#Original wimoweh full#The doo-wop group, The Tokens, “employed” Anita Darian, a soprano for extra vocals.Īlong with a full band, the real master stroke was to adapt an especially inspired segment of Linda’s original version. The group was eventually discovered by a talent scout and the rest is history. Linda’s improvised vocals were distinctive and soared over the top of the rest - even though the lyrics to "Mbube" are in the Zulu language, Linda's high lead vocals are clearly the same pitch and pattern as the English lyrics that would later be written. The group was known for their four-part harmonies and improvised lyrics which worked remarkably well. They had to chase them away to keep them from eating their animals. Other parts of the song were inspired by their reminiscences of chasing the wild lions who would prey on their families’ livestock at night. The chanted chorus of "Mbube" - the "wimoweh" part - was inspired by the traditional call and response chants of birds native to that specific part of the world. Their distinctive music style was reminiscent of their humble upbringings. Solomon Linda’s band was inspired by their native Zulu roots. As a young man, Linda relocated to Johannesburg and formed the Evening Birds, who enjoyed a huge following. Of Zulu heritage, Linda never learned to read or write but was well known as a talented singer. The second is that the (mostly wordless) falsetto vocals were improvised by Solomon Linda (over wonderfully sonorous and rhythmically compelling bass riffs) but it was not until near the end (about 2:22) of this, the third, take that he was inspired to produce the melody that is now universally associated with the words “In the jungle, the mighty jungle, the lion sleeps tonight”.Solomon Linda was born in 1909 near Ladysmith, near KwaZulu-Natal, in South Africa. Rather like King Arthur, there was a folk belief that Shaka is not dead but only sleeping and one day he will return to liberate his people from their colonial oppressors. The first is that the “lion” referred to in the song is none other than the famous Zulu king Shaka Zulu (the subject of this famous poem) who acquired legendary status after his death. There are two other fascinating things about this tune. The song was also used in the Disney film The Lion King without any royalties being paid, leading to a lawsuit brought by Linda’s surviving relatives (which was settled out of court). Solomon Linda sold the rights to the Gallo record company for just ten shillings in 1949 so never received significant income from the worldwide sales. Since then it has had more cover versions than I’ve had hot dinners, mostly with an English title The Lion Sleeps Tonight or Wimoweh, a not-entirely-accurate phonetic attempt to render the isiZulu phrase uyimbube (“you are a lion”) which occurs in the song. The song Mbube by South African singer and composer Solomon Linda was first performed in 1939 and was an immediate hit in his native land. To cut a long story short I found this, and it’s been in my head ever since so I thought I’d share it here. I couldn’t identify some of the sounds so when I came inside I started googling about for various combinations of “birds singing in the evening”. The other evening it was warm enough for me to sit out in the garden, listening to the birdsong until it got dark. And now for something completely different…
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