Lyr Req: Lion Sleeps Tonight

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Lion Sleeps Tonight
From: Janie
Date: 01 Mar 06 - 10:10 PM

Quite some time ago I listened to a feature on NPR's "All Things Considered" about Solomon Linda and all the 'doings' around his song. They played a recording of it by a female African singer that was absolutely incredible. And of course I don't remember her name. I think it was a recording from the 50's or 60's. I've checked some of the discographies on-line of Mbube and do not think any of them list this recording. It was not Linda's recording, but it was not as recent (at least I don't think) as the other recordings listed by African musicians. NPR may have said she was a an African folk singer--perhaps South African. I heard the broadcast sometime within the last 2 years. I couldn't find anything in the NPR archives. I'm hoping some fine Mudcatter heard the NPR piece and can add more to the puzzle. I would love to have that recording.

Janie

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Lion Sleeps Tonight
From: JJ
Date: 02 Mar 06 - 09:53 AM

Janie

Perhaps it was Miriam Makeba.

She recorded "Mbube" on her self-titled 1960 RCA LP (LSP-2267) backed by the Chad Mitchell Trio.

JJ

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Lion Sleeps Tonight
From: Janie
Date: 02 Mar 06 - 10:15 AM

JJ-it could be, but I don't think so. I didn't hear anything or anyone sounding the least bit Chad Mitchellish on the recording.

Janie

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Lion Sleeps Tonight
From: bfdk
Date: 02 Mar 06 - 10:35 AM

Reading about this song made me remember something I saw on TV here in Denmark a couple of years back. I went hunting for it and finally found it.

The text is in Danish, but it tells the story also told here about how the song was stolen from Solomon Linda.

A well-known (in Denmark, that is) Danish pop singer - Flemming Bamse Jørgensen - used the song as the basis for one of his biggest hits called "Vimmersvej". For years and years he paid royalties to the American company, not knowing that the song didn't actually belong to them by right.

However, he eventually found out, and he was pretty p**ed with the company in question. So, he decided to do something about it. He got in touch with Solomon Linda's three daughters Elizabeth Ntsele, Fildah Ntsele, Delphi Ntsele and together they made a new recording of the Danish song. The new recording is based on some original recordings of the song, featuring Solomon Linda himself, and with his three daughters doing the backing (thus adding their voices to that of their deceased father). These recordings were done in South Africa in 2003, and later on Flemming Jørgensen added his song to their backing and the recording was released.

ALL revenues from this new recording are being / will be sent to the three Linda daughter in South Africa, and at the time of writing the article (2003) DKK 25,000 (about $ 4,000) had already been sent to them. Don't know how much has been sent as per today, though.

Best wishes,

Bente

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Lion Sleeps Tonight
From: JJ
Date: 03 Mar 06 - 10:03 AM

Janie

You're right. If it hadn't said on the label that the guys backing up Makeba were the Chad Mitchell Trio I would never have known.

It was 1960, and they were as unknown as she. Both Makeba and the CMT were proteges of Harry Belafonte, who contributed a blurb to the back cover.

JJ

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Lion Sleeps Tonight
From: jojofolkagogo
Date: 03 Mar 06 - 12:44 PM

Hey there y'all !!!

Now, If I were on a Dessert Island THIS record, by the Tokens, would be one I would DEFINITELY want with me ...


I just never tire of hearing it - its a WOW song !!!

How about a thread of your Desert Island Disks (8 records) either
TO HAVE

or

NOT to Have ???

A quick 'off the top of my head' to haves, I would list:

BUDDY HOLLY : True Love Ways
Little Eva:   The Locomotion
Tokens: Lion Sleeps tonight
BUDDY HOLLY: Crying Waiting Hopin'
DONOVAN:   To Sing For You
DIONNE WARWICK: Walking Backwards Down the Road
BUDDY HOLLY:   Well Alright ...
and Number Eight : I reserve Judgement, for time to give it some thought!!!

from Jo-Jo
([e-mail])

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Lion Sleeps Tonight
From: Mr Happy
Date: 03 Mar 06 - 12:53 PM

Azizi,

you are very welcome.

i heard some black french students sining this recently & the memory cued me to find more about the song.

cheers,

Mr H

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Lion Sleeps Tonight
From: Janie
Date: 23 Mar 06 - 08:07 AM

Looks like the family (and as a precedent some other families) will finally be compensated.
http://www.cnn.com/2006/SHOWBIZ/Music/03/22/lion.sleeps.royalty.ap/index.html

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Lion Sleeps Tonight
From: Charlie Baum
Date: 23 Mar 06 - 11:59 AM

March 22, 2006
Johannesburg Journal
In the Jungle, the Unjust Jungle, a Small Victory
By SHARON LaFRANIERE

JOHANNESBURG � As Solomon Linda first recorded it in 1939, it was a tender melody, almost childish in its simplicity � three chords, a couple of words and some baritones chanting in the background.

But the saga of the song now known worldwide as "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" is anything but a lullaby. It is fraught with racism and exploitation and, in the end, 40-plus years after his death, brings a measure of justice. Were he still alive, Solomon Linda might turn it into one heck of a ballad.

Born in 1909 in the Zulu heartland of South Africa, Mr. Linda never learned to read or write, but in song he was supremely eloquent. After moving to Johannesburg in his mid-20's, he quickly conquered the weekend music scene at the township beer halls and squalid hostels that housed much of the city's black labor force.

He sang soprano over a four-part harmony, a vocal style that was soon widely imitated.

By 1939, a talent scout had ushered Mr. Linda's group, the Original Evening Birds, into a recording studio where they produced a startling hit called "Mbube," Zulu for "The Lion." Elizabeth Nsele, Mr. Linda's youngest surviving daughter, said it had been inspired by her father's childhood as a herder protecting cattle in the untamed hinterlands.

"The lion was going round and round, and the lion was happy," she said. "But my father was not happy. He had been staying there since morning and he was hungry." The lyrics were spartan � just mbube and zimba, which means "stop" � but its chant and harmonies were so entrancing that the song came to define a whole generation of Zulu a cappella singing, a style that became known simply as Mbube. Music scholars say the 78 r.p.m. recording of "Mbube" was probably the first African record to sell 100,000 copies.

From there, it took flight worldwide. In the early 50's, Pete Seeger recorded it with his group, the Weavers. His version differed from the original mainly in his misinterpretation of the word "mbube" (pronounced "EEM-boo-beh"). Mr. Seeger sang it as "wimoweh," and turned it into a folk music staple.

There followed a jazz version, a nightclub version, another folk version by the Kingston Trio, a pop version and finally, in 1961, a reworking of the song by an American songwriter, George Weiss. Mr. Weiss took the last 20 improvised seconds of Mr. Linda's recording and transformed it into the melody. He added lyrics beginning "In the jungle, the mighty jungle." A teen group called the Tokens sang it with a doo-wop beat � and it topped charts worldwide.

Some 150 artists eventually recorded the song. It was translated into languages from Dutch to Japanese. It had a role in more than 13 movies. By all rights, Mr. Linda should have been a rich man.

Instead, he lived in Soweto with barely a stick of furniture, sleeping on a dirt floor carpeted with cow dung.

Mr. Linda received 10 shillings � about 87 cents today � when he signed over the copyright of "Mbube" in 1952 to Gallo Studios, the company that produced his record. He also got a job sweeping floors and serving tea in the company's packing house.

His eight children survived on maize porridge, known as pap. When they passed a grade in school, their reward was an egg. Two died as babies, one of malnutrition, said his daughter Ms. Nsele, now 47.

"Chicken feet and pap, chicken feet and pap," she said. "That was our meal for years and years."

When Mr. Linda died in 1962, at 53, with the modern equivalent of $22 in his bank account, his widow had no money for a gravestone.

How much he should have collected is in dispute. Over the years, he and his family have received royalties for "Wimoweh" from the Richmond Organization, the publishing house that holds the rights to that song, though not as much as they should have, Mr. Seeger said.

"I didn't realize what was going on and I regret it," said Mr. Seeger, now 86, adding that he learned only recently that Mr. Linda received less than the 50 percent of publishing royalties Mr. Seeger says he was due. "I have always left money up to other people. I was kind of stupid."

But where Mr. Linda's family really lost out, his lawyers claim, was in "The Lion Sleeps Tonight," a megahit.

From 1991 to 2000, the years when "The Lion King" began enthralling audiences in movie theaters and on Broadway, Mr. Linda's survivors received a total of perhaps $17,000 in royalties, according to Hanro Friedrich, the family's lawyer.

A lawyer for Abilene Music, the publishing house for "The Lion Sleeps Tonight," did not return repeated calls for comment.

But Owen Dean, a South African copyright lawyer who also represents the family, said the amount was a mere pittance compared with the profits the song generated.

The Lindas say they knew no better. Ms. Nsele said she remembered hearing her father's tune on the radio as a teenager in the 1970's and recalled: "I asked my mother, 'Who are those people?' She said she didn't know. She was happy because the husband's song was playing. She didn't know she was supposed to get something."

Indeed, few people knew until Rian Malan, the South African author and songwriter, documented the inequity in 2000 in Rolling Stone magazine. In a telephone interview this month, Mr. Malan said he was stunned "by the degree to which everyone was relying on the Lindas never asking the question" of why they were paid so little.

Mr. Malan's article embarrassed several major players in the American music industry and brought both Mr. Friedrich and Mr. Dean to the family's defense.

The Lindas filed suit in 2004, demanding $1.5 million in damages, but their case was no slam-dunk. Not only had Mr. Linda signed away his copyright to Gallo in 1952, Mr. Dean said, but his wife, who was also illiterate, signed them away again in 1982, followed by his daughters several years later.

Ms. Nsele contends the family was hoodwinked by a South African lawyer, now deceased. Mr. Friedrich said the lawyer appeared to have worn two hats, simultaneously representing the family and the song's copyright holders. In their lawsuit, the Lindas invoked an obscure 1911 law under which the song's copyright reverted to Mr. Linda's estate 25 years after his death. On a separate front, they criticized the Walt Disney Company, whose 1994 hit movie "The Lion King" featured a meerkat and warthog singing "The Lion Sleeps Tonight."

Disney argued that it had paid Abilene Music for permission to use the song, without knowing its origins.

But for a company built on its founder's benevolent image, the case "had all the makings of a nightmare," Mr. Dean said � a David and Goliath story in which Disney raked in profits from the song while Mr. Linda's children toiled as maids and factory workers, lived without indoor plumbing and sometimes had to borrow from their lawyer for food.

In February, Abilene agreed to pay Mr. Linda's family royalties from 1987 onward, ending the suit. No amount has been disclosed, but the family's lawyers say their clients should be quite comfortable.

A representative for Disney would not discuss the circumstances behind the lawsuit, but the company said in a statement that Walt Disney Pictures had licensed " 'The Lion Sleeps Tonight' in good faith" and was pleased that the litigation had been resolved "to everyone's satisfaction."

Some injustices cannot be redressed: in 2001, Mr. Linda's daughter Adelaide died of AIDS at age 38, unable to afford life-saving antiretroviral treatment.

"I was angry before," said Ms. Nsele, who, as a government nurse, is one of the few of Mr. Linda's descendants who is employed. "They didn't ask permission. They just decided to do anything they wanted with my father's song."

"But now it seems we must forgive, because they have come to their senses and realized they have made a mistake," Ms. Nsele said. "The Bible says you must try to forgive."

"Not 'try,' " her 17-year-old daughter Zandile corrected. "It says 'forgive.' "

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Lion Sleeps Tonight
From: Charley Noble
Date: 24 Mar 06 - 10:44 AM

An important update in a long saga. Thanks for the post.

One never knows when a sleeping lion will wake up...

Charley Noble

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Lion Sleeps Tonight
From: harryrages
Date: 24 Mar 06 - 03:21 PM

What is this song - The Lion Sleeps Tonight - can somebody sing it for me?

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Lion Sleeps Tonight
From: dozy rozy
Date: 24 Mar 06 - 04:50 PM

Never wake a sleeping lion.The bugger might sing wimoweh.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Lion Sleeps Tonight
From: Azizi
Date: 24 Mar 06 - 08:24 PM

dozy rozy-I loved your post. That's classic!!!

harryrages, here's a common version to this song.

The Lion Sleeps Tonight Lyrics


Wee-ooh wim-o-weh. Wee-ooh wim-o-weh.
Wim-o-weh o-wim-o-weh o-wim-o-weh o-wim-o-weh
o-wim-o-weh o-wim-o-weh o-wim-weh.
Wim-o-weh o-wim-o-weh o-wim-o-weh o-wim-o-weh
o-wim-o-weh o-wim-o-weh o-wim-weh.

In the jungle, the mighty jungle, the lion sleeps tonight.
In the jungle, the quiet jungle, the lion sleeps tonight.

Wee-ooh wim-o-weh.
Wim-o-weh o-wim-o-weh o-wim-o-weh o-wim-o-weh
o-wim-o-weh o-wim-o-weh o-wim-weh.
Wim-o-weh o-wim-o-weh o-wim-o-weh o-wim-o-weh
o-wim-o-weh o-wim-o-weh o-wim-weh.

Near the village, the peaceful village, the lion sleeps tonight.
Near the village, the quiet village, the lion sleeps tonight.

Wee-ooh wim-o-weh. Wim-o-weh o-wim-o-weh o-wim-o-weh
o-wim-o-weh o-wim-o-weh o-wim-o-weh o-wim-weh.
Wim-o-weh o-wim-o-weh o-wim-o-weh o-wim-o-weh
o-wim-o-weh o-wim-o-weh o-wim-weh.

Hush, my darling, don't fear, my darling, the lion sleeps tonight.
Hush, my darling, don't fear, my darling, the lion sleeps tonight.

Whuh whuh whuh wim-o-weh. Wee-ooh wim-o-weh wee-ooh
wim-o-weh wee-ooh wim-o-weh.

Source:http://www.sing365.com/music/lyric.nsf/The-Lion-Sleeps-Tonight-lyrics-'N-Sync/2EB80954F040C9CE48256D2500039033

Note: this version is somewhat different than the one sung in the Broadway play The Lion King.

See: http://www.lionking.org/lyrics/OBCR/LionSleeps.html
for those lyrics.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Lion Sleeps Tonight
From: harryrages
Date: 25 Mar 06 - 02:34 PM

Aaarghh! You went and sang it and I was only kidding. Now that's me back on the valium and humming wimoweh!

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Lion Sleeps Tonight
From: Azizi
Date: 25 Mar 06 - 02:36 PM

LOL!!

That song is hard to get out of your mind once it gets in there, isn't it?

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Lion Sleeps Tonight
From: Charley Noble
Date: 25 Mar 06 - 02:44 PM

Yes, most times it's best to let sleeping lions lie.

Now does anyone want the lyrics to "Kumbayah"?

Zeka-pay, zo-ma-sali-lah!
Charley Noble

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Lion Sleeps Tonight
From: Girl Friday
Date: 29 Mar 06 - 05:20 PM

Us leopards were wund'rin'... why has this thread suddenly been reactivated?????????
All you guys who are fed up with "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" etc.
should be told- jo-jo knows already...........

TONE DEAF LEOPARD HAVE RE-WRITTEN THE BLOOMIN' THING!!!!!

GO TO WWW.TONEDEAFLEOPARD.BRAVEHOST.COM

Sue and Trev Leopard

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Lion Sleeps Tonight
From: Azizi
Date: 27 Jan 09 - 08:32 AM

Here are some links to YouTube videos of this song:

Solomon Linda And The Evening ( The First Version ) - Mbube
"Solomon Linda And The Evening Birds Original Version, The Lion Sleeps Tonight (El león duerme esta noche) 1939 [sound recording with one photo of Lindo's group] "

**
The Tokens - The Lion Sleeps Tonight

[sound recording with photo of the group]

**

Miriam Makeba - Mbube
[sound recording and photograph]

**

Mahotella Queens - Mbube
[sound recording and photo of this African singing group]

**
Ladysmith Black Mambazo - The Lion Sleeps Tonight
"Ladysmith Black Mambazo [from the album] Gift of the Tortoise'
[sound recording, with LadySmith Black Mambazo album covers and a photo of the group]

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Lion Sleeps Tonight
From: Darowyn
Date: 27 Jan 09 - 03:15 PM

I used to use this song as a student assignment in musical arrangement.
Accordingly I have recordings based on "Mbube" which are Blues, Drum and Bass, Techno, crossed with other songs, such as Guns and Roses' "Welcome to the Jungle" or a tune by Nine Inch Nails.
But the wierdest version in my collection is the one recorded by the unearthly and recently deceased, Yma Sumac.
I can't remember where I found it, but it is well worth seeking out.
Thanks for the Youtube links Azizi, The original version is quite hard to find.
I still think it is a brilliant tune, especially since it is able to survive everything that has been thrown at it.
It warms my heart to think that Mr Linda's family are finally reaping the benefit of it's success over all these years.
Cheers

Dave

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Lion Sleeps Tonight
From: GUEST,TJ in San Diego
Date: 27 Jan 09 - 05:40 PM

With all this rhythmic African love, can "Mangwane Mpulele" be far behind?

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Lion Sleeps Tonight
From: The Fooles Troupe
Date: 28 Jan 09 - 01:24 AM

At the 2008/9 Woodford Festival, they had imported a big name US 'singing instructor' - he performed on NYE - got the audience doing all sorts of things, but we Aussies fooled him.

He started a rhythm that he thought was 'random & harmless' using one of those new fangled 'looping boxes', and before he could control things, the whole crowd burst into The Lion Sleeps Tonight...

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Lion Sleeps Tonight
From: Mr Happy
Date: 26 Feb 12 - 07:07 AM

Explanation here:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wimoweh

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Lion Sleeps Tonight
From: GUEST,Phil d'Conch
Date: 30 Mar 16 - 07:00 PM

One name 'strangely' missing from the Wiki:

Jim Dixon (23 Jan 02 - 01:44 PM)
"Adapted in 1951 by Paul Campbell with English words by Roy Ilene and recorded by The Weavers as 'Wimoweh'.

Richard Wright (24 Feb 03 - 10:57 PM)
"Peter Seeger is interviewed and says he got the song from Linda's record via a Decca rep--I think it was Lomax."

Roy Ilene, aka Milt Gabler (1911-2001,) the guy who founded the Commodore label and stuck "Strange Fruit" in everybody's ear. That got him an A&R slot at Decca and eventually the Coral sub-label. (& "Choo Choo Ch'Boogie" & Bill Haley & Rock & Roll &c &c.)

fwiw: Also a witness in the "Rum & Coca-Cola" calypso trials and had troubles with "Jump in the Line (Shake Señora)" but the lawyers lost/settled out of court on those.

And then there was… "Danke Schoen" ...Mad genius for "memorable."

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Lion Sleeps Tonight
From: Peter the Squeezer
Date: 31 Mar 16 - 02:17 PM

The urge to sing "Lion Sleeps Tonight" is only ever

A whim away

A whim away

....




Sorry

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Lion Sleeps Tonight
From: GUEST,Phil d'Conch
Date: 08 Aug 17 - 09:36 PM

Pulling out the old vinyl, saying "Adios." Slightly off topic in a lyric request thread I know. He doesn't even yodel.

Glen Campbell - Wimoweh

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Lion Sleeps Tonight
From: GUEST
Date: 20 Dec 23 - 03:55 AM

hank you to all mudcats on the song mbube the lion sleeps tonight. in 1994 i heard this song been used for the film the lion king and often talked about this song with my friend leanne and hearing this song a lot. in 1005 my mate martin wanted to try and sing this on my group brave hearts because of the lyrics of this song. this did not go well for the group and we needed better singers. when i got more in to new technology for collecting old 1930s and earlier recordings. in 2005 when i was not playing with my band i bought a cd called you heard it hear first and still have this today. most of the songs that are on there are first versions of the songs that we know today like i got my mind set on you by james ray and sealed with a kiss by the 4 knights. oddly mbube by solomon linda's birds 1939 first recording took a lot of upsets to my band doing this song. after my friend left to go to england and my heath began to get better i did a lot on getting older recordings on the mudcat and revue this song quite a lot but its a song that gets used again in many newer songs with new words. for some folks who know the song the tune is not from 1961 as when i first new its history its from 1939 and was first recorded by solomon linda. the first translation of this song in english was by paul campbell and roy ileen in 1952 as wwimoweh and was first recorded in english by the weevers this folk group got to number 5 with pete seeger singing lead. in1961 george wise wrote new words to the tune for a a young neil sedaka to sing on he was haveng hits on his own the group were called the tokens and this recording got to number 1 for christmas 1961 with please mister postman by the marvelets at number 2. a very unusual rewritten song in the 1990s was by the group rem ho i do not know much of. the song is called the sidewinder sleeps tonight this song has a newer tune that the singers and players write them self with still the 1939 tunes origins are still heard on the many people still write there own links to where they're professionals ot just amateurs

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Lion Sleeps Tonight
From: Acorn4
Date: 20 Dec 23 - 04:23 AM

I seem to remember the song was a later hit by a band called"Tight Fit"

I presume they were talking about their underpants:-

The Lion Sleeps Tonight