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The Tokens — The Lion Sleeps Tonight
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macadavy
(Cascadia's attic, eh?)
Posted: Jan 25, 2010 - 02:26
 
 WonderLizard wrote:

Just wanted to bring this to the front page. Rian Malan, a South African writer, told Solomon Linda's story in Rolling Stone in May, 2000. This link is to a reprint of the story. It's worth reading. http://www.3rdearmusic.com/forum/mbube2.html. It's the same link as "another source" above.

Linda's family sued Disney in 2004 for their using the song in The Lion King, Apparently, tho' Disney was fighting the suit, there has been some movement toward settlement, resulting in cash payments to Linda's family. Linda died in 1962. I'm still looking for some verification of this. Anyone?

 
The whole sad story is here, as well:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Lion_Sleeps_Tonight
To his credit Pete Seeger did try to do the right thing by Linda.



WonderLizard
(2,755.46 mi. due east of Paradise)
Posted: Dec 24, 2009 - 16:37
 
 greenplato wrote:
I used to enjoy this song, but then I heard the story about Solomon Linda, the South African man who first recorded it as 'Mbube' in 1939. Because of his race, he was ineligible to receive royalties from the original recording and is said to have been paid only ten shillings for a record that sold 100,000 copies in SA. Additionally, the hundreds of western recordings and derivatives of his song have all been made without any compensation to Linda or his surviving family. His family recently went to the courts seeking royalties, but I don't know how successful they have been. Here's a little timeline of the song. And from another source, how Pete Seeger brought Mbube to American listeners: This song now leaves me feeling conflicted. I am glad to get the chance to hear this great music, but very sad for the man it was stolen from.
 
Just wanted to bring this to the front page. Rian Malan, a South African writer, told Solomon Linda's story in Rolling Stone in May, 2000. This link is to a reprint of the story. It's worth reading. http://www.3rdearmusic.com/forum/mbube2.html. It's the same link as "another source" above.

Linda's family sued Disney in 2004 for their using the song in The Lion King, Apparently, tho' Disney was fighting the suit, there has been some movement toward settlement, resulting in cash payments to Linda's family. Linda died in 1962. I'm still looking for some verification of this. Anyone?


(former member)
(hotel in Las Vegas)
Posted: Dec 24, 2009 - 16:18
 


love it...



akaike
(Mississippi - in the State, on the River)
Posted: Nov 23, 2009 - 06:15
 
 GChevy410 wrote:
Good call Bill!

I am sitting here reading dire economic consequences that we seem to be unable to escape, and for some reason this really fits.

The lion is the free market.
The jungle is the myriad of crap out there hold the free market.

We are boned...
 

I am not sure I fully understand the metaphor, but the "We are boned..." part made me spit my coffee out all over my monitor I laughed so hard...

HazzeSwede
(Vinyl Land)
Posted: Nov 23, 2009 - 06:13
 
!Lions sleeping 2
Oh yea,,love it !


peter_james_bond
(Lunenburg, NS)
Posted: Nov 23, 2009 - 06:13
 
 cactus7709 wrote:
What a surprise!! What a NICE surprise!!
 
{#High-five} Yes, nice to hear a golden oldie once in a while. I wouldn't mind hearing some Del Shannon.


DaveInVA
(In a crumbling Queen Anne mansion in Damnville, VA)
Posted: Nov 23, 2009 - 06:12
 
When this song came out I always thought it was a rip off of the song "Way up North to Alaska" as it seems to be the same tune with different words..But I like this song better though {#Music}

Baby_M
(a 100-year old building in downtown Akron, Ohio)
Posted: Nov 23, 2009 - 06:11
 
 fredriley wrote:
Super-cheesy, super-fun :o). You must also see a short animation of a hippo singing this song.  An easy 7 from the Nottingham jury.
 
Love that hippo!  The verdict of the Nottingham jury is affirmed on appeal.


jjfflyboy
Posted: Nov 23, 2009 - 06:11
 
ow.

AmandaMaria
(Vancouver Island)
Posted: Oct 22, 2009 - 20:36
 
 Pieter wrote:
Well that got a reaction from everyone in the room...
 
{#Lol}


(former member)
(hotel in Las Vegas)
Posted: Oct 22, 2009 - 20:33
 
 cactus7709 wrote:
What a surprise!! What a NICE surprise!!
 

Indeed...  this song is fantastic...



Hannio
(Austin, TX)
Posted: Sep 21, 2009 - 06:34
 
From back in the day when band members wore matching ensembles.

casey1024
(Between past & future...)
Posted: Sep 21, 2009 - 06:33
 
In 1964, when my oldest brother was leaving for the Navy - he entrusted his collection of 45s to a very upset little sister (me) for safekeeping until his return.  This was one of my two favorites in the tin - the other was P,P & M - Puff the Magic Dragon.  Thanks, James.

dgavenda
(Chicago)
Posted: Sep 21, 2009 - 06:33
 
Thanks 'The Office'.  I now associate this song with Andy Bernard.



unclelonghair
Posted: Sep 21, 2009 - 06:32
 
Yuck — if I wanted oldies I'd flip on that FM radio gizmo over there in the corner.  The yodeling makes my teeth itch.

cactus7709
Posted: Sep 21, 2009 - 06:32
 
What a surprise!! What a NICE surprise!!

oilydwarf
Posted: Jul 20, 2009 - 04:00
 
Last two comments summarise so well why I love RP!

This song?  Bit of cheese never hurt anyone.  Makes the great songs outstanding.

jjparadise
Posted: Jun 18, 2009 - 08:52
 
My mellow's been harshed!  I had to set up an account just to log in and rate this song.  Too bad there's nothing lower than a "1."  I would be so pleased if Bill and Rebecca never played this song again!

rdo
(DC)
Posted: Jun 18, 2009 - 08:43
 
 

I love Oldies, but very rarely the ones played on RP.   This is an exception. I love this.



Govi
(Left Coast)
Posted: Jun 18, 2009 - 08:43
 
This song has always been so much fun!  It always makes me grin, as I am now.  Thank you!!

fredriley
(Nottingham, UK)
Posted: Jun 18, 2009 - 08:43
 
Super-cheesy, super-fun :o). You must also see a short animation of a hippo singing this song.  An easy 7 from the Nottingham jury.

sirdroseph
(Outer Mongolia)
Posted: Jun 18, 2009 - 08:42
 

Just a unique and wonderful song!{#Clap}



(former member)
(hotel in Las Vegas)
Posted: Jun 18, 2009 - 08:42
 


This song is fantastic!  So good for the ears!



UltraNurd
(Boston, MA)
Posted: Jun 18, 2009 - 08:41
 
Well done, Bill :oD.

pope183
(Vinyamar)
Posted: May 17, 2009 - 14:37
 
i love this place

nice mix Bill

Elvis Costello - Deep Dark Truthful Mirror

Beatles - I'm So Tired

and now

The Tokens - The Lion Sleeps Tonight
Beautiful Hand Crafted Radio



lerxst
(A Planet in the Solar Federation)
Posted: May 17, 2009 - 14:37
 
They look like they've taken a radio station tower hostage.  But in a friendly way.

whtahtefcuk
(Flagstaff, AZ, USA)
Posted: May 17, 2009 - 14:36
 
No Thanks

bachbeet
Posted: Mar 15, 2009 - 11:11
 
I've liked all the versions I've heard of this song.  This was the first one but I've also heard Pete Seeger do a version in a more "folk" style.  It was on a live recording where he got the crowd to sing along.  The emphasis was also on the African word Wimoweh, not the lion sleeps parts.  I do agree that the falsetto voices really added something to this version.

Misterfixit
(Nashville)
Posted: Mar 15, 2009 - 11:09
 
 Dancing_banana wrote:
love the sweaters!
 
I still own mine.  Wonder if I should put it on eBay?


Papernapkin
(Mountain View, CA)
Posted: Mar 15, 2009 - 11:08
 
A sad story about royalties on Wikipedia. I've always loved this song.

Stefen
(West Hollywood, CA)
Posted: Mar 15, 2009 - 11:08
 
Commin at cha from 1961!

lambret
(Florianópolis - Brasil)
Posted: Mar 15, 2009 - 11:07
 
{#Ask}

Misterfixit
(Nashville)
Posted: Mar 15, 2009 - 11:07
 
 olivestreetprods wrote:
I was SOOOO in love with Cheryl Davis in the fifth grade when this came out. Oh Cheryl, if you only knew!
 
She most likely knew and felt the same way ... there, feel better now?  Go ahead, call her up ...


Pieter
(Sydney Australia)
Posted: Feb 11, 2009 - 21:28
 
Well that got a reaction from everyone in the room...

olivestreetprods
(Phoenix, AZ)
Posted: Feb 11, 2009 - 21:28
 
I was SOOOO in love with Cheryl Davis in the fifth grade when this came out. Oh Cheryl, if you only knew!

Dancing_banana
(Philadelphia, PA)
Posted: Dec 10, 2008 - 15:01
 
{#Dancingbanana} natalita wrote:
I agree!

 Dancing_banana wrote:
love the sweaters!
 
 



More_Cowbell
(North of Chicago, IL, USA)
Posted: Dec 10, 2008 - 15:00
 
A classic!  Thanks for playing.

Shesdifferent
(Just visiting this planet this is not my home)
Posted: Dec 10, 2008 - 14:59
 
Made me think of Madagasgar 2

GChevy410
(Seattle, WA)
Posted: Dec 10, 2008 - 14:59
 
Good call Bill!

I am sitting here reading dire economic consequences that we seem to be unable to escape, and for some reason this really fits.

The lion is the free market.
The jungle is the myriad of crap out there hold the free market.

We are boned...

UltraNurd
(Boston, MA)
Posted: Dec 10, 2008 - 14:58
 
Aweemawack, aweemawack...

natalita
Posted: Dec 10, 2008 - 14:58
 
I agree!

 Dancing_banana wrote:
love the sweaters!
 



NoEnzLefttoSplit
Posted: Dec 10, 2008 - 14:57
 
Yeah, well wtf was the lion doing all the other nights? Huh?

Dancing_banana
(Philadelphia, PA)
Posted: Dec 10, 2008 - 14:57
 
love the sweaters!

Namgev
(Flagstaff, AZ)
Posted: Apr 12, 2006 - 14:42
 
greenplato wrote:
I used to enjoy this song, but then I heard the story about Solomon Linda...


I heard that story on NPR last week. Towards the end they played a Taj Mahal version (or collaboration with Ladysmith Black Mambazo?). I couldn't find any reference to that cut on AMG or Amazon -- anyone know where that's from?
theo
(somewhere in NH)
Posted: Jan 09, 2006 - 20:26
 
You've got to appreciate a song that was one of the best laugh lines in a Disney movie. (Lion King)
Danny_G
(www.frappr.com/radioparadise)
Posted: Dec 26, 2005 - 08:24
 

dewhead
(Lenoir City, TN)
Posted: Nov 27, 2005 - 05:17
 
Doesn't get any better than this! Better than comfort food.


outerspace
(SLC Utah)
Posted: Oct 14, 2005 - 07:57
 
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"the Tokens can still be seen on the county-fair circuit. The original brothers are still leading the group, and one of their sons is the drummer. Not bad, as those rehash-the-50s things go, and if you've never seen 'em before, you will have a good time. I saw 'em twice, a year or so apart, and the schtick was the same. So once: good. Twice: not so much. But totally live, no canned tapes etc., which you sometimes get with this stuff. And they can still do the falsetto.

The history of this song is interesting and very cloudy, with these guys claiming authorship in large part but it ain't probably so. I believe Vanity Fair ran a story tracing its roots and generally making everyone look pretty bad."

I believe it was a Andean folk song first popularized Yma Sumac. There is a version floating around on one of her compilation discs. Very few lyrics thou. Mostly her fabulous airy soprano voice. Can't find the reference at the moment, but here are links for info.

http://www.spaceagepop.com/sumac.htm
http://www.sunvirgin.com/
shakitten
(Denver, Colorado)
Posted: Oct 14, 2005 - 07:45
 
courtney wrote:
Always nice to see the castrati getting some airtime. I dig it.




stevo_b
(A New Place.....)
Posted: Oct 14, 2005 - 07:44
 
courtney wrote:
Always nice to see the castrati getting some airtime. I dig it.


funny!!!!