The Lion Sleeps Tonight
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"The Lion Sleeps Tonight" began as a 1939 African popular music hit "Mbube" that, in modified versions, also became a hit in the US and UK.
"Mbube" (Zulu for "lion") was first recorded by its writer, Solomon Linda, and his group, The Evening Birds, in 1939. Gallo Record Company paid Linda a single fee for the recording and no royalties. "Mbube" became a hit throughout South Africa and sold about one hundred thousand copies during the 1940s. The song became so popular it that Mbube lent its name to a style of African a capella music, though the style has since been replaced by isicathamiya (a softer version).
American musicologist Alan Lomax brought the song to the attention of folk group The Weavers' Pete Seeger. In 1952, they recorded their version entitled "Wimoweh", a mishearing of the original song's chorus of 'uyimbube' (meaning "you're a lion"), and credited the four group members as the composers (under the group pseudonym Paul Campbell) and published by Folkways. Their 1952 version, arranged by Gordon Jenkins, became a top-twenty hit in the U.S., and their live 1957 recording turned it into a folk music staple. This version was covered in 1959 by The Kingston Trio.
New lyrics to the song were written by George Weiss, Luigi Creatore, and Hugo Peretti, based very loosely upon the meaning of the original song. The Tokens' 1961 cover of this version rose to number one on the Billboard Hot 100 and still receives fairly frequent replay on many American oldies radio stations. In 1972 Robert John did a cover of this version. Since then, "Wimoweh"/"The Lion Sleeps Tonight" has remained popular and frequently covered.
In 2001, the song was sampled by the Baha Men for their song, "You All Dat".
Alternative band They Might Be Giants did a highly altered version of the song, called "The Guitar". The majority of the song was original, but the highly distinctive melody was present in the chorus.
In early 2006 'The Dancing Hippo And Dancing Dog' returned singing this as comedians.
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[edit] Copyright issues
Pete Seeger later said in the book A Lion's Trail, "The big mistake I made was not making sure that my publisher signed a regular songwriters’ contract with Linda. My publisher simply sent Linda some money and copyrighted The Weavers’ arrangement here and sent The Weavers some money."
In 2000 South African journalist Rian Malan wrote a feature article for Rolling Stone magazine, highlighting Linda's story and estimating that the song had earned U.S. $15 million for its use in the movie The Lion King alone; this prompted the South African documentary "The Lion's Trail" by Francois Verster that documented the song's history. Screened by PBS, in September 2006, the documentary won an Emmy Award.
In July 2004 the song became the subject of a lawsuit between the family of its writer Solomon Linda and Disney. The suit claimed that Disney owed $1.6 million in royalties for the use of "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" in the film and stage production of The Lion King. Meanwhile, publisher of The Weavers' "Wimoweh", TRO/Folkways, began to pay $3000 annually to Linda's heirs.
In February 2006 Linda's heirs reached a legal settlement for an undisclosed amount with Abilene Music, who held the worldwide rights and had licensed the song to Disney. This settlement applies to worldwide rights, not just South African, since 1987.
[edit] Selected list of recorded versions
[edit] Mbube
- 1939 Mbube - Solomon Linda and the Evening Birds (South African hit)
- Miriam Makeba
- 1988 Mbube - Ladysmith Black Mambazo, Coming to America soundtrack
- 1993 Mbube - Mahotella Queens, Women of the World
- 1999 Mbube - Ladysmith Black Mambazo, In Harmony
- 2006 Mbube - Mahotella Queens, Reign & Shine
- 2006 Mbube - Ladysmith Black Mambazo, Long Walk to Freedom
[edit] Wimoweh
- 1952 Wimoweh - The Weavers US #6
- 1952 Wimoweh - Jimmy Dorsey
- 1952 Wimoweh - Yma Sumac
- 1957 Wimoweh - The Weavers on live Carnegie Hall album
- 1959 Wimoweh - The Kingston Trio
- 1993 Wimoweh - Nanci Griffith with Odetta, on Other Voices, Other Rooms
[edit] The Lion Sleeps Tonight
- 1961 The Tokens US #1, UK #11
- 1961 Karl Denver UK #4 (1962 release)
- 1962 Henri Salvador (French language version "Le lion est mort ce soir") French #1
- 1972 Robert John US #3
- 1972 Dave Newman UK #34
- 1974 Ras Michael and the Sons of Negus (as "Rise Jah Jah Children")
- 1975 Brian Eno
- 1982 Tight Fit UK #1
- 1992 name tk Japanese #1
- 1992 The Guitar (The Lion Sleeps Tonight) - They Might Be Giants
- 1993 Pow Wow (band) French #1 (Cover of "Le lion est mort ce soir)
- 1993 R.E.M. (B-side track on the single release of The Sidewinder Sleeps Tonite, which itself references "The Lion Sleeps Tonight")
- The Nylons
- *NSYNC
- Sandra Bernhard
- Jimmy Cliff
- Film and Broadway versions of The Lion King
- Abi Meleibt! - Lipa Schmeltzer's Yiddish version
- 2001 Caribbean group Baha Men sampled the song on their own single, "You All Dat".
- Lebo M
| Preceded by: "Please Mr. Postman" by The Marvelettes |
Billboard Hot 100 number one single (The Tokens version) December 18, 1961 |
Succeeded by: "The Twist" by Chubby Checker |
| Preceded by: "Town Called Malice" by The Jam |
UK number one single (Tight Fit version) February 28, 1982 |
Succeeded by: "Seven Tears" by Goombay Dance Band |
