1 position by Marty Robbins' "El Paso", and immediately followed by Mark Dinning's "Teen Angel", both of which feature a death of, or affecting, the protagonist.

Preston recorded the song at the Gold Star Studios in Houston, Texas,[1] a few 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.

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.

A German version titled Brauner Bär und Weiße Taube ("Brown Bear and White Dove") was recorded as a single by Gus Backus in 1960.

[19][20] In 1960, the Dutch group Het Cocktail Trio recorded a version of the song called Grote Beer ("Great Bear", but also "Ursa Major") about an Indian who travels in space.

The Guess Who included the song on their 1972 album Rockin', although the songwriting credit is incorrectly given to Clarence "Curly" Herdman, a country and bluegrass fiddler.

The song was occasionally part of Led Zeppelin's live repertoire in the early 1970s, during rock medleys contained within long versions of "Whole Lotta Love".