ROSS CHERUB: By the time Pete Seger and The Weavers adapted the song into their folk hit, I think that Mr. Music publishing can be complicated, says copyright attorney, Ross Cherub(ph), especially when a song is adapted again and again.
The court recognized that Linda most likely sold his song away under less than fair circumstances. A South African copyright lawyer argued successfully that 25 percent of the song's past and future royalties should go to Linda's three remaining daughters who still live in South Africa. Three songwriters who worked with Elvis Presley received songwriting credit, and it became a number one hit here and in England in the early 1960's.ĬONTRERAS: A South African court cleared up all questions about who should get royalties for the song, which has been recorded over 100 times, used in commercials, movies, and at least one Broadway play. songwriters for a doo- wop group called the Tokens. THE WEAVERS: (Singing) Wimoweh, Wimoweh, wimoweh.ĬONTRERAS: Linda's original version was altered by U.S. The song continued to live and became a repeated worldwide hit by musicians who thought it was an African folk song, including U.S. In 1948, Linda sold the worldwide copyrights to the song to a South African recording company for less than $2. Solomon Linda's recording eventually sold over 100,000 copies in Africa. Family members say the melody was inspired by Linda's childhood chore of herding cattle and keeping predatory lions at bay.ĬONTRERAS: The pastoral setting of the song is at odds with its complicated legal legacy.
The original was written and recorded in 1939 by Solomon Linda, a South African songwriter. This recording is by Ladysmith Black Mambazo with Taj Mahal. NPR's Felix Contreras has this report.įELIX CONTRERAS: The song was originally called Mbube. It's a story that goes back to the 1930's, a story about a song with a familiar chorus and a storied background that came to be known as The Lion Sleeps Tonight. The family of an African singer and songwriter will finally be seeing millions of dollars in back royalties.
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