"The Lion Sleeps Tonight" is a song originally written and first recorded in 1939 bySolomon Linda[2] under the title "Mbube",[3] through South AfricanGallo Record Company. In 1961, a version adapted into English by thedoo-wop groupthe Tokens became a number-one hit in the United States. It earned millions inroyalties from cover versions and film licensing. Lyrics of Linda's original version were written inZulu, while those from the Tokens' adaptation were written byGeorge David Weiss.
The original song title was "Mbube" (theZulu word for "lion") and was written and first recorded in 1939 bySolomon Linda,[6] aSouth AfricanZulu singer, who worked for theGallo Record Company inJohannesburg as a cleaner and record packer. He spent his weekends performing with his musical ensemble, "The Evening Birds", and it was at thisrecord label, under the direction of producer "Griffiths Motsieloa", that Linda and his fellow musicians recorded several songs, including "Mbube", which incorporated acall and response pattern common among manySub-Saharan Africanethnic groups, including the Zulu.
According to journalistRian Malan: "'Mbube' wasn't the most remarkable tune, but there was something terribly compelling about the underlying chant, a dense meshing of low male voices above which Solomon yodeled and howled for two exhilarating minutes, occasionally making it up as he went along. The third take was the great one, but it achieved immortality only in its dying seconds, when Solly took a deep breath, opened his mouth and improvised the melody..."
Issued as a 78-rpmphonograph record[7] and marketed to black audiences, "Mbube" became a hit and Linda a star throughout South Africa. By 1948, the song had sold over 100,000 copies in Africa and among black South African immigrants in Great Britain. Linda's song also gave the name to a style of Africana cappella music that evolved intoIsicathamiya (also calledMbube music), popularized by the groupLadysmith Black Mambazo.[8]
In 1949Alan Lomax, then working as folk music director forDecca Records, brought Solomon Linda's 78-rpm recording to the attention of his friendPete Seeger, leader of thefolk groupThe Weavers. In November 1951, after having performed the song for at least a year in their concerts, The Weavers recorded an adapted version with brass, string orchestra and chorus and released it as a 78-rpm single titled "Wimoweh", a mishearing of the original song's chorus of "Uyimbube" ("You are a lion" in Zulu). Their version contained the chanting chorus "Wimoweh" and Linda's improvised line. The Weavers credited the song as "Oral tradition", with arrangement by "Paul Campbell", later found to be a pseudonym used by The Weavers in order to claim royalties.[9] It reachedBillboard's top ten and became a staple of The Weavers' live repertoire, achieving further exposure on their best-sellingThe Weavers at Carnegie HallLP album, recorded in 1955 and released in 1957.
Miriam Makeba also covered the song in 1960, with the original title "Mbube" and giving writing credits to "J. Linda".[9] In 1961, twoRCA Records producers,Hugo Peretti andLuigi Creatore, hired Weiss to arrange aDoo-wop andRhythm and blues cover of "Wimoweh" for the B-side of a 45-rpm single called "Tina", sung by groupThe Tokens. Weiss wrote the English lines "In the jungle, the mighty jungle, The lion sleeps tonight..." and "Hush, my darling, don't fear, my darling...".[11] "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" was issued by RCA in that year, and it rocketed to number one on theBillboard Hot 100. Weiss' "Abilene Music, Inc." was the publisher of this arrangement, and listed "Albert Stanton" (a pseudonym for "Al Brackman", the business partner ofPete Seeger's music publisher,Howie Richmond) as one of the song's writers or arrangers.[12]
Social historian Ronald D. Cohen writes: "Howie Richmond copyrighted many songs originally in the public domain but now slightly revised to satisfy Decca and also to reap profits".[13] Howie Richmond's claim of author's copyright could secure both the songwriter's royalties and his company's publishing share of the song earnings.[2]
AlthoughSolomon Linda was listed as a performer on the record itself,The Weavers thought they had recorded atraditional Zulu song. Their managers, the publisher, and their attorneys knew otherwise because they had been contacted by — and had reached an agreement with — Eric Gallo ofGallo Record Company inSouth Africa. The Americans maintained, however, that South African copyrights were not valid because South Africa was not a signatory to U.S. copyright law.[2] In the 1950s, after Linda's authorship was made clear,Pete Seeger sent $1000 to the South African artist. The folk singer also said he instructedTRO/Folkways to henceforth pay his share of authors' earnings to Linda. Seeger apparently trusted his publisher's word of honor and either saw no need, or was unable, to make sure these instructions to be carried out.[2]
In 2000, South African journalistRian Malan wrote a feature article forRolling Stone in which he recounted Linda's story and estimated that the song had earned $15 million for its use in theDisney 1994 movieThe Lion King alone. The piece prompted filmmakerFrançois Verster to create theEmmy-winning documentaryA Lion's Trail, released in 2002, which tells Linda's story while incidentally exposing the workings of the multi-million dollar corporate music publishing industry.[14] In 2003 a CGI animation French TV series,Pat & Stan, created byPierre Coffin who also createdDespicable Me, features protagonists, a brown hippopotamus and a yellow dog, singing "The Lion Sleeps Tonight". It marked the two's debut appearance and was the pilot episode toITV's shorts and the sketch of the same name.
In July 2004, as a result of the publicity generated by Malan's article and the subsequent documentary, the song became the subject of a lawsuit between Linda's estate and Disney, claiming that the latter owed $1.6 million in royalties for the use of "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" in the film andmusical stage productions ofThe Lion King.[15] At the same time, theRichmond Organization began to pay $3,000 annually to the Linda's estate. In February 2006, the South African singer's descendants reached a legal settlement withAbilene Music Publishers, who held the worldwide rights and had licensed the song to Disney, to place the earnings of the song in a trust.[16][17]
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