This hit in 1960 and 1969 was written by Jiles Perry Richardson. After a plane crash which took the life of rock star Buddy Holly on February 3, 1959. That date went down in music annals as “the day the music died.” Together with Holly were two other up-and-comers in the rock music field, Richie and “The Big Bopper,” Jiles Perry Richardson.

Richardson was born 1930 in Sabine Pass, Texas. He earned a place in the Beaumont broadcasting community on radio station KTRM and after a year in the Army, he returned to Beaumont, gaining notoriety be setting a new world record with a “Jape-A-Thon,” – 122 straight hours on the air.

J.P.’s song “Running Bear” first saw the light of day as a pop smash by Johnny Preston, whom Richardson had discovered in a Texas nightclub. Preston’s record vaulted all the way to #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 pop chart in 1960.

A country resurrection nine years later by Sonny James sent the title to the summit once again.

A major plus regarding the marketing of SonnyJames’ version of “Running Bear” came with his twice-yearly appearances on “The Ed Sullivan Show.” Sullivan rarely booked country acts on his show, but he and James got along really well and Ed was always happy to have Sonny come on. I’m guessing that James’ penchant for covering old pop hits and not sounding “too country” was the basis for Sullivan’s welcoming attitude.

When Sonny James performed “Running Bear” on the Sullivan show in May of 1969 (about a month before the record topped out at #1 on Billboard’s country chart June 14th), Ed had his choreographer Peter Generro work up a routine to use in the background while James sang the song. The dancers (in full Indian garb) added the extra visual touches during the performance and Sonny thought they did a good job. He credited his exposure of “Running Bear” on that program, as well as a couple of other network TV shows he sang the tune on, with the record’s success. Along with “Young Love,” “Running Bear” became one of James’ trademark hits and soon emerged as the traditional closing number in his live shows.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KYVt9h2k8bQ