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Summary: Stolen music still makes hits, doesn't it?
Comment: In a world where the copyright is disappearing into an internet void for musicians, perhaps there is no better example of a stolen song than "Wimoweh/The Lion Sleeps Tonight." Uyimbube, uyimbube" is how the song really goes (wimoweh is how Pete Seeger wrote it down), sung by no other than the great grandfather of Mbube himself, Solomon Linda of South Africa in the 1930s. Recorded by many, this song became a world-wide hit and the Linda family did not have enough money for nearly twenty years to buy a stone to put on his grave when he died as a pauper. Even I find myself singing the song that I heard many years ago as I child and then I think of Solomon and become sad. There is so many like him. It hit me tonight when I heard the Tokens on TV sing this and have a chance to finally give credit to Solomon Linda; they did not and instead talked about the key of F in which they originally "wrote" the song. They received a standing ovation.
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Summary: The Tokens turn the Weaver's "Wimoweh" into a doo wop hit
Comment: The song, "The Lion Sleeps Tonight," was based on an South African Zulu folk song "Wimoweh" made popular by the classic folk group the Weavers in the 1950s. However, the Weavers were political in the best sense of the folk tradition and fell out of favor among the common folk who thought them Communist sympathizers of varying hues along the spectrum of the color red. However younger music listeners might remember Robert John's version of "The Lion Sleeps Tonight," which made it to #3 on the Pop charts in 1972 and was included on the soundtrack for "Ace Ventura: Pet Detective." The group, the Tokens, was a doo wop group out of Brooklyn, who originally included Neil Sedaka when they were known as the Linc-Tones (they were students at Lincoln High School). In the early 1960s the group was reformed by Hank Medress with Phil Margo, Mitch Margo, Joe Venneri, and Jay Siegel as the Tokens. In 1962 the Tokens recorded "The Lion Sleeps Tonight," which hit #1 on the Billboard Pop charts. It was far and away the biggest hit the Tokens ever had and this CD-Single basically includes the two songs that are arguably the best of the rest of their inventory. "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" and "La Bamba" were both off of the Token's debut album, while "You're Nothing But a Girl" was from a later 1966 release, "The Tokens Again." However, if you like doo wop, then my suggestion would be to pick up one of the three pretty solid collections of Tokens hits (e.g., "Wimoweh: The Best of the Tokens"). But if this song leads you to track down some of the recordings of the Weavers, that would be a thing of great good as well.
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Summary: Wow
Comment: I heard this song -the lion- for the first time 20 years ago ( I was 4 years old)... And it is still spinning in my head!!! Only Bamba comes nearby in quality!!! therefor I give'em 5 stars. My heart is pounding EVERYTIME Tokens are in the radio!
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Summary: The Slug and Lettuce
Comment: This is song is played every Friday and Saturday night around 10:pm at the Slug and Lettuce, Fulham, London and it goes off once everyone has had a couple of pints. I've seen people re-enacting 'The Lions roar' from under tables, people climbing the poles, monkey style. It really does become a jungle!
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Summary: The Lion Sleeps Tonight
Comment: The Tokens did an incredible job on this one! I love the music, and the voices are awesome. 38 years later and it still is one of the best songs I've heard.
