With help from George Weiss, Hugo and Luigi rewrote the song, giving it the title "The Lion Sleeps Tonight." The Tokens thought this had been nothing more than an elaborate audition - "Who is gonna buy a song about a lion sleeping" was their general sentiment. Hugh and Luigi were impressed by the performance but decided that the song needed new lyrics. They auditioned for producers Hugo and Luigi (Peretti and Creatore) by singing "Wimoweh" to them.
Hank Medress, Jay Siegel, and Phil and Mitch Margo, who made up The Tokens, had a Top 15 hit "Tonight I Fell in Love" in 1960, but didn't have a record label in 1961. They were actually saying "Uyimbube," which means "You're a Lion." It was misheard for "Wimeoweh" because when pronounced, Uyimbube sounds like: oo-yim-bweh-beh. Seeger thought they were saying "Wimoweh" on the original, and that's what he wrote down and how it was recorded in English. The Weavers recorded the refrain of the song (no verses) and called it "Wimoweh." In 1957, it was included on The Weavers At Carnegie Hall, a very popular album in the world of folk music. In the 1950s, Miriam Makeba recorded this with the Zulu lyrics, and Pete Seeger recorded it with his band, The Weavers (who dominated the charts with "Goodnight Irene"). Folk singer Pete Seeger got a hold of it and started working on an English version. Around 1948, Gallo sent a copy to Decca Records in the US, hoping to get it distributed there. Released on the Gallo label, it became a huge hit across South Africa. The chanting was mostly improvised, but worked extraordinarily well. Solomon Linda recorded the song in Johannesburg, South Africa after being discovered by a talent scout. Apparently they were a bold bunch, and got the idea from when they used to chase lions who were going after the cattle owned by their families. This was popularized in the 1930s by South African singer Solomon Linda, who recorded it in 1939 with his group, The Evening Birds.
The Lion Sleeps Tonight: A hunting song originally sung in Zulu in what is now Swaziland, the original title was "Mbube," which means lion. #The Tokens #vocal pop #rock & roll #doo-wop #1950s #1960s
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