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The Lion Song Fact Sheet  01/03/2006 
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By Dr. Owen Dean 
 



In l939, a Zulu migrant worker and entertainer who called himself Solomon Linda stood before a microphone in Johannesburg´s first recording studio, improvising falsetto vocal lines against a rolling, driving vocal chant. He called the song "Mbube", Zulu for "lion." On the third take, Linda came up with a haunting skein of notes that went on to become the most famous melody ever to emerge from Africa. The English-speaking world knows it as the central theme from the song "The Lion Sleeps Tonight". There are versions in French, Japanese, Spanish, Danish and many other languages. More than 150 different artists and features in at least 15 movies, along with one of the most successful stage musicals in history, have recorded it. Linda´s role in the song´s creation is undisputed, but he died a pauper, leaving his family too poor even to afford a headstone for his grave.

What follows is a brief summation of the Lion song´s history:

  • Johannesburg, 1939. "Mbube" by Solomon Linda and the Evening Birds becomes a smash hit for Gallotone records, selling in the region of 100,000 copies over the next decade and founding a genre of music that still bears its name today.
  • New York, 1949. A copy of "Mbube" falls into the hands of folk singer Pete Seeger, who is immediately smitten. In his autobiography, Seeger describes transcribing the song "note for note" and teaching it to his fellow Weavers, who called it "Wimoweh", a corruption of the Zulu "uyiMbube," meaning, "He´s a Lion." "Wimoweh" becomes a number 6 hit for the Weavers in 1951/2.
  • New York, 1961. The Tokens fall in love with "Wimoweh" and decide to re-record it as their next single. Their producers, Hugo Peretti and Luigi Creatore, call on ace songwriter George David Weiss to revamp the song. Weiss, whose credits include Elvis Presley´s "Falling in Love with You", adds several ingenious new elements and English lyrics: "In the jungle, the mighty jungle," and so on. The song is retitled "The Lion Sleeps Tonight", and roars to number one worldwide.
  • In the years that follow, "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" becomes a pop evergreen, passing through as many as eight hit cycles and, according to Rolling Stone magazine, racking up nearly three centuries of radio play in the US alone. The latest of these revivals began in 1994, when "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" was used in the movie version of Disney´s "The Lion King". "The song lives a magical life," adaptor George Weiss told a reporter. "It´s been a hit eight or nine times before, but never like this. It´s going wild! The way this happened, it was magic, it was beautiful, it was destiny. I have to say God smiled at me."
  • New York, 2000. Rolling Stone estimated that "Mbube" and its progeny have earned at least $15 million in composer royalties over the decades. The magazine arrived at this guesstimate by compiling a list of all known commercial exploitations and circulating it among music industry professionals in SA and the USA, inviting them to speculate on the magnitude of the songs’ earnings. A slightly updated version of this list appears at the bottom of this article.
  • Johannesburg, 2001. Attorney Hanro Friedrich steps in to represent Linda’s daughters, who continue to live in abject poverty in Soweto.  Friedrich launches a campaign to achieve justice for his clients.
  • Johannesburg, 2002. In their quest for justice, Gallo Records, now SA’s largest music company, agrees to fund the initial legal effort and to administer the copyright for free.
  • Nelspruit, 2003. Friedrich buttonholes South African Arts Minister Pallo Jordan in an airport waiting room. After hearing Friedrich’s story, Jordan pledges his Department’s support behind the Solomon Linda justice initiative.
  • Johannesburg, 2003. The case makes its way into the hands of Dr Owen Dean, a partner at Spoor & Fisher. Widely regarded as South Africa’s foremost copyright lawyer and author of a doctoral thesis on historical aspects of South African copyright law, Dean immediately realizes that the Imperial Copyright Act of 1911 (in force in SA at the time MBUBE was recorded) contains an arcane clause that offers Linda’s family a possible shot at restitution, but before he can test this legal theory, actionable defendants must be found in South Africa.
  • Pretoria, 2004. Dean makes international headlines by winning a court order authorizing the attachment of legendary Walt Disney trade marks in SA. “I have no axe to grind with Disney itself,” Dean tells the press. “In fact, I assume they don’t know much about Solomon Linda and the way he and his family have been treated. But they are using his music in the Lion King musical, which is still running to full houses all over the world while Linda’s daughters get nothing. As far as we’re concerned, this is profoundly unfair, so we’re holding Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck and all the others hostage until certain Americans start taking us seriously.” A civil action for an interdict and damages is subsequently instituted against Disney and others.
  • New York, 2005. Folkways Music Publishers, the New York music publishing house, announces that it will henceforth pay 100 percent of composer royalties earned by WIMOWEH to the estate of Solomon Linda.
  • Pretoria, February 2006. With the court action about to go for trial, Abilene Music announces that it is willing to accommodate the Linda family’s claim to an equitable share of the earnings of THE LION SLEEPS TONIGHT.

More information about this issue can be found in the following articles on our website:

  1. Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck and others "kidnapped and held hostage" in extraordinary legal proceeding
  2. Copyright infringement claim in respect of "The Lion Sleeps Tonight"

Commercial exploitation of Mbube/Wimoweh/The Lion Sleeps tonight

The object of this exercise is to guess earnings over the past 60 years in constant l999 dollars. We’re probably talking publisher’s gross, after societies have taken their cut. Ballparks are inevitable, and a range of estimates would be nice, i.e. low to high. Versions by more famous artists are underlined for emphasis. We will average the responses, and let you know the outcome.

Lion King musical

Press reports indicate that initial Broadway production, which debuted in 1997, cost $20 million. Seven years later, the show continues to play to packed houses in seven cities worldwide, and is said to have grossed around $1 billion in total (San Francisco Chronicle 2002).

Lion Sleeps Tonight is the only non-Elton John song in the show. New York agents say that the composer of a musical typically receives around six percent of gross. If Lion Sleeps Tonight is earning a twelfth of the gross, and if the musical has indeed grossed $1 billion, royalties from this source alone might have amounted to $5 million.

 

Musical Recordings

1.      Mbube l939 – Solomon Linda and the Evening Birds (Gallotone).

Sold estimated 100,000 78s over a decade. After paying a flat session fee, Gallo owned the song outright, and no composer royalties were paid initially. (Today, Gallo administers the song gratis, passing all income to the Linda family.)

  1. Wimoweh 1951/2 – The Weavers.

Allegedly authored by the fictitious “Paul Campbell,” but really adapted by Pete Seeger, who copied Mbube “note-for-note”. Peaked at number 6 on Variety charts, and sold somewhere between two hundred thousand (Leventhal) and one million (Seeger). Royalties were shared between the individual Weavers and their management, with Solomon Linda (thanks to Seeger’s intervention) receiving 3/24ths of the total from circa l970 onwards.

  1. Lion Sleeps Tonight – The Tokens 1961.
    Immortal hit single, US number one for three weeks, topped charts worldwide, often in cover versions (see Karl Denver). Weiss says Tokens alone sold six million. Song was originally copyrighted as an original “by Weiss, Peretti and Creatore”. When owners of Wimoweh charged plagiarism, a compromise was reached, with composer royalties going to the Weiss parties and publisher royalties to the Wimoweh parties. After circa 1970, Linda’s family received a tiny fraction, not covered by any known contract. Cynics maintain these payments were intended to create an impression of “implied consent.”

Early Covers

  1. Tuxedo Swingsters, featuring Abdullah Ibrahim, early fifties.
  2. Manhattan Bros. (Their live album for EMI, issued in exile in sixties)
  3. Miriam Makeba’s debut LP USA 1960, produced by Belafonte, featuring Chad Mitchell Trio. Made US Top 40. Title Miriam Makeba of King Kong Fame. “The most exciting new singing talent to appear in many years” – Time.
  4. Easy Walkers, according to Prof V. Erlmann of UTexas.
  5. Kingston Trio – track on 1959 album Live from Hungry I that peaked at number two and spent 178 weeks on US charts.
    1. Jimmy Dorsey – April 52 (Bandstand)
    2. Wilder Bros. 1955 (Erlmann)

Beyond this point, most (but not all) covers would be new versions of “Lion Sleeps Tonight.” Sales are anyone’s guess, and hard information is almost impossible to obtain. What follows is a list of the major artists that performed it.

Source: ASCAP.com database

  1. Karl Denver – l962 UK cover, #1, four months on charts.

    1. Springfields (Top 20 British sixties hit, apparently)
    2. New Christy Minstrels

 

  1. Yma Sumac
  2. George Mitchell
  3. Augmented Fifths
  4. Davy Graham – British socialist folkie, quite big in 63.
  5. Eric Donaldson – Love of the Common People LP 1972
  6. The Tremeloes, plus several greatest hits comps.
  7. Panharmonics
  8. New Zealand Army Band
  9. Jimmy Rodgers
  10. Troubadour Singers
  11. Klaus Wunderlich (cheesy German organmeister)
  12. Robert John, peaked at US number 3 in l972.
  13. Ladysmith Black Mambazo (at least four recordings)
  14. Soweto String Quartet (big in SA, UK and Australia)
  15. Henry Jerome and orchestra
  16. Thames Side Four/Davy Graham.
  17. Bert Kaempfert. Lion version appeared on A Swinging Safari, ‘62, a huge LP worldwide. “One of the most successful records of its time,” says Prof. Erlmann. Is this accurate?
  18. Nanci Griffith
  19. Hugh Masakela
  20. Sam Sklair (SA danceband)
  21. Chris Barber
  22. Chet Atkins My Favourite Guitars 1965
  23. James Last (huge German danceband)
  24. London Pop Orchestra
  25. Ratton World Music Group
  26. Aki Aleong/L. Twisters
  27. England World Cup Soccer Squad 1986
  28. Bill Marx
  29. The Spinners
  30. Glen Campbell 64
  31. Roger Whittaker
  32. Harry Stoneham
  33. The Shangaans
  34. Bobby Stevens
  35. Brian Eno
  36. Alan Tew
  37. Robert Delgado
  38. George Penman
  39. Terry Lightfoot’s Jazzmen
  40. PJ Powers - S. African Afropop, very big locally.
  41. Tight Fit – this was the second-ever single from Clive Calder’s Jive Records. Reached number one in UK (l982) and charted USA.
  42. Mint Juleps (US stars of Spike Lee’s a-capella documentary, with LBM)
  43. The Rebops
  44. The Sugar Beats
  45. Main Attraction
  46. Red Grammer
  47. Groupo Alaska
  48. Rigual M.
  49. Arlo Guthrie “More together again,” 94. Also “Precious Friend,” 82.
  50. Boys on the Block
  51. Tyrone and The Clouds – Jamaican steel band.
  52. Ledernacken – German progressive rock, ca 1990
  53. Salif Keita - unknown but mentioned on fan website.
  54. Mori Kante – again, mentioned on fan site.

Source: SABC airplay cards

  1. Mango Groove, SA pop band, huge locally
  2. Kariba, obscure SA
  3. Golden Heavies, produced by Clive Calder using session cats..
  4. Funky Party 73
  5. Murray Campbell & orchestra
  6. Sound Power
  7. Sounds Wild
  8. Stereophonic 6
  9. Harald Winkler, poss. German
  10. 24 Goue Kitaar Treffers

Source: Allmusic.com – generally restricted to ‘90s releases

  1. Kooky Crazy Classic Rock for Kids
  2. Steelband and Calypso
  3. Don’t hang up – rock’n roll answering machine
  4. Kid’s Fun: games, songs and sing-a-longs
  5. Teenagers in Love
  6. Kingston Trio’s greatest hits
  7. 21 Rock’n’Roll Favourites
  8. Goa Spirit, by Goa Spirit
  9. Barnyard Beat
  10. Great rock dance hits…
  11. Retro Rock Dance Hits – new dance mixess…
  12. Best of the Nylons
  13. World of Holiday Hits
  14. Main Attraction (89)
  15. Discovery Channel’s Animal Planet
  16. Lion King – original Broadway cast recording
  17. Perfect Fit – Nylons album
  18. Believe in music
  19. Only rock/n/roll 70 to 74
  20. I love rock’n’roll (hits of sixties)
  21. Drew’s Famous Kid’s Birthday Dance Party
  22. WCBS 25 th anniversary
  23. Simba’s Favourites
  24. Billboard Top R&R Hits
  25. Nipper’s Greatest Hits
  26. Atlantic Hit 45s
  27. Spike & Co, a capella
  28. Stormy Weather
  29. R&R Relics
  30. Beat Goes On…
  31. Folk Song America, vol 3
  32. Sugar Beats
  33. Eric Donaldson Cherry Oh Baby – maxi single? BMI.com
  34. Soft Rockin’ Seventies
  35. Ace Ventura Pet Detective soundtrack
  36. Robert John’s Greatest Hits. (new version l992)
  37. Super Hits of the Seventies “Have a nice day”
  38. Pop History 1961
  39. 1260 AM
  40. Juke Box Jive
  41. Decca Jahre (german)
  42. Decade of the sixties
  43. Reach out for Tremeloes
  44. Seamless – Nylons
  45. Jambo Africa – Bobby – son of Weiss (1994)
  46. Both sides now – Tokens compilation
  47. Oldies are now – Tokens ditto
  48. All time greatest hits – Tokens
  49. Best of B103 – Long Island’s Oldies
  50. Child’s Celebration of Song
  51. ….twelve Weavers/Seeger albums
    1. ...at least two more Kingston Trio albums…

  1. Roots of British Rock
  2. Mondo Exotica (96)
  3. Western Wind Vocal Ensemble (94)
  4. Roger Whittaker Live!
  5. Very Best of New Christy Minstrels
  6. Rockin’ Jukebox
  7. Rock’n’roll reunion, class of 62.
  8. Nutter Mayf – on Going Skinny Dippin’.

Source: comprehensive Google search, incidental, press cuts

  1. Manu Dibango, Le Lion Est Mort Ce Soir, on waAfrika l994 (All music too)
  2. Lion King movie soundtrack, later pressings – according to Weiss
  3. Pow Wow, Le Lion Est Mort Cesoir, # 1 in France l993
  4. Title unknown, number three Japan 1995 – according to Weiss, in US press interview
  5. They Might Be Giants
  6. Phish (bootlegs only?)
  7. Jimmy Dorsey (Live at the Edgewater, re-release late nineties.)
  8. Woody Herman (?)
  9. Lebo M – Rhythm of the Pridelands – 1995 - African music by Lion King arranger.
  10. New SA version, 1999, heard on radio, artist unknown??? Could be…
  11. Bayete, according to Linda’s daughters.
  12. Tulasiza ladies’ choir .
  13. West India Company – 1989 EG Records
  14. REM – flipside of Sidewinder single.
  15. Neil Diamond??????? Any takers?
  16. Toucans – see web download.
  17. Sandra Bernhardt??? Very obscure recording.
  18. The Peter Pan Chorus – see www.songfile.com
  19. Rapper Snow, sampled Lion in Mash up da nation, a track on his l997 album Justuss.
  20. Easy Walkers Imbube -- per Prof Erlmann
  21. Wilder Brothers l955 -- ditto
  22. Stylistics 1978 -- ditto
  23. Lion King the Musical – Japanese cast recording.

Source: BMI.com database

  1. A Child´s Celebration Of Song 2 Ladysmith Black Mambazo
  2. Robert John • Greatest Hits • Lion Sleeps Tonight (new version) , 1992
  3. The Lion King: Return To Pride Rock • Lion Sleeps Tonight - Lebo M , 1998
  4. Your Favorite Songs • Lion Sleeps Tonight - Robert Johns
  5. WODS-FM´s 10th Anniversary: Best...60s • The Tokens
  6. WOGL-FM´s 10th Anniversary: Best...60s The Tokens
  7. 30 Big Hits Of The Airwaves, Vol. 3 • The Tokens $13.57
  8. Capital Lounge Series, l999 compilation (Wimoweh)
  9. Your Hit Parade – The Fifties Pop Revival. (Wimoweh) Ditto
  10. HARP – Seeger/Arlo Guthrie collaboration
  11. Panharmonics 1991 (Screen ventures)
  12. Best of the Best Classics Vol 1
  13. Absolutely Disney
  14. Your Favorite Songs (91)
  15. Zoo.
  16. Dave Newman (UK minor hit)
  17. Spanish version, lyrics by H. Richmond under alias, recorded l965.
  18. Jungle Rumble Band – minor UK hit, heavily promoted, 2000.

Subsequent additions

  1. NSYNC – Scandanavian markets release only. See Nordisc documents.
  2. Helmut Lotti – his monstrously big Safari album 1999.
  3. Bamses Venner – Danish comedian, had a hit with “Vimmerswej” in 1973, returned to Top 10 in 2000, according to data from Nordisc. Title unknown.
  4. Track on “WHO LET THE DOGS OUT” CD, which sold five to eight million worldwide in 2001/2002. (Source G. Paynter, Gallo).

One assumes there are many more covers in languages other than English, but researching these is difficult.

Additional sources of income

Performance Royalties

Each time a song is played on radio, anywhere in the world, a few cents accrue to the listed composer.

US-based Val Pak and 106.9 FM publish an annual Top 500 Oldies list, “ determined by listeners who respond both online and to an annual mailing of over 100,000 Val Pak mailers.” The Tokens 1961 recording of Lion Sleeps Tonight slotted in at number 7 in l998. If this is accurate, performance royalties must be huge.

For comparison purposes: BMI gives out “Million-Air” awards to songs that have been played a million times, equalling 57 years of continuous airplay. Lion is an ASCAP song so it’s not rated. But let’s look at the songs immediately above and below it on the l998 Val Pak Oldies hit parade. Dock of the Bay, at number six, has racked up 6 million airplays. When a Man loves a woman has four million. So let’s allocate Lion a theoretical five. Result: around 285 years of airplay in US alone.

Movies

Movie licenses fetch $25,000 to $100,000 in US, depending. Additional income in form of performance royalties for theatrical screenings outside USA – potentially huge, given Lion King and Ace Ventura’s popularity. Beyond that, every TV showing in every market on the planet would trigger additional performance royalties.

Mbube – Ladysmith Black Mambazo recorded a version for Coming to America, the 1988 Eddie Murphy vehicle. Mbube also used in Cry the Beloved Country, the mid-nineties remake, starring Richard Harris.

Wimoweh used in Dogfight starring River Phoenix. 1991

Lion Sleeps Tonight used in…

  • Sandlot 1993
  • Private Parts (biggish hit – Howard Stern) 1997
  • Dead Calm 1989
  • Matinee 1992
  • Ace Ventura Pet Detective (huge hit plus soundtrack) 1994
  • That Night 1992
  • Lion King (huge hit) 1994
  • 29 th Street, 1991 Brain Donors
  • Hot Pursuit
  • Bandit – 2002 Bruce Willis vehicle, according to Jay Savage.

Video

Movie producers usually secure video rights as part of the initial licensing deal. If US copyright holders were able to retain video rights, however, they might later have made a killing in video royalties, especially on Lion King, with every copy made triggering mechanical royalty payments. (Lion King video reportedly sold 40 million.)

SYNC LICENSES

Related to use of a song for advertising purposes, or as incidental music in TV production.

TV

  • Friends (used twice, according to Phil Margo)
  • Burke’s Law (ditto)
  • Discovery Channel’s Animal Planet – theme for kid TV series, ongoing.
  • What a time that was – Prime-time CBS documentary on Weavers, 1989. Shown worldwide.
  • Do it a-Capella – Spike Lee documentary PBS.
  • Theatrical release some markets Is it art? – SABC TV insert, l999
  • The Lion’s Trail – Award-winning documentary by Francois Verster, 2003.

Commercials (must be many more)

  • Burger King national US with Lion King tie-in (Weiss)
  • Embassy Suites hotels US
  • Sun City SA – TV promo theme, early nineties. Fee was about 150k dollars.
  • All-Africa Games promo SA 1999.
  • Brit Lions Rugby promo, UK. Used repeatedly, according to Brit. Diplomat.
  • “Goodyear sync adv” – according to Gallo publishing statement.
  • Jungle.Com - Lion Sleeps Tonight is the theme song of “Britain’s largest retail website.”
  • As of March 2000, it was being used in radio ads on 270 stations.

Dr Owen Dean
SPOOR & FISHER


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