The Alan Price Set released a version as a double A-side with "Tickle Me" on 24 February 1967,[2] and it reached number four on the Record Retailer chart in Britain.

[3] The song concerns Simon Smith, a young man of modest means who entertains affluent ("well-fed") diners with his dancing bear.

[5] Newman first offered Simon Smith and the Amazing Dancing Bear to Californian sunshine pop band Harpers Bizarre.

[11] A previously unreleased Bobbie Gentry recording of the song, retitled "Salome Smith and Her Amazing Dancing Bear", appears on the 2018 boxset The Girl from Chickasaw County: The Complete Capitol Masters.

[13] Reviewing the week's new singles for Melody Maker, Paul McCartney praised the song and considered it a likely hit, describing it as "so much better than the period, vaudeville stuff because it's still a bit modern".