Teddy Bear (song)

"(Let Me Be Your) Teddy Bear" is a popular song recorded by Elvis Presley and published by Gladys Music. It was written by Kal Mann and Bernie Lowe and published in 1957 by Gladys Music, Elvis Presley's publishing company. Clear melodic roots of this tune can be heard in the many early recordings of Boll Weevil, a traditional blues song.

The song was a US number-one hit for Elvis Presley during the summer of 1957, staying at number-one for 7 weeks, and his third of the four that he would have that year. "(Let Me be Your) Teddy Bear" would also hit number one on the R&B Best Sellers List, becoming his fourth number one on that chart.^[1] In addition the song would hit number one on the country charts for a single week.^[2]

Covers

• Pat Boone on his LP Pat Boone Sings Guess Who? (1963).
• Laurel Aitken on his LP Scandal in a Brixton Market (1969).
• Tanya Tucker performed the song on It's Now or Never: The Tribute to Elvis (1994), a collection of Presley songs by various artists.
• ZZ Top on their album XXX (1999)
• Donna Loren recorded the song for her Donna Does Elvis in Hawaii (2010), an EP of her renditions of four Presley songs.^[3] The other songs were "Merry Christmas Baby", "Loving You", and "One Night".
• The Residents on their album "The King and Eye".

Pop culture

A modified version of the song has often been used for Teddy Grahams commercials. Also, during the early years of Full House, the three main adult characters would often sing the song as a lullaby for Michelle Tanner (one of those three characters, Michelle's uncle Jesse Katsopolis, was a die-hard Elvis fan).

Disney featured a music video in the special DTV Romancin', set entirely to clips featuring the bear characters from the company's animated films, including an introduction by the Gummi Bears.

References