Running bear
| Running bear | |
|---|---|
| Johnny Preston | |
| publication | 1959 |
| length | 2:33 |
| Author (s) | JP Richardson |
Running Bear is a song by JP Richardson that reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1959 in the version by Johnny Preston . The 1969 version of the country singer Sonny James reached number one on the country charts .
The original
The 2:33 minute long piece is about the unhappy love between the Indian couple Running Bear and Little White Dove. Both not only separate their warring tribes, but also the raging river on whose banks they face each other. The situation is hopeless (“their love could never be”), and so they plunge into the foaming water, where they are drawn down into the “Eternal Hunting Grounds” and only there find their happiness.
The song written by JP Richardson aka "The Big Bopper" was produced in the fall of 1958 at Gold Star Studio in Houston . Line manager was Bill Hall, the background music was provided by the studio band with saxophonist Link Davis, guitarist Hal Harris and Doc Lewis on piano and Buck Henson on drums. Richardson, Hall and George Jones provided the "Indian sound". Richardson did not live to see the release of the record because he was killed on February 3, 1959 in a plane crash. On July 6, 1959, Mercury released the single Running Bear with the B-side My Heart Knows under catalog no. 71474. On October 12, 1959, Billboard magazine Running Bear listed for the first time in the Hot 100, where the title reached # 83. After three weeks Preston fell out of the charts again, but celebrated a comeback on November 23rd and finally stood at number one on the singles charts for the first time on January 18, 1960. The piece could stay there for three weeks. In total, the Indian song was among the 100 best singles for 25 weeks.
Johnny Preston's Running Bear was also successful in Great Britain and Germany . In both countries the single was also distributed with the B-side My Heart Knows , in Great Britain under catalog no. AMT 1079 and in Germany under 21406. In the UK, Running Bear was number one on New Musical Express for two weeks in March 1960 , while it was ranked 36th in Germany.
Cover versions
United States
Also in 1959, the New York record company Bell released under catalog no. 133 a running bear version with the largely unknown singer Mark Devon. The record with the B-side Not One Minute More , sung by Lee Bennett, also went largely unnoticed. Much more successful was the American country singer Sonny James , who brought his single version (Capitol Records No. 2486) of Running Bear again into the US charts in 1969 and even reached number one in the country charts.
In 1962 a version of the country singer George Jones appeared on his long-playing record The New Favorites of George Jones (cat. No. 3193). Further album tracks with Running Bear appeared in 1975 with Danny Davis ( Dream Country ) and 1983 with Stiff Little Fingers ( All the Best ).
Germany
In Germany, the record companies published German-language cover versions of foreign hits since the mid-1950s. In May 1960, Polydor brought out the German adaptation of Running Bear titled Brown Bear and White Dove , sung by the American singer Gus Backus . The single was released under No. 24250 and with the B-side Blue Boy , also sung by Backus. The producer was Gerhard Mendelson , the text was written by Hans Bradtke and the playback was provided by the orchestra Johannes Fehring . In contrast to the original, Bradtke gave the story a happy ending: no rival tribes, the river dries up, brown bear runs over “and so he stayed with her forever, white dove was all his luck.” The title became for Gus Backus first big success. On September 10, 1960, the version was listed in the top 50 by the music market for the first time , reached the top listing with 16th place and stayed in the top 50 for a total of 27 weeks. In 2007, the Cagey Strings included Brown Bear and White Dove on their CD 25 Years of rock'n'roll oldies and rarities .
Austria
In 1980 the Austrian pop duo Waterloo & Robinson released a cover version of Running Bear as the B-side of the single Eleonora . In 2016, Waterloo took up the song again and released a remake of the German version of the Brown Bear and White Dove together with Roberto Blanco . Since there are two male interpreters, the text was adapted so that the two Indians, the brown bear and the white dove, are both in love with the same woman.
literature
- Fred Bronson: The Billboard Book of Number One Hits , Billboard Publications New York 1988, p. 64, ISBN 0-8230-7545-1
- Frank Laufenberg: Rock- und Poplexikon Vol. 2 , Econ Taschenbuch Verlag, Düsseldorf 1998, ISBN 3-612-26206-8
- Günter Ehnert: British Chart Singles 1950-1965 , Taurus Press Hamburg 1995, ISBN 3-922542-32-8
- Günter Ehnert: German Chart Singles 1956-1980 . Taurus Press Hamburg 1990, ISBN 3-922542-24-7
Individual evidence
- ↑ http://www.da-music.de/Specials/CAGEY-STRINGS-25-JAHRE-ROCK-N-ROLL-OLDIES-UND-RARITAeTEN-ARTNR-18302-2.html