"The Lion's Share" - Excellent Doc about The Lion Sleeps Tonight (aka Mbube)

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by VU Master, May 19, 2019.

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  1. VU Master

    VU Master Senior Member Thread Starter

    Wow, just watching this great doc about the origins of this song, and the brilliant South African musicologist and Rolling Stone author Rian Malan who dug into the history of the early recordings of it by The Weavers, Pete Seeger, and of course The Tokens.

    It turns out that he song has a very complicated back story, and (no surprise) that Solomon Linda, the original Zulu songwriter got nothing for it. The doc, excellently researched, was utterly fascinating to me. It's a Netflix production.

    Highly recommended.

    Who wrote ‘The Lion Sleeps Tonight’? A Netflix film seeks answers, and closure
     
    Last edited: May 19, 2019
  2. Rick Bartlett

    Rick Bartlett Forum Resident

    Amazing documentary!
    Brilliant!
    Brilliant!
    Brilliant!
    Those interested in heritage, songwriting, royalties, legalities, lawyers, money and how it gets
    divided between family members, public ridicule and taking on Disney.
    You'll love this.
    I'm bummed it's unavailable at this time to buy on DVD.
     
  3. Vahan

    Vahan Forum Resident

    Location:
    Glendale, CA, USA
    He was never paid a dime. Why am I not surprised?
     
  4. Rick Bartlett

    Rick Bartlett Forum Resident

    Well he died, before it started making money, watch the documentary.
     
  5. Rick Bartlett

    Rick Bartlett Forum Resident

    Mods, Can this be possibly moved to the 'music' thread for discussion?
     
  6. Wildest cat from montana

    Wildest cat from montana Humble Reader

    Location:
    ontario canada
    Saw this last month. Very interesting. They took on Disney and gave it everything they had.
     
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  7. Rick Bartlett

    Rick Bartlett Forum Resident

    My absolute favourite version, a great pop/rock record!
    The Tokens - The Lion Sleeps Tonight.
     
  8. Rick Bartlett

    Rick Bartlett Forum Resident

    The woman who does soprano is a gal named 'Anita Darian'.
    Not that is means anything to anybody, just sayin'.
    Anita Darian - Wikipedia
     
  9. Rick Bartlett

    Rick Bartlett Forum Resident

    As a side note, I throw this in anytime I can.
    Just shows the great side of Billy Joel and his amazing vocals.
     
  10. Rick Bartlett

    Rick Bartlett Forum Resident

    Surprised by the lack of interest in this documentary for such a famous worldwide known song.
     
  11. Dansk

    Dansk rational romantic mystic cynical idealist

    Location:
    Ontario, Canada
    Wasn't aware there was a documentary about it. Rolling Stone did an excellent article about the song back in 2000, that's where I'm familiar with the story.

    In the Jungle
     
  12. Rick Bartlett

    Rick Bartlett Forum Resident

    It's a must watch documentary.
    :righton:
     
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  13. aphexj

    aphexj Sound mind & body

    Being a Millennial Canadian, first version of the song I learned was the Nylons' excellent studio recording, which I owned on a compilation CD from the early 90s called Illustrious. For composition it credited equally Solomon Linda, and Paul Campbell (a pseudonym for the Weavers) — with arrangement credits going partially to members of the Tokens. The listed publisher was Folkways Music. I don't know who uploaded this version but they have the credits listed wrong in the video description:

     
  14. Ryan Lux

    Ryan Lux Senior Member

    Location:
    Toronto, ON, CA
    I watched it. A very good doc. It leaves off on at a frustrating place, where no one is happy despite some success in bringing justice to the original writer's family.
     
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  15. Rick Bartlett

    Rick Bartlett Forum Resident

    Yes. I liked it for that, really shows the devastation of the 'music business'.
    It's good it wasn't sugar coated.
     
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  16. aphexj

    aphexj Sound mind & body

    Also watched the doc last night. Great stuff, provoked a lot of questions and discussion in my home
     
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  17. ShockControl

    ShockControl Bon Vivant and Raconteur!

    Location:
    Lotus Land
    Excellent film. My Dad was Gordon Jenkins' contractor for singers on sessions that used a chorus, and he sings in the chorus on the Weavers original U.S. version on Decca.

    And how refreshing to see a music documentary that completely avoided the four horsemen of the apocalypse (Sting, Bono, Bruce, Elvic C.).
     
    Last edited: Aug 17, 2019
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  18. Rick Bartlett

    Rick Bartlett Forum Resident

    Agreed! The big star 'talking head' thing has been done to death, especially with the same pop ups.
    That was one thing I was disappointed with the Elvis doco 'The Searcher'.
    Too much Bruce, Petty, Robbie Robertson.....
    In that case, I'd rather hear more from James Burton, Ronnie Tutt, Jerry Schilling even Priscilla for that matter.
    People that knew and associated with Elvis.
    I could watch a million more 'lion's roar' structured documentaries than the usual predictable one's of current.
     
  19. konoyaro

    konoyaro Forum Resident

    Location:
    Bay Area, CA, USA
    And let's not forget the Brian Eno cover of this song:

     
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  20. Jason W

    Jason W Forum Resident

    Location:
    Mill Valley, CA
    I really liked this doc. What a saga! Without spoilers, it was a bit hard to watch some characters squirm at the end when questioned about the ultimate money trail. I really respected the sincerity and integrity of the main dude who tried to champion the cause over the years.
     
    Rick Bartlett likes this.
  21. The Panda

    The Panda Forum Mutant

    Location:
    Marple, PA, USA
    yes--recommended!!

    But if you're looking for a happy ending, pls disregard this post.
     
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