Golden Era Hit Song From Africa

[Brad Bowers]

Folks, I have to confess, I have always absolutely detested the song "The Lion Sleeps Tonight." However, after reading about the original 1939 version of the song in today's NY Times, I have newfound respect for the composer and his work. I had no idea the origin of the song, and thought others here might be interested as well. We don't usually talk about Golden Era music from other parts of the world.

Be sure to click on the links on the left side of the article. One enlarges the 1941 photo of "The Original Evening Birds." Gotta love their style! Another link plays samples of the song in its different permutations, and it is quite the treat hearing the 1939 recording.

I still detest the modern versions.

Brad

 

[Salv]

Pete Seeger comes off in that story as a bit naive, and not responsible for Linda not getting paid, but in reality when The Weavers recorded the song as "Wimoweh" the writer credit went to "Paul Campbell" which was a pseudonym for Seegers group. Seegers claims that "I didn't realize what was going on and I regret it," and "I have always left money up to other people. I was kind of stupid" aren't very convincing.

 

[Cousin Hepcat]

This thread is pre-Golden Era, but I know many of our folks will enjoy these recordings nonetheless.

Fantastic!

Brad that is Great, thanks for posting. A real treat. Gonna get that CD. Check out another by the same Evening Birds group, sounds like also recorded the same time in 1939/41, track 7 on this link:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00000038J/ref=pd_bbs_null_1/102-7991904-8459331