Yep, this is the version I grew up with. We used to sing it on the bus as kids also the "Jeramiah was a Bullfrog" song . I want a one way ticket back to the 70's.
Finally, the version I remember hearing on WABC radio in the 1970s. It's the tuba or euphonium at 1:30 that called my attention to this version as I played baritone horn in school.
I was born in 1968 and my parents gave me a small transistor radio when I was four. I couldn’t really discern lyrics at that age, but Inalways remembered the song with the barking dog,...or at least that’s what it sounded like to me. As an adult, I looked for the song for years. Googling “barking dog”,...NOTHING. a few years ago a friend gifted me the top 100 songs per year from 1970-2006, on MP3. I listened to every song from 1970-73 that I didn’t already know well, ...and this jewel comes on, “HUP HUP”, right before the high falsetto. It sounds like a barking dog, or it did to this 4 year old kid listening on a tiny radio in 1972. Mystery solved.
I first heard it on AM radio in Cleveland about 1972. The announcer announced it as "The Lion Sleeps Tonight by Robert John, Otherwise known as Bob John". (John Lanigan, maybe?) I was very familiar with the Tokens version., but this one felt so much more real. It's been my favorite ever since.
On this day in 1972 {April 1st} Robert John performed "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" on the late Dick Clark's 'American Bandstand'... Exactly three months earlier on January 1st it entered Billboard's Hot Top 100 chart; eventually it peaked at #3 and spent 17 weeks on the Top 100... And exactly ten years earlier on January 1st, 1962 the Tokens version of the song was the #1 record on the Top 100... In 1979 on October 6th Mr. John had his biggest hit with "Sad Eyes", it peaked at #1 {for 1 week}...
This song always reminds me of the Cuban Missile Crises, which took place later in 1962. While the song, particularly this version, sounds happy and bouncy, the theme of a sleeping lion implies a looming, ominous threat. Of course, in the case of the Missiles, that threat is still very much with us.
While this version does sound similar to the Tokens version, the nuances delivered by Robert John definitely make this the best version of the song. In a nutshell, he nailed it. This rendition is catchy as all get-out. It's one of those songs that makes you instantly go into be-bop mode, if you're the kind of pop music fan who totally digs the 60's, 70's, and 80's (which I definitely AM, and which were undeniably the best decades for pop music EVER)
I don't know who sang this first, but this is the version I will always remember. Me and my dad used to ride around listening to this all the time. I would always lip sync at the part where the guy grunts. Good, simple times, back before life got complicated.
It was first publicly performed by a young man named Solomon Linda. The modern version is based on an old traditional African lullaby called "Mbube" It has been recorded by more artists more times than any other song in the English language, including "Amazing Grace" which comes in second.
Awesome moment! A personal favourite of mine I sang this in choir the other day. This is the first rendition where I can hear the 2nd Bass part :) Great vid!
I think this is the better version of this song as well. That being said, I am a bit biased because this was the first version I heard when I was 12 or 13 yrs old. Usually the first version of any song you hear, in many instances becomes your favorite. I remember his song Sad Eyes. That song reminds me of when I was in the Army and got stationed in Germany in 1979. I believe it came out in 1980, and it used to play a lot on the radio, and there was a juke box in our little laundry place on post. That song seemed to play a lot. I used to like the guitar solo that is done about 2/3rds of the way through the song. Whoever did that solo definitely did a great job with it!!
All the history of the song that some here seem to know about going way back (to before The Tokens had a hit with it in '61) is interesting. I was actually born in '61--so was 11 when Robert John's version hit the airwaves on AM radio in 1972, and I've always thought it was great, ever since. Definitely better than the Tokens' version.
At a Gallo Records sponsored talent show in Johannesburg, South Africa in 1939, a young Zulu musician named Solomon Linda, urged by his friends, stepped up to the microphone, opened his mouth...and stepped into history. Since that day, The Lion Sleeps Tonight has been recorded more times and by more artists than any other song ever written.
No, there are many Christmas songs that have been recorded by more artists than any other songs. And I believe "Yesterday" may have the record for pop songs, but I'm not sure.
@ElijahMathewsHenry2007 search up Robert John, sad eyes, lion sleeps tonight. Maybe search up familly, he has a sister named Dorothy, she is my grandmothed
I love the bass line in this..... I used to listen to this on WLS back in their "Rock of Chicago" days. They came into Baltimore like thunder at night.
Only heard the Tokens version after Robert John's was released. I may have only been seven but I thought the Tokens version sounded like something my parents would listen to. I enjoy both now but, this is the better of the two. I had to go look this up and play it to remind me if I listened to a different version back in '72. lol You're know getting old when you have to jump start your memory. lol
It was released as "Mbube" in 1939 by Linda (South Africa) and rewritten as "Wimoweh" for The Weavers in 1951. Their version reached the Billboard Top 10. In 1961, the doo-wop group "The Tokens" recorded it as a B-side to the single "Tina". Their version went #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. In 1972, Robert John (Pedrick) took the song to #3 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.
Yup...I have the 45 of Lion Sleeps tonight with Janet on the flip. In fact, I liked the song so much at 6 or 7 years old, family members bought it for me, so I have about 4 copies of the one you are mentioning... ;-)
This song originated from Solomon Linda's "Mbube" back in 1939, a South African Zulu singer!. Then, The Weavers recorded "Wimaweh" in the early 50's. Then, along came The Tokens and made it popular in 1961 with "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" I didn't even know Robert John did a version. I only remember "Sad Eyes". (Which is a great song, by the way)
Right you are, Karm. I read a write-up on Solomon Linda maaaaaaaaaany years ago in the editorial section of Rolling Stone magazine. The original tune was loosely based on a Zulu lullabye slightly updated by Linda and some musicians he was in tight with at the time. I do love Robert John's version, however. It just has a certain sound to it...
This song was also covered by by progressive rock/new wave/art-rocker Brian Eno on a now-rare 45. By the way, I like ALL THREE VERSIONS -- each is great in its own way! :)
The song Sad eyes brought me here.. to more R J music. Quickly recognizing this Lion King used song.. i notice RJ has a Beach Boy sounding voice. Nice .
A #3 hit for Robert John in the Spring of 1972. It also went to #6 on the Adult Contemporary charts. In Canada, it went to #15 and to #17 on the Canadian AC charts. It went to #40 in Germany.
this is the version I grew up with. more sun-shiney happy-face sound.. the male "huh-heh" in the background is reminiscent of "oogah-chaka" from Blue Suede's "Hooked On A Feeling".
Ahh, this song actually has a pretty good history and story behind it, it's originally sang by folk singer Pete Seegers (If I had a Hammer, Guantanamera etc) & the Weavers originally just tiled Wimoweh. The lyrics were added later I not sure by who, but Pete Seeger & the Weavers were all brought up on charges of being communist sympathizers by McCarthy and nearly kicked out of the US. Pete was a fierce human & civil rights activist, and did consider himself a communist for a time, but figured out that communism was yet another racket, was sickened after finding out Stalin was killing people on mass and became an anarchist of sorts. Anarchism of course being non-centralized gov and not the club kid punk stuff of wearing safety pins on the face, rippin your jeans, shooting up and otherwise being a wasted asshole.
Seeger took the song from a South African named Solomon Linda, but didn't check to ensure his record label paid him the royalties. The poor guy died in poverty and it was years before his family could put a stone on his grave. Seeger did push to have the royalties restored to his children when he found out.
wratched. you're right. pete seeger was negligent in not checking the original writer. when he found out he immediately sent the royalties to the family. if he had been a little more diligent solomon linda would have also benefited but he died before the mistake was rectified.
As we celebrate and enjoy this great version of the song, let us never forget the creator of the original "Mbube" (that evolved into this song): Mr. Solomon Linda!
![GEEK TIMË [OFFICIAL AUDIO]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/ry-6RvkH880/mqdefault.jpg)
The bass tracks in this are superb!
As is the steel guitar, used where The Tokens used a madrigal-sounding chorus.
I have my headphones on for that reason... mentally isolating that bass.... it's tremendously impressive!
Yep, this is the version I grew up with. We used to sing it on the bus as kids also the "Jeramiah was a Bullfrog" song . I want a one way ticket back to the 70's.
"Joy To The World" by The 3 Dog Night?
fun days
Finally, the version I remember hearing on WABC radio in the 1970s. It's the tuba or euphonium at 1:30 that called my attention to this version as I played baritone horn in school.
The Tokens and Robert John both rocked my world. They both did hands down!
I like how Robert John did this!
Pete Friis me to he is my uncle lol
I first heard this song in the 2nd grade on the radio in my father’s barbershop in 1972.💈 Love this rendition! Brings back fond memories! 😊
Robert John has beautiful high voice💜❤ If you have a high voice, this song is very easy to sing.
i was 18, & would bop around to it in my car
HAD a high voice, I could do it....giving it due justice was another thing!
Could sing it once, don't dare now lol.
Finally found the version they used in Ace Ventura
Literally me rn, it took soo long
You and me both brother.
I wonder why they didn’t use the original?
That voice is supernatural
I was born in 1968 and my parents gave me a small transistor radio when I was four. I couldn’t really discern lyrics at that age, but Inalways remembered the song with the barking dog,...or at least that’s what it sounded like to me. As an adult, I looked for the song for years. Googling “barking dog”,...NOTHING. a few years ago a friend gifted me the top 100 songs per year from 1970-2006, on MP3. I listened to every song from 1970-73 that I didn’t already know well, ...and this jewel comes on, “HUP HUP”, right before the high falsetto. It sounds like a barking dog, or it did to this 4 year old kid listening on a tiny radio in 1972. Mystery solved.
@ElijahMathewsHenry2007 troll.
I always loved this version!..still do!
Roslynn Memme this is my uncle
Oh, I love it too! (Not sure which I like better, The Tokens' or Robert John's!!) ;)
Michael P. On my mother and my grandmother, Robert johns sistee
Elijah Mathews Henry as a matter of fact, my. Name is robert, and so is my fathers, which I believe is in respect of Robert John, my uncle
@ElijahMathewsHenry2007 I swear to god and my mothers grave
The very first time I heard this song, sung by Robert John, was in 1972. It was in my 6th-grade music class.
+David Wise Great Year!
I was in the 5th grade! I will never forget it.
I first heard it on AM radio in Cleveland about 1972. The announcer announced it as "The Lion Sleeps Tonight by Robert John, Otherwise known as Bob John". (John Lanigan, maybe?)
I was very familiar with the Tokens version., but this one felt so much more real. It's been my favorite ever since.
Tokens did it then
This is my uncle lol
Thumbs up to all those were about twelve years old when this was making maximum air time and we were digging it.
12 I wish I was in my 20s then but man what a great song and singer
I bought this on a vinyl 45 when it came out, I think I still have it.
(This is Tom, not Sandra.)
I have always liked this version by Robert John more than the Tokens version. One of the few 70's tunes l DO like!!!!
This has always been the best version of this classic Doo-Wop song !😀😁👍✌❤
I agree, has always been my favorite from Robert John 1st time I heard was on a the Himalaya ride at a carnival.😂
This song brings back memories of when I was young and listening to the oldies but goodies.
Raymond Shirk this is my uncle
On this day in 1972 {April 1st} Robert John performed "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" on the late Dick Clark's 'American Bandstand'...
Exactly three months earlier on January 1st it entered Billboard's Hot Top 100 chart; eventually it peaked at #3 and spent 17 weeks on the Top 100...
And exactly ten years earlier on January 1st, 1962 the Tokens version of the song was the #1 record on the Top 100...
In 1979 on October 6th Mr. John had his biggest hit with "Sad Eyes", it peaked at #1 {for 1 week}...
This song always reminds me of the Cuban Missile Crises, which took place later in 1962. While the song, particularly this version, sounds happy and bouncy, the theme of a sleeping lion implies a looming, ominous threat. Of course, in the case of the Missiles, that threat is still very much with us.
While this version does sound similar to the Tokens version, the nuances delivered by Robert John definitely make this the best version of the song.
In a nutshell, he nailed it.
This rendition is catchy as all get-out. It's one of those songs that makes you instantly go into be-bop mode, if you're the kind of pop music fan who totally digs the 60's, 70's, and 80's (which I definitely AM, and which were undeniably the best decades for pop music EVER)
I saw it, I was 10 soon to be 11.. it was great!
I don't know who sang this first, but this is the version I will always remember. Me and my dad used to ride around listening to this all the time. I would always lip sync at the part where the guy grunts. Good, simple times, back before life got complicated.
It was first publicly performed by a young man named Solomon Linda. The modern version is based on an old traditional African lullaby called "Mbube" It has been recorded by more artists more times than any other song in the English language, including "Amazing Grace" which comes in second.
It was first covered by the tokens
mbube is available at /watch?v=mrrQT4WkbNE
@@paultownsley5521 not quite...the version called Wimmowe was performed by the Weavers in the late 50's
The Tokens sang it in I think 1962! I remember when this version was on the Radio!
Love this version the best...glad I found it! Thanks for posting...😁
I love how "way up high" is sung during the weymaweh parts.
In my opinion, this is the definitive version of this song.
This was my first .45 as a child. I danced and sang to it nearly every day for years.
My mom said I wore the groves off the record 😊
Awesome moment! A personal favourite of mine
I sang this in choir the other day. This is the first rendition where I can hear the 2nd Bass part :) Great vid!
When I was a kid, I asked my parents to buy me the 45 RPM record. I still have it. I even took it to school and the music teacher played it.
That is how I got it!
Still got my copy as well
I was 8 years old when this came out out. My mom bought me the 45 at Woolworths in New jersey
I. Like this version the best
One over my all time favorites.
I think this is the better version of this song as well. That being said, I am a bit biased because this was the first version I heard when I was 12 or 13 yrs old. Usually the first version of any song you hear, in many instances becomes your favorite. I remember his song Sad Eyes. That song reminds me of when I was in the Army and got stationed in Germany in 1979. I believe it came out in 1980, and it used to play a lot on the radio, and there was a juke box in our little laundry place on post. That song seemed to play a lot. I used to like the guitar solo that is done about 2/3rds of the way through the song. Whoever did that solo definitely did a great job with it!!
All the history of the song that some here seem to know about going way back (to before The Tokens had a hit with it in '61) is interesting. I was actually born in '61--so was 11 when Robert John's version hit the airwaves on AM radio in 1972, and I've always thought it was great, ever since. Definitely better than the Tokens' version.
At a Gallo Records sponsored talent show in Johannesburg, South Africa in 1939, a young Zulu musician named Solomon Linda, urged by his friends, stepped up to the microphone, opened his mouth...and stepped into history.
Since that day, The Lion Sleeps Tonight has been recorded more times and by more artists than any other song ever written.
No, there are many Christmas songs that have been recorded by more artists than any other songs. And I believe "Yesterday" may have the record for pop songs, but I'm not sure.
@jbx 1967: Hear, hear! Yes, indeed! Thank you for mentioning this! Let us never forget Mr. Linda when listening to this song!
Mbube (The Lion Sleeps) holds that distinction. Amazing Grace is second.
Brilliant song. Fantastic. 👏🍀
Great version of the song. Thanks
Cookie Ceo thank you that’s my uncle
@ElijahMathewsHenry2007 on my mom and on my grave and on the Bible
@ElijahMathewsHenry2007 search up Robert John, sad eyes, lion sleeps tonight. Maybe search up familly, he has a sister named Dorothy, she is my grandmothed
@ElijahMathewsHenry2007 it won’t get me clout, it won’t get me a cookie, now shut the fuck up
Roller skated to this in the 70s.
I did that a couple times in the Disco Era!
I love the bass line in this..... I used to listen to this on WLS back in their "Rock of Chicago" days. They came into Baltimore like thunder at night.
The bass player has some talent!!! It makes this song.
Robert John my favorite version as well. As Robert John Pedrick, he did a fantastic version of Maybe.
Best version of all!
I love this song
Ace Ventura. When Nature Calls. Shikaka!
No the 1995 version is not the same one but they use this one in 1994
"Ace Ventura: Pet Detective" is more accurate. ;)
Yeah they used this in the first Ace Ventura movie
entered Cashbox Dec 25, 1971... years later he did "Sad Eyes" in 1979
Colin Sanders really? I didn’t know that and he is my uncle lmao
@Colin Sanders: Really? Never knew he performed "Sad Eyes" also! Thanks for the info!
This version is much better than the original "Tokens" version, the girls and the bass line makes it all worth it!
I disagree I think Jay Siegel’s countertenor is better but a great version nonetheless
Get your ears fixed. This sounds like a bad cartoon version in comparison.
The bass in this version is awesome!!
if you grew up watching ace ventura, this is the best version
The Tokens version wasn't the original. The original is called "Mbube" and was written by South African artist in 1939
This is the best version of 'em all!
This is my favorite version. Thanks for posting.
One and wild crazy man Robert John lord he could sing.here on earth .
I think this is the best version of the song!
Only heard the Tokens version after Robert John's was released. I may have only been seven but I thought the Tokens version sounded like something my parents would listen to. I enjoy both now but, this is the better of the two. I had to go look this up and play it to remind me if I listened to a different version back in '72. lol You're know getting old when you have to jump start your memory. lol
The Tokens version hit #1 in Dec, 1961.
Robert John wrote this song
Collette Russell, 4th grade, Royal Gate Elementary School 1972. I remember...
I still have this on 45 !!!!
His high register is awesome!!
Ummm.1972. Top 40 billboard hits. KFRC with Dr Donald D Rose. Anybody? Thumbs up.
It was released as "Mbube" in 1939 by Linda (South Africa) and rewritten as "Wimoweh" for The Weavers in 1951. Their version reached the Billboard Top 10. In 1961, the doo-wop group "The Tokens" recorded it as a B-side to the single "Tina". Their version went #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. In 1972, Robert John (Pedrick) took the song to #3 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.
I’m little late, but yes! He always referred to Sacramento as SACRATOMATO” when giving the weather.
@@michaelrobinson8058 Thats riiiight!
This is my preferred version.
This song is part of my best years
Ramon Baez this is my uncle
I love this song.
Such a great voice never heard of him till I saw the sad eyes clip...
Yup...I have the 45 of Lion Sleeps tonight with Janet on the flip. In fact, I liked the song so much at 6 or 7 years old, family members bought it for me, so I have about 4 copies of the one you are mentioning... ;-)
This song originated from Solomon Linda's "Mbube" back in 1939, a South African Zulu singer!. Then, The Weavers recorded "Wimaweh" in the early 50's. Then, along came The Tokens and made it popular in 1961 with "The Lion Sleeps Tonight"
I didn't even know Robert John did a version. I only remember "Sad Eyes". (Which is a great song, by the way)
Right you are, Karm. I read a write-up on Solomon Linda maaaaaaaaaany years ago in the editorial section of Rolling Stone magazine. The original tune was loosely based on a Zulu lullabye slightly updated by Linda and some musicians he was in tight with at the time. I do love Robert John's version, however. It just has a certain sound to it...
0:08 The “Ace Ventura and Melissa Robinson In Bed Together” song
Soundtrack falsely put The Tokens when this was used in the movie!
Better than the original version.
This song was also covered by by progressive rock/new wave/art-rocker Brian Eno on a now-rare 45.
By the way, I like ALL THREE VERSIONS -- each is great in its own way!
:)
it was not made public but Robert john is singing the lead and the members of the tokens are singing the background
true
This is my uncle
Not true. Tokens were men, not women.
Ellie Greenwich and members of the Tokens are singing background.
NO, THEY WERE NOT.....
We had this song on the jukebox my stepfather managed. Years later I got the 45
A great song of all times we love’it
Thanks my family enjoy the song.
Omg iHavent heard this song years and I didn't know Robert John sang this song!
Amo esa cancion
The song Sad eyes brought me here.. to more R J music.
Quickly recognizing this Lion King used song.. i notice RJ has a Beach Boy sounding voice.
Nice .
Ace Ventura 2 and
Jungle 2 Jungle
Great song
This is the version I'm most used to
This is my song!!!!!
You're here for Ace Ventura
This was my first record I ever bought
I have always loved this song because I Love cats, cats of all kinds and sizes.
But, just for fun, Lions often hunt at night, lol
Thank you
A version seldom heard but every bit as good as the Tokens version...I was in Panama the first time i heard it...
I liked this version better than the original!
Robert jhon gracias
Our song LeQuida sorry I let you down again and again. Rest In Peace
This is much better than the original.
A #3 hit for Robert John in the Spring of 1972. It also went to #6 on the Adult Contemporary charts. In Canada, it went to #15 and to #17 on the Canadian AC charts. It went to #40 in Germany.
First time I heard this song was when the Tokens sang it in the 50's or 60"s.
I had that on cassette
i remembered old memes from this 😀
No one could out do the Tokens but this is a good version
.
Is that a euphonium solo I hear in the middle section? They are so rare.
Robert John Did the voice over on the Public Television concert of the Tokens.
WHEN I WAS SO YOUNG
Robert John - The Lion Sleeps Tonight
254.494 visualizaciones
Party-Song in perfection. In the 1950s, 1970s and still today. Awimbawapawimbawap
2022?
this is the version I grew up with. more sun-shiney happy-face sound.. the male "huh-heh" in the background is reminiscent of "oogah-chaka" from Blue Suede's "Hooked On A Feeling".
Ahh, this song actually has a pretty good history and story behind it, it's originally sang by folk singer Pete Seegers (If I had a Hammer, Guantanamera etc) & the Weavers originally just tiled Wimoweh. The lyrics were added later I not sure by who, but Pete Seeger & the Weavers were all brought up on charges of being communist sympathizers by McCarthy and nearly kicked out of the US. Pete was a fierce human & civil rights activist, and did consider himself a communist for a time, but figured out that communism was yet another racket, was sickened after finding out Stalin was killing people on mass and became an anarchist of sorts. Anarchism of course being non-centralized gov and not the club kid punk stuff of wearing safety pins on the face, rippin your jeans, shooting up and otherwise being a wasted asshole.
Seeger took the song from a South African named Solomon Linda, but didn't check to ensure his record label paid him the royalties. The poor guy died in poverty and it was years before his family could put a stone on his grave. Seeger did push to have the royalties restored to his children when he found out.
wratched. you're right. pete seeger was negligent in not checking the original writer. when he found out he immediately sent the royalties to the family. if he had been a little more diligent solomon linda would have also benefited but he died before the mistake was rectified.
As we celebrate and enjoy this great version of the song, let us never forget the creator of the original "Mbube" (that evolved into this song): Mr. Solomon Linda!
This is the only version of the song I think that counts
Ace ventura?
조회수 384,713회... 잘 들었습니다.
Que emocionante! !
I came from Ace Ventura haha
a Harry potter Fanfiction brought me here.
and i am going to fall asleep at my computer it's 10:47pm.
A live Van Halen concert recording brought me here - Fresno 1979, the day their 2nd album dropped. Don't ask, I have no freaking idea. LMAO
the sad eyes singer!
Great tune!
No the "White Bucks and Saddle Shoes" singer.
64JBran both of them bruh
oh yeah!