S.O.D. "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" by The Tokens

2/12/2015     Derived from as far back as 1888 that we know of, the word lion in Zulu terms comes from two different words: Ngonyama and Mbube.  Mbube is the original name of the song written and recorded in 1939 by Solomon Linda.  The song also started out in Africa for South African record company, Gallo.  Linda's melody was worthless and was marketed to black audiences.  It became a major hit throughout South Africa selling nearly 100,000 copies.  In 1949 the folk group, The Weavers recorded a version and entitled it "Wimoweh" which was actually a mishearing of the song's chorus "Uyimbube".  

     Then in 1961 RCA producers Hugo Perretti and Luigi Creatore teamed with musician and lyricist George David Weiss to create an arrangement for the teenage doo-wop group, The Tokens.  With the final addition of opera singer Anita Darian, this would be the version named "The Lion Sleeps Tonight".  It soared to #1 on the US Billboard Hot 100.  In the mid 90s it was licensed to Walt Disney and became even more popular, earning $15 million for its use in the movie "The Lion King".  This prompted a lawsuit in 2004 on behalf of the descendants of Solomon Linda.