Running Bear

About Running Bear

"Running Bear" is a song written by Jiles Perry Richardson (a.k.a. The Big Bopper) and sung most famously by Johnny Preston in 1959. The 1959 recording featured background vocals by Richardson, George Jones, 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 in 1960. Coincidentally, "Running Bear" was immediately preceded in the Hot 100 No. 1 position by Marty Robbins' "El Paso", another song in which the protagonist dies. Billboard ranked "Running Bear" as the No. 4 song of 1960. 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, Texas in 1958. The saxophone was played by Link Davis. Preston was signed to Mercury Records, and "Running Bear" was released in August 1959, seven months after Richardson's death in the plane crash that also killed Buddy Holly and Ritchie Valens."Running Bear" was used in the 1994 movie A Simple Twist of Fate, which stars Steve Martin 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, and, as performed by Ray Gelato, is featured in the London night-club scene in the film Scandal, based on the Profumo affair. more »

Year:

1972

150 Views

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On the bank of the river stood Running Bear, young Indian brave
On the other side of the river stood his lovely Indian maid
Little White Dove was her name, such a lovely sight to see
But their tribes fought with each other, so their love could never be.

Running Bear loved Little White Dove
With a love big as the sky
Running Bear loved Little White Dove
With a love that couldn't die.

He couldn't swim the raging river 'cause the river was too wide
He couldn't reach the Little White Dove waiting there on the other side
In the moonlight he could see her throwing kisses 'cross the waves
Her little heart was beating faster waiting for her Indian brave.

Running Bear loved Little White Dove
With a love big as the sky
Running Bear loved Little White Dove
With a love that couldn't die.

Running Bear dove in the water, Little White Dove did the same
And they swam out to each other through the swirling stream they came
As their hands touched and their lips met, the raging river pulled them down
Now they'll always be together in their happy hunting ground.

Running Bear loved Little White Dove
With a love big as the sky
Running Bear loved Little White Dove
With a love that couldn't die

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George Jones

George Glenn Jones (born September 12, 1931) is an American country music singer known for his long list of hit records, his distinctive voice and phrasing, and his marriage to Tammy Wynette. more »

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