William Flew Running Bare

American pop singer who enjoyed hits in the US and Britain with Running Bear and Cradle of Love

While it would be unfair and inaccurate to describe Johnny Preston as a one-hit wonder, his fame rested almost entirely on the success of the song Running Bear, which reached No 1 on both sides of the Atlantic in 1960.

Preston provided the vocal performance of the song but it was written by J. P. Richardson, better known as the DJ and singer the Big Bopper, and became a hit only after Richardson had died in the plane crash in which Buddy Holly and Richie Valens were also killed in February 1959.

Richardson wrote the song as a teenage tragedy and it told the story of the doomed romance between Running Bear, an “Indian brave”, and Little White Dove, an “Indian maid”.

Released in October 1959, it became a US No 1 at the beginning of the following year. It reached the No 1 slot in the UK in March 1960. Preston was awarded a gold disc after more than one million copies were sold.

Johnny Preston Courville was born in 1939 in Port Arthur, Texas. He sang in high-school choral contests, but like millions of American teenagers became an enthusiastic convert to the joys of rock’n’roll and formed his own band, the Shades.

It was after Richardson had seen them performing at a local club that he offered Preston the chance to record Running Bear.

He followed up the success of that record with Cradle of Love, which reached No 2 in the UK and No 7 in the US, but after Feel So Fine, his third release, performed creditably, the hits tailed off.

He died from continuing problems after having undergone heart surgery last year.

What other bears in water might look like