"Running Bear" is a

teenage tragedy song A teenage tragedy song is a style of ballad in popular music that peaked in popularity in the late 1950s and early 1960s. Examples of the style are also known as "tear jerkers", "death discs" or "splatter platters", among other colorful sobriquet ...

written by Jiles Perry Richardson (a.k.a.

The Big Bopper Jiles Perry "J.P." Richardson Jr. (October 24, 1930 – February 3, 1959), known as The Big Bopper, was an American singer, songwriter and disc jockey. His best-known compositions include " Chantilly Lace" and " White Lightning", the latter of w ...

) and sung most famously by Johnny Preston in 1959. The 1959 recording featured background vocals by

George Jones George Glenn Jones (September 12, 1931 – April 26, 2013) was an American country musician, singer, and songwriter. He achieved international fame for his long list of hit records, including his best-known song " He Stopped Loving Her Today", ...

and the session's producer Bill Hall, who provided the "Indian chanting" of "uga-uga" during the three verses, as well as the "Indian war cries" at the start and end of the record. It was No. 1 for three weeks in January 1960 on the '' ''Billboard'' Hot 100'' in the United States. The song also reached No. 1 in the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

and New Zealand in 1960. Coincidentally, "Running Bear" was immediately preceded in the Hot 100 No. 1 position by

Marty Robbins Martin David Robinson (September 26, 1925 – December 8, 1982), known professionally as Marty Robbins, was an American singer, songwriter, actor, multi-instrumentalist, and NASCAR racing driver. Robbins was one of the most popular and succ ...

' "

El Paso El Paso (; "the pass") is a city in and the seat of El Paso County in the western corner of the U.S. state of Texas. The 2020 population of the city from the U.S. Census Bureau was 678,815, making it the 23rd-largest city in the U.S., the s ...

", and immediately followed by Mark Dinning's " Teen Angel", both of which feature a death of, or affecting, the protagonist. ''Billboard'' ranked "Running Bear" as the No. 4 song of 1960. The

tenor saxophone The tenor saxophone is a medium-sized member of the saxophone family, a group of instruments invented by Adolphe Sax in the 1840s. The tenor and the alto are the two most commonly used saxophones. The tenor is pitched in the key of B (while ...

was played by Link Davis. Richardson was a friend of Preston and offered "Running Bear" to him after hearing him perform in a club. Preston recorded the song at the Gold Star Studios in

Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 i ...

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...

, several months after Richardson's death in the plane crash that also killed Buddy Holly and

Ritchie Valens Richard Steven Valenzuela (May 13, 1941 – February 3, 1959), known professionally as Ritchie Valens, was an American guitarist, singer and songwriter. A rock and roll pioneer and a forefather of the Chicano rock movement, Valens was killed ...

. Preston was signed to

Mercury Records Mercury Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group. It had significant success as an independent operation in the 1940s and 1950s. Smash Records and Fontana Records were sub labels of Mercury. In the United States, it i ...

, and "Running Bear" was released in August 1959. "Running Bear" was used in the 1994 movie ''

A Simple Twist of Fate ''A Simple Twist of Fate'' is a 1994 American comedy-drama film directed by Gillies MacKinnon. The screenplay by Steve Martin is loosely based on the 1861 novel '' Silas Marner'' by George Eliot. Martin stars, along with Gabriel Byrne, Lau ...

'', which stars

Steve Martin Stephen Glenn Martin (born August 14, 1945) is an American actor, comedian, writer, producer, and musician. He has won five Grammy Awards, a Primetime Emmy Award, and was awarded an Honorary Academy Award in 2013. Additionally, he was nominate ...

as Michael McCann, a fine furniture maker in rural Virginia, who adopts a little girl named Mathilda. There is a scene about midway through the movie where he plays "Running Bear" on the record player, and he and Mathilda are dancing to the song. The song appears on the soundtrack of 1975's ''

Crazy Mama ''Crazy Mama'' is a 1975 American action comedy film directed by Jonathan Demme, produced by Julie Corman and starring Cloris Leachman. It marked the film debut of Bill Paxton and Dennis Quaid. Plot In 1958 Long Beach, California, Melba Stoke ...

'', and, as performed by Ray Gelato, is featured in the London night-club scene in the film ''Scandal'', based on the

Profumo affair The Profumo affair was a major scandal in twentieth-century British politics. John Profumo, the Secretary of State for War in Harold Macmillan's Conservative government, had an extramarital affair with 19-year-old model Christine Keeler be ...

Plot

The song tells the story of Running Bear, a "young

Indian Indian or Indians may refer to: Peoples South Asia * Indian people, people of Indian nationality, or people who have an Indian ancestor ** Non-resident Indian, a citizen of India who has temporarily emigrated to another country * South Asia ...

brave", and Little White Dove, an "Indian maid". The two are in love but are separated by two factors: * Their tribes' hatred of each other: their respective tribes are at war. ("''Their tribes fought with each other / So their love could never be''.") * A raging river: a physical separation but also as a metaphor for their cultural separation. The two, longing to be together, despite the obstacles and the risks posed by the river, dive into the raging river to unite. After sharing a passionate kiss, they are pulled down by the swift current and drown. The lyrics describe their fate: "''Now they'll always be together / In their

happy hunting ground The happy hunting ground is a concept of the afterlife associated with Native Americans in the United States. The phrase most likely originated with Anglo-Saxon settlers' interpretation of the Indian description. History The phrase first appears ...

''."

Chart performance

All-time charts

Cover versions

A German version titled ''Brauner Bär und Weiße Taube'' ("Brown Bear and White Dove") was recorded as a single by

Gus Backus Donald Edgar "Gus" Backus (September 12, 1937 – February 21, 2019) was an American singer. He started his career as a member of The Del-Vikings and later became a successful Schlager singer in Germany. Life and career Backus was born on Lo ...

in 1960. In 1960, the Dutch group Het Cocktail Trio recorded a version of the song called ''Grote Beer'' ('Great Bear', but also '

Ursa Major Ursa Major (; also known as the Great Bear) is a constellation in the northern sky, whose associated mythology likely dates back into prehistory. Its Latin name means "greater (or larger) bear," referring to and contrasting it with nearby Ursa ...

') about an Indian who travels in space. Masaaki Hirao recorded a Japanese language version of "Running Bear" in 1960. During the late 1960s and early 1970s,

Sonny James Jimmie Hugh Loden (May 1, 1928February 22, 2016), known professionally as Sonny James, was an American country music singer and songwriter best known for his 1957 hit, " Young Love", topping both of the early versions of today's ''Billboard'' ...

enjoyed an unprecedented streak of success with his commercially released singles, many of them covers of previous pop hits. One of his 16 consecutive No. 1 singles on the ''Billboard''

Hot Country Singles Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States. This 50-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly by collecting airplay data from Nielsen BDS along with digital sa ...

chart was a cover version of "Running Bear." Released in April 1969, James topped the Hot Country Singles chart in mid-June and spent three weeks at No. 1. The song soon was one of James' most popular recordings of his career.

Jim Stallings Jim Stallings is an American musician who played as a bassist with the Sir Douglas Quintet and had a successful single as a solo artist with "Heya Heya or Hey Ya may refer to: *Heya (sumo) from the Japanese word for "room" (部屋), also in comp ...

recorded a version of the song on his 1969 album titled ''Heya!''

The Guess Who The Guess Who are a Canadian rock band formed in Winnipeg, Manitoba, in 1965. The band originated in 1962 and achieved an international hit single with a cover of " Shakin' All Over" in 1965 under the name Chad Allan and the Expressions. After ...

included the song on their 1972 album '' Rockin''', although the songwriting credit is incorrectly given to Clarence "Curly" Herdman, a country and bluegrass fiddler.

The Youngbloods The Youngbloods were an American rock band consisting of Jesse Colin Young (vocals, bass, guitar), Jerry Corbitt (vocals, guitar, keyboards, harmonica), Lowell "Banana" Levinger (guitar and electric piano), and Joe Bauer (drums). Despite recei ...

released a version of the song as a single in 1972 and was featured on their album ''High on a Ridge Top''. Tom Jones recorded a funk version of the song on his 1973 album ''The Body and Soul of Tom Jones''. Mud recorded the song on their 1974 debut album ''Mud Rock'' which reached #8 in the UK charts. Danny Davis and the Nashville Brass recorded a toe-tapping version of the song, complete with the standard Nashville Brass banjo-and-steel solo, for their 1975 album ''Dream Country''. The song was occasionally part of

Led Zeppelin Led Zeppelin were an English rock band formed in London in 1968. The group comprised vocalist Robert Plant, guitarist Jimmy Page, bassist/keyboardist John Paul Jones, and drummer John Bonham. With a heavy, guitar-driven sound, they are ci ...

's live repertoire in the early 1970s, during rock medleys contained within long versions of "

Whole Lotta Love "Whole Lotta Love" is a song by English rock band Led Zeppelin. It is the opening track on the band's second album, '' Led Zeppelin II'', and was released as a single in 1969 in several countries; as with other Led Zeppelin songs, no single was ...

". In 2012

Ray Stevens Harold Ray Ragsdale (born January 24, 1939), known professionally as Ray Stevens, is an American country and pop singer-songwriter and comedian, known for his Grammy-winning recordings " Everything Is Beautiful" and " Misty", as well as novel ...

covered the song on his 9-CD box set, ''The Encyclopedia of Recorded Comedy Music''. Northern Irish punk band,

Stiff Little Fingers Stiff Little Fingers are a punk rock band from Belfast, Northern Ireland. They formed in 1977 at the height of the Troubles, which informed much of their songwriting. They started out as a schoolboy band called Highway Star (named after the De ...

did a live cover of this, which ended up on their album '' All the Best'' and later on the re-issue of their live album, '' Hanx!''. The song is a staple of

Williams and Ree Bruce Williams and Terry Ree, alternately billed as both "Williams and Ree" and "The Indian and The White Guy", are a pair of American comedians. Since the late 1960s, they have performed throughout the United States. Williams and Ree first met in ...

's live set and is one of the duo's most popular songs. Ree performs the lead vocals while Williams provides Indian chants and humorous alternatives, such as lyrics from Pump Up the Jam and

Ice Ice Baby "Ice Ice Baby" is a hip hop song by American rapper Vanilla Ice, K. Kennedy and DJ Earthquake. It was based on the bassline of the song "Under Pressure" by British rock band Queen and British singer David Bowie, who did not receive songwritin ...

. Bob Wills and his Texas Playboys frequently performed the song and it appears their album '' Time Changes Everything'', and on many greatest hits compilations.

References

External links

* {{Authority control 1959 songs 1959 debut singles 1960 singles 1969 singles 1972 singles Johnny Preston songs Songs written by the Big Bopper Sonny James songs The Youngbloods songs The Guess Who songs Ray Stevens songs Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles Cashbox number-one singles Number-one singles in New Zealand UK Singles Chart number-one singles Mercury Records singles Capitol Records singles Songs about Native Americans Songs about rivers Native Americans in popular culture Teenage tragedy songs