0 Comments Family of Solomon Linda to Finally Receive Royalties

According to an article in The Scotsman, The Disney Corporation Abilene Music has reached a settlement with the family of Solomon Linda, the author of ‘Wimoweh’ or ‘The Lion Sleeps Tonight’.

Hopefully with this settlement some measure of justice is finally achieved. Seldom has a song made so much money for so many people with so little compensation going to its original author. Solomon Linda died penniless in 1962 a year after the song toped the charts in the US for the third time.

The song’s journey from underground South African hit to worldwide pop hit is long and fascinating. With Pete Seeger and the Weavers being largely responsible for it’s initial popularity.

Linda and the Evening Birds recorded “Mbube” in South Africa in 1939.The song’s original Zulu lyrics based from Solomon’s boyhood experiences chasing lions away from the family cattle. The record sold nearly 100,000 copies in South Africa during the 1940′s but under apartheid black artists could not collect royalties. Eventually a copy found it’s way to Alan Lomax who passed it on to Pete Seeger.

Intrigued by the songs driving chant and high harmonies, Seeger transliterated the refrain “uyimbube” into “awimoweh” shortening it eventually to “wimoweh”. The Weavers recorded the song in 1952 and again in 1957.

The English lyrics were written in 1961 by George David Weiss and producers Hugo Peretti and Luigi Creatore for an RCA recording by The Tokens. Something 170 different artists have recorded the song and Disney used it in the hit movie the Lion King.

Seeger has long regretted his part in the song’s appropriation. He sent the Linda family what he thought he owed them in royalties and has continued to push for Linda to get credit for the song.

The original version of “Mbube” recorded by Solomon Linda and the Evening Birds was re-released by Rounder Records on Mbube Roots — Zulu Choral Music from South Africa, 1930s-1960s. You can hear a clip from the original at the Rounder Records site.

Update: March 23rd. More than a month after the story broke it’s finally hit the use press in a big way with a front page article in the New York Times yesterday. Some updates and corrections are in order. Although the first article I found in the Statesman said that Disney corporation was involved in the settlement most sources say the settlement was with Abilene Music. Disney’s usual response is similar to this one in the times.

A representative for Disney would not discuss the circumstances behind the lawsuit, but the company said in a statement that Walt Disney Pictures had licensed ” ‘The Lion Sleeps Tonight’ in good faith” and was pleased that the litigation had been resolved “to everyone’s satisfaction.”

‘Wimoweh’ as recorded by The Weavers and ‘The Lion Sleeps Tonight’ are under separate copyright. It was the for the latter, more lucrative song that the recent settlement was made. The copyright to ‘Wimoweh’ is controlled by the Richmond group. The Richmond group settled with the Linda family earlier.

You can find several versions of the song including a full length recording on Mube at the Friday Fishwrap blog.

The background above comes primarily from these articles if you’re interested in reading further.

• May 2005 New York Daily News Article by Davis Hinkley
• Behind The Hits
• Where does the lion sleep tonight?