The Lion Sleeps Tonight

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Pete Seeger

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Some years later, Gallo sent a bundle of records to Decca Records in the United States.<ref>Template:Harvard citation no brackets; Template:Harvard citation no brackets</ref> They were about to be discarded before a Decca employee, Alan Lomax, salvaged them; among these records was "Mbube". He then handed the box over to the folk singer Pete Seeger of the Weavers.<ref name=":16">Template:Harvard citation no brackets</ref> A penniless banjo player, Seeger had entered the music scene after quitting university and accustoming himself with popular songs of the Great Depression.<ref>Template:Harvard citation no brackets</ref> "Mbube" fascinated him,<ref name=":16" /> and he promptly transcribed it word for word,<ref>Template:Harvard citation no brackets</ref> although he misheard the chorus as wimoweh.<ref>Template:Harvard citation no brackets; Template:Harvard citation no brackets</ref> In December 1951,<ref name="LibraryofCongress">Template:Harvnb</ref> the Weavers released a cover of "Mbube" named "Wimoweh", which, as Malan writes, "was faithful to the Zulu original in almost all respects save for the finger-popping rhythm."<ref>Template:Harvard citation no brackets</ref> Seeger later remarked that "Wimoweh" was "just about my favorite song to sing for the next forty years."<ref name=":16" />

Shortly after its release, Gallo sold "Mbube" to The Richmond Organization in exchange for the rights to administer "Wimoweh" in some bush territories.<ref name=":19" /> Songwriting credits were given to the fictitious "Paul Campbell", a tactic enabling the Weavers to claim royalties on songs from the public domain, even if "Mbube" was not in the public domain.<ref name=":20" /> Such a practice was common at the time.<ref>Template:Harvard citation no brackets</ref> Royalties for "Wimoweh" were split two ways: half went to the Weavers' publishers—Howard Richmond (of The Richmond Organization) and Albert Brackman—and their manager, Pete Kameron, and the other half to the Weavers.<ref>Template:Harvard citation no brackets</ref> None went to Linda.<ref name=":20">Template:Harvard citation no brackets</ref>

"Wimoweh" reached No. 6 on the US charts,<ref name=":28">Template:Harvard citation no brackets; Template:Harvard citation no brackets</ref> but this success was briefly derailed when Harvey Matusow, a prolific informer of the McCarthy era, accused three of the Weavers of being affiliated with the Communist Party.<ref>Template:Harvard citation no brackets</ref> Later, the song's profile was raised when the Weavers performed it at Carnegie Hall in 1957.<ref name=":17">Template:Harvard citation no brackets</ref> Jimmy Dorsey<ref name=":22">Template:Harvard citation no brackets</ref> and the Kingston Trio recorded covers around this time.<ref name=":17" />

George Weiss, the Tokens, and "The Lion Sleeps Tonight"

George David Weiss

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Malan writes that by the end of the 1950s, "almost everyone in America knew the basic refrain" of "Wimoweh".<ref name=":22" /> After hearing a live Weavers performance of the song,<ref name=":8">Template:Harvard citation no brackets</ref>Template:Refn the Tokens, a teen doo-wop group from Brooklyn, decided to record their own version.<ref>Template:Harvard citation no brackets</ref> They had already attained a hit, "Tonight I Fell in Love", and signed up with RCA for a three-record contract effectively commencing in 1961.<ref>Template:Harvard citation no brackets; Template:Harvard citation no brackets</ref> While their first two records, "When I Go to Sleep at Night/Dry Your Eyes" and "Sincerely", struggled commerically, their third would fare better.<ref name=":23">Template:Harvard citation no brackets</ref>

For their third attempt,<ref name=":23" /> the Tokens approached the musician George David Weiss and solicited an overhaul of "Wimoweh", to "give it some intelligible lyrics and a contemporary feel."<ref name=":24">Template:Harvard citation no brackets</ref> He purged the song of its shrieks and hollers, while leaving the chant unchanged,<ref name=":24" /> and made Linda's final improvised notes the new tune.<ref name=":6" /> 33 words were added as English lyrics,<ref name=":25">Template:Harvard citation no brackets</ref> beginning with, "In the jungle, the mighty jungle, the lion sleeps tonight."<ref name=":30">Template:Harvard citation no brackets; Template:Harvard citation no brackets</ref> The Tokens then recorded Weiss' version, with Jay Siegel performing falsettos, the rest of the band chanting "wimoweh," and the guest opera singer Anita Darian "[diving] in the high heavens" with her "haunting" countermelodies.<ref name=":25" />Template:Refn Accompanying them were an orchestra, a percussionist on timpani, and session musicians on guitar, drums and bass.<ref name=":25" /> Hugo Peretti and Luigi Creatore produced the piece.<ref name=":23" /> Ultimately, the Tokens were not particularly enthralled with "The Lion Sleeps Tonight", and it was released in October 1961<ref name="BillboardMusicWeek">Template:Harvnb</ref> as a B-side.<ref name=":25" /> Linda received no credit.<ref name=":40">Template:Harvard citation no brackets</ref>

While the A-side, "Tina", flopped,<ref name=":25" /> "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" surged to No. 1 in the US charts<ref name=":26" /> and in numerous other countries.<ref name=":4" /> Many covers of the song found similar success in the years to come,<ref name="Malan57" /> including Karl Denver's, which reached No. 4 in the UK in 1962,<ref>Template:Harvnb</ref> Robert John's, which rose to No. 3 in the US a decade later,<ref>Template:Harvnb; Template:Harvard citation no brackets</ref> and Tight Fit's, which topped the UK charts in 1982.<ref>Template:Harvard citation no brackets; Template:Harvard citation no brackets</ref> A cover by Swedish pop group the Hounds became a large hit in the Nordic countries in 1967,<ref>Template:Harvard citation no brackets; Template:Harvard citation no brackets</ref> a version journalist Annika Henning stated was the Swedish "summer hit" of that year.<ref>Template:Harvnb</ref> French and Japanese covers also achieved chart success in the 1990s,<ref name=":31" /> and Miriam Makeba performed it at President John F. Kennedy's birthday.<ref>Template:Harvard citation no brackets; Template:Harvard citation no brackets</ref> According to Marti Smiley Childs and Jeff March, "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" was the first African song to top the US charts.<ref name=":23" /> The Tokens subsequently became music producers, and while their fame as performers waned—only managing to land their next top 40 US single four years later—they fluorished in their new role. Among their productions was the Chiffons' "He's So Fine", a No. 1 hit.<ref name=":23" />

In 1994, "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" rose to the spotlight when it featured in the Disney film The Lion King.<ref>Template:Harvard citation no brackets; Template:Harvard citation no brackets; Template:Harvard citation no brackets</ref> The film would gross nearly $1 billion<ref name=":5" /> and produce many soundtrack CDs.<ref>Template:Harvard citation no brackets; Template:Harvard citation no brackets</ref> It was later included in the 1997 staged musical of the same name,<ref name=":27" /> which remains the highest-grossing Broadway show of all time.<ref name=":5" /> By the mid-2000s, "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" had been recorded by over 150 artists worldwide<ref name=":3" /> and had a role in more than thirteen movies.<ref name=":12" />

Malan, Verster, and exposing the history

In spite of the song's immense fame, Linda's family had earned very little in royalties,<ref name=":12" /> and Linda himself had been all but forgotten.<ref name=":34" /> Due to this,<ref name=":8" /> in 2000, the South African journalist Rian Malan penned an essay for Rolling Stone which shed light on the origins of "The Lion Sleeps Tonight".<ref name=":30" /> He told the story of "Mbube", its eventual rise to success, and the struggles faced by Linda's daughters,<ref>Template:Harvard citation no brackets; Template:Harvard citation no brackets</ref> and concluded that "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" had earned some $15 million in royalties.<ref>Template:Harvard citation no brackets</ref> Two years later, fellow South African François Verster composed a documentary about Linda and "Mbube", A Lion's Trail.<ref name=":29" /> In the writers Håvard Ovesen and Adam Haupt's words, it "seeks to obtain justice for a man marginalised by his status as a black African musician in a racist and exploitative environment."<ref name=":32" /> Both Malan's essay and Verster's documentary greatly publicised Linda's history.<ref name=":2" />

Legal issues

1951–1990: Early conflict

Conflict over songwriting credits and royalty payments has engulfed "Wimoweh" and "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" ever since their release. The earliest dispute dates to Template:Circa. Upon learning that Linda was not to be granted any songwriting royalties, Seeger objected, insisting that Linda, as the "true" author of "Wimoweh", should receive his due. He directed his publisher to send Linda the royalties, at one point dispatching a $1,000 check himself,<ref>Template:Harvard citation no brackets</ref> but Linda's daughters later denied that consistent payments for "Wimoweh" had been sent made since the 1950s.<ref>Template:Harvard citation no brackets</ref> Nonetheless, Seeger eventually stated that "I never got author’s royalties on 'Wimoweh'. … I assumed [the song's publishers] were keeping the publisher’s fifty percent and sending the rest."<ref name=":21">Template:Harvard citation no brackets</ref> In 1971, The Richmond Organization acknowledged that the song was based on "Mbube", and since then, Linda's family has received royalty payments totalling 12.5 percent of "Wimoweh"'s overall earnings.<ref name=":28" />

The next dispute concerned the Tokens' revision. Peretti, Creatore, and Weiss credited "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" solely to themselves, thinking that the Weavers' tune was based on traditional African music and thus could not be copyrighted, but this was not the case.<ref name=":21" /> As the song was achieving widespread success, Howard Richmond insisted that the trio cede publishing rights back to the Weavers. They complied, and the Tokens retained full songwriting credits.<ref name=":18" />

However, the conflict was still unresolved. In 1989, the copyright on "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" was about to expire, and Weiss demanded Richmond and Brackman pay him and his fellow songwriters a generous bonus, lest he renew the song's copyright without crediting them at all. Richmond and Brackman accused Weiss' team of plagiarising the Weavers' 'original' recording, but they retorted that they had received permission to adapt the song in 1961.<ref>Template:Harvard citation no brackets</ref> The dispute made its way to court a year later.<ref>Template:Harvard citation no brackets; Template:Harvard citation no brackets</ref> Here, litigants representing The Richmond Organization argued that the 1961 permission was "inaccurate" and attempted to expose Weiss for adapting Linda's "Mbube" without making due payments to Linda's family.<ref>Template:Harvard citation no brackets</ref> The court eventually ruled in favour of Weiss' team,<ref>Template:Harvard citation no brackets</ref> with Judge John Keenan declaring their adaptation of "Wimoweh" a separate composition.<ref>Template:Harvard citation no brackets</ref> While Weiss' team retained rights over "The Lion Sleeps Tonight", the court ordered that they send ten percent of performance royalties—profits made whenever the composition was broadcast<ref>Template:Harvard citation no brackets</ref>—to Linda's family.<ref name=":31">Template:Harvard citation no brackets</ref> By 1992, Abilene Music had acquired the rights to "The Lion Sleeps Tonight".<ref>Template:Harvard citation no brackets</ref>

2004–2019: The Lion King

The Lion King scene sampling "The Lion Sleeps Tonight"

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At the turn of the century, Linda's family was still desperately poor, living in "a tiny township house of three rooms, an outside toilet, and an asbestos roof without a ceiling."<ref name=":37">Template:Harvard citation no brackets</ref> Five of his eight children had died.<ref>Template:Harvard citation no brackets</ref> However, with Malan's article sparking public interest in their condition,<ref>Template:Harvard citation no brackets</ref> they decided to take action. They started publicly calling for the royalties from "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" they, in their view, were due. The South African government supported their cause, and the Gallo Record Company vowed to pay their legal fees.<ref name=":37" /> Some time later, in July 2004,<ref name=":420">Template:Harvard citation no brackets</ref> they sued Disney for $1.5 million for its use of the song in The Lion King.<ref name=":36" />Template:Refn Template:Refn The family also demanded 6 million rand from three South African companies profiting from royalties.<ref name=":420" />Template:Refn Owen Dean, a South African lawyer who steered their case,<ref name=":38">Template:Harvard citation no brackets</ref> argued that they received some $15,000 in royalties from 1991 to 2000: roughly spanning the period of The Lion King's commercial success, while the song earned an estimated total of $15 million.<ref name=":3" /> "There has … been a misappropriation of South African culture—the song is thought to be American," he stated.<ref name=":421" />

However, the fact that Linda's wife, who was illiterate, and their daughters signed away the rights to the song on three separate occassions complicated their case.<ref name=":12" /> Disney pledged to fight the suit,<ref name=":39">Template:Harvard citation no brackets</ref> responding to the family's accusations of copyright violations thus: "Solomon Linda's widow assigned all rights in Mbube to [a music publisher] more than 20 years ago and did so with the assistance of legal counsel."<ref>Template:Harvard citation no brackets</ref> It also maintained that Abilene Music, which held the US copyright to "The Lion Sleeps Tonight", had given it the rights to use the song.<ref name=":421"/> While acknowledging that Disney's statement was correct,<ref>Template:Harvard citation no brackets</ref> Dean argued that Abilene Music was still liable for copyright infringement since, under the 1911 Imperial Copyright Act,<ref>Template:Harvard citation no brackets</ref> the rights to song reverted to Linda’s heirs 25 years after his death.<ref>Template:Harvard citation no brackets; Template:Harvard citation no brackets</ref> The case garnered attention all over the world,<ref name=":38" /> and a trial was set for February 2006.<ref name=":33">Template:Harvard citation no brackets</ref>

However, shortly before the opening date, the case was settled.<ref name=":33" /> Abilene Music agreed to pay the family a lump sum representing royalties earned from 1987 onward,<ref name=":12" /> as well as grant them a share of future income until 2017.<ref name=":38" />Template:Refn While the amount was not disclosed, the family's lawyers claimed that the family "should be quite comfortable."<ref name=":12" />Template:Refn The profits were to be collected in a trust.<ref>Template:Harvard citation no brackets; Template:Harvard citation no brackets</ref> Linda was additionally recognized for his work and received a cowriting credit on "The Lion Sleeps Tonight".<ref name=":38" /> According to Dean, the settlement allowed that:

The Linda heirs will receive payment for past uses of "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" and an entitlement to future royalties from its worldwide use.
"The Lion Sleeps Tonight" is acknowledged as derived from "Mbube".
Solomon Linda is acknowledged as a co-composer of "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" and will be designated as such in the future.
A trust will be formed to administer the heirs’ copyright in "Mbube" and to receive on their behalf the payments due out of the use of "The Lion Sleeps Tonight".<ref name=":33" />

The case set a precedent that, under British copyright law, "heirs of authors who are not benefiting from the copyrighted works of their forbears [could] obtain remuneration arising from the exploitation of such works," not just in South Africa, but in any former British colony where the 1911 Imperial Copyright Act was law.<ref name=":33" /> Prior to the settlement, the court had acknowledged that Linda probably sold "Mbube" under unfair circumstances.<ref name=":34" />

In an act separate from the case in September 2004, The Richmond Organization admitted to not paying enough royalties to Linda's heirs for a version of "Mbube", promising to donate $3,000 annually and finance a memorial to Linda.<ref>Template:Harvard citation no brackets; Template:Harvard citation no brackets</ref> The musicologist Carol A. Muller notes that Linda enjoyed no legal rights as a black South African in the pre-apartheid years of segregation. However, by the time his family filed a lawsuit, apartheid had been abolished, and South Africa had become a democratic nation.<ref>Template:Harvard citation no brackets</ref> In 2012, "Mbube" fell into the public domain in South Africa.<ref name=":35" /> According to a grandson of Linda, the family made roughly between $20,000 and $65,000 per year from "Lion Sleeps Tonight" while the settlement terms were active,<ref name=":38" /> while another source indicates that each daughter earned around $250,000 in the decade following the settlement.<ref name=":40" />

However, as of 2020, "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" continued to cause legal conflict.<ref name=":35" /> The Linda family's settlement with Disney became void in 2017, keeping them from profiting from the 2019 film The Lion King, which also sampled the song.<ref name=":38" /> Linda's grandson stated, "There was no courtesy of informing the family about inclusion of a new version of the song in the movie. And we are not convinced the family is not supposed to derive revenue from the use of a new version of 'The Lion Sleeps Tonight' and are currently in the process of procuring legal advice."<ref name=":38" /> Nonetheless, Rolling Stone estimates that Linda's heirs would have only received a few thousand dollars in royalties from the 2019 film.<ref name=":38" />

Legacy

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"The Lion Sleeps Tonight" is one of the most commercially successful pop songs in history<ref name=":29">Template:Harvard citation no brackets</ref> and according to Malan, the most famous melody born in Africa.<ref>Template:Harvard citation no brackets</ref> It has been recorded by well over a hundred artists around the world:<ref name=":3">Template:Harvard citation no brackets; Template:Harvard citation no brackets; Template:Harvard citation no brackets</ref> Glen Campbell, R.E.M., Bert Kaempfert,<ref name="Malan57" /> Yma Sumac,<ref name=":14" /> the Mahotella Queens,<ref name=":35">Template:Harvnb</ref> among others. More than thirteen movies sample it.<ref name=":12" /> Malan additionally describes "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" as an "immortal pop epiphany."<ref name="Malan57" />

However, its legacy is more complicated. Because of the copyright issues surrounding it, the journalists David Browne and Simon Robinson deem "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" one of pop music's most contentious tunes.<ref>Template:Harvard citation no brackets; Template:Harvard citation no brackets</ref> The song's association with long-running racial and, in Ovesen and Haupt's view, capitalist,<ref name=":32">Template:Harvard citation no brackets</ref> exploitation has been discussed in several articles and papers.<ref>Template:Harvard citation no brackets; Template:Harvard citation no brackets; Template:Harvard citation no brackets</ref> Malan likens Linda's story of perceived injustice with that of other black musicians such as Lead Belly, who "lost half of his publishing to his white 'patrons.'"<ref>Template:Harvard citation no brackets</ref>

Some scholars parallel the family's legal victory and eventual recognition of Linda's efforts with South Africa's transition away from apartheid and into democracy.<ref>Template:Harvard citation no brackets; Template:Harvard citation no brackets</ref> According to Carol A. Muller, "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" "[opened] the doors to South African music and musicians abroad in the twentieth century," as displayed by Paul Simon's 1986 album Graceland, which incorporates elements from isicathamiya.<ref name=":2" /> On the contrary, Ovesen and Haupt's view is more nuanced. They contend that, while justice ultimately seems to have been served for Linda, "the power structures that enable the continuation of huge socio-economic disparities are still in place."<ref>Template:Harvard citation no brackets</ref>

The history of "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" and the plight of Linda’s daughters have been chronicled. Beyond Malan's essay and Vester's documentary,<ref name=":29" /> they were covered in the 2019 Netflix film ReMastered: The Lion’s Share.<ref>Template:Harvard citation no brackets; Template:Harvard citation no brackets</ref> Moreover, Beyoncé's 2020 musical film Black Is King partially came into being after she learned of how Linda was not recognised for his contributions to "The Lion Sleeps Tonight". In the film, the original "Mbube" rather than the Tokens' version is used.<ref>Template:Harvard citation no brackets; Template:Harvard citation no brackets</ref>

Charted singles

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The Tokens

Weekly charts

Chart (1961–1962)	Peak position
Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders)<ref>Template:Harvnb</ref>	6
Belgium (Ultratop 50 Wallonia)<ref>Template:Harvnb</ref>	13
Canada CHUM Chart<ref>Template:Harvnb</ref>	1
New Zealand Lever<ref>Template:Harvnb</ref>	1
UK Singles (OCC)<ref>Template:Harvnb</ref>	11
US Billboard Hot 100<ref>Template:Harvnb</ref>	1
US Cash Box Top 100<ref>Template:Harvnb</ref>	1
West Germany (GfK)<ref>Template:Harvnb</ref>	23

Year-end charts

Chart (1962)	Rank
US Cash Box<ref name="Tropicalglen.comc">Template:Harvnb</ref>	10

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Certifications

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
New Zealand (RMNZ)<ref>Template:Harvnb</ref>	Gold	15,000Template:Refn
United States (RIAA)<ref>Template:Harvnb</ref>	Gold	1,000,000Template:Refn

The Hounds

Weekly charts

Chart (1967)	Peak position
Denmark (Top 20)<ref>Template:Harvnb</ref>	8
Finland (Mitä Suomi soittaa)<ref>Template:Harvnb</ref>	7
Sweden (Kvällstoppen)<ref>Template:Harvnb</ref>	1
Sweden (Tio i Topp)<ref>Template:Harvnb</ref>	1

Robert John

Weekly charts

Chart (1971–1972)	Peak position
Canada Singles Chart (RPM)<ref name="RPM1972b">Template:Harvnb</ref>	15
Canada Adult Contemporary (RPM)<ref>Template:Harvnb</ref>	17
New Zealand (Listener)<ref>Template:Harvnb</ref>	16
South Africa (Springbok)<ref>Template:Harvnb</ref>	15
US Billboard Hot 100<ref>Template:Harvnb</ref>	3
US Adult Contemporary (Billboard)<ref name="Billboarda">Template:Harvnb</ref>	6
US Cash Box Top 100<ref>Template:Harvnb</ref>	2
West Germany (GfK)<ref name="OffizielleDeutscheChartsa">Template:Harvnb</ref>	40

Year-end charts

Chart (1972)	Rank
Canada RPM Year-End<ref>Template:Harvnb</ref>	45
US Billboard Hot 100<ref>Template:Harvnb</ref>	21
US Cash Box Top 100<ref>Template:Harvnb</ref>	10

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Certifications

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
United States (RIAA)<ref>Template:Harvnb</ref>	Gold	1,000,000Template:Refn

Tight Fit

Weekly charts

Chart (1982)	Peak position
Australia (Kent Music Report)<ref>Template:Harvnb</ref>	11
Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 40)<ref>Template:Harvnb</ref>	8
Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders)<ref>Template:Harvnb</ref>	1
Ireland (Irish Singles Chart)<ref>Template:Harvnb</ref>	1
Netherlands (Dutch Top 40)<ref>Template:Harvnb</ref>	1
Netherlands (Single Top 100)<ref>Template:Harvnb</ref>	1
New Zealand (Official New Zealand Music Chart)<ref>Template:Harvnb</ref>	3
Sweden (Topplistan)<ref>Template:Harvnb</ref>	17
Switzerland (Swiss Hitparade)<ref>Template:Harvnb</ref>	8
UK Singles (OCC)<ref name="OfficalChartsa"/>	1
West Germany (GfK)<ref>Template:Harvnb</ref>	3

Chart (2023)	Peak position
Hungary (Single Top 40)<ref>Template:Harvnb</ref>	36

Year-end charts

Chart (1982)	Position
Australia (Kent Music Report)<ref>Template:Harvnb</ref>	82
Belgium (Ultratop Flanders)<ref>Template:Harvnb</ref>	11
Netherlands (Dutch Top 40)<ref>Template:Harvnb</ref>	11
Netherlands (Single Top 100)<ref>Template:Harvnb</ref>	11
West Germany (GfK)<ref>Template:Harvnb</ref>	46

Template:Col-end

Certifications

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
United Kingdom (BPI)<ref>Template:Harvnb</ref>	Gold	500,000Template:Refn

R.E.M.

Weekly charts

Chart (1993)	Peak position
Iceland (Íslenski Listinn Topp 40)<ref>Template:Harvnb</ref>	2