The sad truth behind the lion sleeps tonight

Pete seeger, wife
Pete seeger cause of death
Pete seeger famous songs

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The Lion Sleeps Tonight

Lydia Hutchinson | May 1, 2017

Solomon Linda, far left, and the Evening Birds

Wimoweh.

For the last 50 years, that happy little word has been a universally recognized shorthand for the song known as “The Lion Sleeps Tonight.” From Pete Seeger’s version in 1952 (titled “Wimoweh”) to the Tokens’ No. 1 single in 1961 to its featured role in the hugely popular Disney film and Broadway musical The Lion King, the song has enchanted generations, sold millions of copies and passed into the world’s musical vernacular as a modern folk tune.

But the history of “The Lion Sleeps Tonight” is anything but happy.

Solomon Linda was born in the Zulu heartland of South Africa in 1909. He never learned to read or write, but he had a knack for songwriting. In his mid-20s, he moved to Johannesburg, where he led an a capella band that charmed audiences in the local beer halls. He sang in a high soprano over four-part harmony chants, a style that would come to define a whole generation of Zulu music. This sound was the basis for many of Linda’s songs, including his

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Yesterday would have been Pete Seeger’s one hundredth birthday, had he not died in 2014. In preparation for a Pete Seeger sing-along at church tomorrow, I’ve been reading through the songs in his books “The Bells of Rhymney” and “Where Have All the Flowers Gone, listening to some of his recordings, and reflecting on his legacy.

He is often remembered as a songwriter, but as a song writer he was at his best when he collaborated with others. “The Hammer Song,” one of his most notable songs, was co-written with Lee Hays, who recalled that the song was written “in the course of a long executive committee meeting of People’s Songs” during which “Pete and I passed manuscript notes back and forth until I finally nodded at him and agreed that we had the thing down” (quoted in Doris Willens, Lonesome Traveler: The Life of Lee Hays [New York: W. W. Norton, 1988], p. 88) — then several years later, the melody of “The Hammer Song” was modified to its most recognizable version when it was recorded by P

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The Lion Sleeps Tonight

1939 song by Solomon Linda

"The Lion Sleeps Tonight" is a song originally written and first recorded in 1939 by Solomon Linda^[2] under the title "Mbube",^[3] through South African Gallo Record Company. In 1961, a version adapted into English by the doo-wop group the Tokens became a number-one hit in the United States. It earned millions in royalties from cover versions and film licensing. Lyrics of Linda's original version were written in Zulu, while those from the Tokens' adaptation were written by George David Weiss.

The song has been adapted and covered internationally by many pop and folk artists. It was first recorded in the United States by the Weavers in November 1951, and published under the title "Wimoweh" by a branch of Folkways Records in December of the same year.^[4] The pop group Tight Fit made a cover of the song in 1982, reaching number one hit in the UK. Other artists who have recorded various versions of the song include R.E.M., NSYNC, Henri Salvador, Karl Denver, Jimmy Dorsey, Yma Sumac, Noro Morale