SONG
"LOVE IT! However, I do have to sing # In the jungle, the mighty jungle, the lion sleeps tonight... # It's just a feel good melody." - LC
Written by: Solomon Linda
Producer: Griffiths Motsieloa
Label: Singer
Album: Mbube (1939)
FACTS
- The song's history is one clouded by cultural exploitation, starting in a music studio where Solomon Linda (a migrant Zulu musician) and his group were paid ten shillings for their original song.
- 'Mbube' ('Lion') was an instant hit, selling 10,000 in the Forties.
- A decade later, American folk musician Pete Seeger misheard the Zulu refrain and turned the song into the pop hit 'Wimoweh'.
- In 1961, George David Weiss, Hugo Peretti and Luigi Creatore added smoother arrangements and exotic lyrics, copyrighting what became "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" released by The Tokens.
- Despite the song's success, Linda died a pauper in 1962. He and his estate received almost none of the royalties the song has generated (including an estimate $15 million alone from its use in Disney's The Lion King).
- It was only in 2006, under the threat of legal action, that publishers Alibene Music agreed to a financial settlement with Linda's heirs.
"Wimoweh" (1952)
"The Lion Sleeps Tonight" (1961)
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