Simon Smith and the Amazing Dancing Bear

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"Simon Smith and the Amazing Dancing Bear"
Single by Alan Price Set
B-side"Tickle Me"
Released24 February 1967[1]
Recorded1967
GenrePop, ragtime[2]
Length1:58
LabelDecca
Songwriter(s)Randy Newman
Producer(s)Ivor Raymonde
Alan Price Set singles chronology
"Willow Weep For Me"
(1966) 		"Simon Smith and the Amazing Dancing Bear"
(1967) 		""The House That Jack Built""
(1967)

"Simon Smith and the Amazing Dancing Bear" is a song written by Randy Newman, about a sincere young man of modest means named Simon Smith who entertains affluent ("well-fed") members of the public with his dancing bear. A recording by the Alan Price Set was a major success, charting at number four on the UK Singles Chart in April 1967.[3] Newman later recorded the song himself.

History[]

Randy Newman wrote the ragtime-influenced song in 1964.[4] He considered it a major stepping point in his songwriting, telling Performing Songwriter "I was writing a song, believe it or not, for Frank Sinatra Jr. And it was called something like "Susie" or "Mary" and I just all of a sudden couldn’t do it. So I ended up somewhere with "coat to wear" and "dancing bear"... ...and then I was never the same. And I never wrote particularly conventional songs after that."[5]

Though Sinatra Jr. never recorded the finished song. "Simon Smith and the Amazing Dancing Bear" was popularised in the UK by a recording by the Alan Price Set, issued 24 February 1967. Upon its release, Peter Jones of Record Mirror described Price as "high on my short list of Most Distinctive Voices" and characterised the song as "jazz-styled and bouncy and smokey and with tremendous punchy piano".[1] Don Short of Daily Mirror doubted the song's hit potential, writing "the song is not so weird as the title, but I can't see the Alan Price Set making the charts with it".[6]. 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".[7] The single was a major success, reaching number four on the Record Retailer chart in April 1967. Price filmed a promo video for the song with two bears from Colchester Zoo.[8]

Additionally, Newman offered the song to Californian sunshine pop band Harpers Bizarre, whose recording appears on their album Feelin' Groovy, issued in April 1967. Newman's own recording features on his 1972 album Sail Away. The song has also been covered by such artists as Harry Nilsson, Morrissey, Bobby Short, Akiko Yano, and Okkervil River. Bobbie Gentry recorded a gender-switched version, "Salome Smith and Her Amazing Dancing Bear".[9] The song appears in the nineteenth episode of the first season of The Muppet Show, sung by the character Scooter as Simon Smith and with Fozzie Bear as the dancing bear.

References[]

  1. ^ a b Jones, Peter (25 February 1967). "New singles reviewed by Peter Jones" (PDF). Record Mirror: 9. Retrieved 15 August 2021.
  2. ^ Freeman, Scott. "Randy Newman talks about "Good Old Boys" and his return to Atlanta's Symphony Hall". Arts Atl. Retrieved 15 August 2021.
  3. ^ "Alan Price Set". Official Charts. Retrieved 14 August 2021.
  4. ^ Lobb, Adrian. "Randy Newman: "America is taking backwards steps"". The Big Issue. Retrieved 15 August 2021.
  5. ^ Lydia Hutchinson. "Happy Birthday, Randy Newman". Performing Songwriter.
  6. ^ Short, Don (23 February 1967). "Short Shots". Daily Mirror.
  7. ^ McCartney, Paul (25 February 1967). "Paul McCartney reviews the new pop singles" (PDF). Melody Maker: 13. Retrieved 3 November 2021.
  8. ^ Jones, Peter (4 March 1967). "Alan's idea-THREE songs on a single" (PDF). Record Mirror: 2. Retrieved 15 August 2021.
  9. ^ "Salome Smith and Her Amazing Dancing Bear". AllMusic. Retrieved October 26, 2020.


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