Johnny Preston – Running Bear, is a teenage tragedy 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 and New Zealand 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, several months after Richardson’s death in the plane crash that also killed Buddy Holly and Ritchie Valens. Preston was signed to Mercury Records, and «Running Bear» was released in August 1959.
Johnny Preston – Running Bear
B-side «My Heart Knows»
Released August 1959
Recorded May 21, 1959
Studio Gold Star Studios, Houston, TX
Genre Pop
Length 2:38
Label Mercury
Songwriter(s) J. P. Richardson
Producer(s) Bill Hall
During the late 1960s and early 1970s, Sonny James enjoyed an unprecedented streak of success with his commercially released singles, many of them covers of previous pop hits.
COUNTRYPEDIA
Johnny Preston – Running Bear Lyrics
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 Little White Dove
Waiting on the other side
In the moonlight, he could see her
Throwing kisses ‘cross the waves
Her little heart was beating faster
Waiting there 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
GENIUS
