‘Be Young, Be Foolish, Be Happy:’ Center stage with sixties soul quintet the Tams

The Tams were a criminally underrated soul quintet from the Deep South during the tumultuous 1960's. With hits including “What Kind of Fool [Do You Think I Am],” “Hey Girl Don’t Bother Me,” and “Be Young, Be Foolish, Be Happy,” the beloved staples of beach music burst onto the music scene in late 1962 with their top 15 R&B hit “Untie Me,” composed by the late, great Joe South. Cool it baby: Check out the eye-popping pink and yellow cover artwork for “Hey Girl Don’t Bother Me!,” dropped by the Tams in 1964 on ABC-Paramount Records. Image Credit: Cover Design by Steve Madison / Universal Music Group

The Tams were a criminally underrated soul quintet during their 1960’s heyday. Notching their fledgling hits on the independent Arlen Records of Philadelphia, the Tams were quickly picked up by ABC-Paramount, where they remained throughout the tumultuous decade.

With hits ranging from “What Kind of Fool [Do You Think I Am],” “Hey Girl Don’t Bother Me,” to “Be Young, Be Foolish, Be Happy,” the beloved staples of beach music slogged through 10 excruciating years of low-paying one night stands before mining gold in late 1962 with the churning Top 15 R&B hit “Untie Me,” composed by the late, great Joe South. Before he earned bragging rights as a solo artist with “Games People Play” and “Walk a Mile in My Shoes,” South served as the Tams’ primary producer and songwriter. Incidentally, “The Streak” novelty king Ray Stevens produced and played piano on “Untie Me.”

The Tams didn’t achieve the level of success afforded to their Motown and Stax contemporaries. Possibly to their detriment, they were one of the few vocal groups who remained ensconced in the Deep South, recording at Rick Hall’s legendary FAME Studios in Muscle Shoals, Alabama, during its infancy. Later they returned to Atlanta — all were alumni of David T. Howard High School — and waxed vinyl at Bill Lowery’s Master Sound…