ’70s, and had a major resurgence in the ’80s. Beach music is still around today, with new groups making new music and playing old tunes.

“Be Young, Be Foolish, Be Happy” was written by Ray Whitley and J.R. Cobb and produced by Joe South. Whitley wrote a ton of beach music classics for the Tams, Bill Deal and the Rhondels, and others. Cobb joined the Classics IV and co-wrote most of their one-word hits, including “Spooky,” “Stormy,” and “Traces;” after the Classics IV broke up he joined the Atlanta Rhythm Section and later toured as part of the backing band for the Highwaymen. Joe South went on to fame as a solo artist, with hits like “Games People Play” and “Walk a Mile in My Shoes.”

The Tams hailed from Atlanta, Georgia, which is close enough to the Carolina coast. The group formed back in 1960 and had a series of hits in the mid-60s, including 1963’s “What Kind of Fool (Do You Think I Am)” (#9 on the Hot 100), 1964’s “Hey Girl, Don’t Bother Me” (#41), and “Be Young…” in 1968. That was about it for the Tams, although a cadre of replacement members still tour under that name on the beach music circuit in the Southeast. Original members Joseph Pope, Charles Pope, and Horace Key have all passed (in 1996, 2013, and 1995, respectively), but fellow founding Tam Robert Lee Smith is still with us.