Post by Admin on Mar 15, 2015 12:45:25 GMT -5
"Running Bear" is a song written by J. P. Richardson (aka The Big Bopper) and sung most famously by Johnny Preston in 1959. Preston first sang the song in 1959 with background vocals by Richardson and George Jones, who did the "Indian chanting" of "uga-uga" during the three verses, as well as the "Indian war cries". 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.[1] 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 session's producer was Bill Hall with Preston on vocals and Link Davis on saxophone. Richardson, Hall and Jones performed the song's Indian chants.
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 in the movie where he plays "Running Bear" on the phonograph / record player, and he and Mathilda are dancing to the song. It occurs about midway through the movie.
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 session's producer was Bill Hall with Preston on vocals and Link Davis on saxophone. Richardson, Hall and Jones performed the song's Indian chants.
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 in the movie where he plays "Running Bear" on the phonograph / record player, and he and Mathilda are dancing to the song. It occurs about midway through the movie.