Solomon Linda

Solomon Popoli Linda, also known as Solomon Ntsele, was a South African musician, singer, and performer. He composed "Mbube", a defining South African song that revamped the isicathamiya genre and spawned a distinct genre of choral music. "Mbube" would evolve into "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" when it was reimagined by the Tokens in 1961.

Life

Early life and career (1909–1939)

Solomon Popoli Linda was born near Pomeroy, on the labor reserve Msinga, Umzinyathi District Municipality in Ladysmith in Natal, where he was familiar with the traditions of amahubo and izingoma zomshado music. He attended the Gordon Memorial mission school, where he learned about Western musical culture, hymns, and participated in choir contests.
In 1931, Linda, like many other young African men at that time, left his homestead to find menial work in Johannesburg, by then a sprawling gold-mining town with a great demand for cheap labour. He worked in the Mayi Mayi Furniture Shop on Small Street and sang in a choir known as the Evening Birds, managed by his uncles, Solomon and Amon Madondo, and which disbanded in 1933.
Linda found employment at Johannesburg's Carlton Hotel and started a new group that retained the Evening Birds name. The members of the group were Solomon Linda, Gilbert Madondo, Boy Sibiya, with Gideon Mkhize, Samuel Mlangeni, and Owen Sikhakhane as basses. They were all Linda's friends from Pomeroy.
The group evolved from performances at weddings to choir competitions. Linda's musical popularity grew with the Evening Birds, who presented "a very cool urban act that wears pinstriped suits, bowler hats and dandy two-tone shoes".

"Mbube"

After Linda started working at the Gallo Record Company's Roodepoort plant as a record packer in 1939, the Evening Birds were noticed by company talent scout Griffith Motsieloa.
Italian immigrant Eric Gallo owned what at that time was sub-Saharan Africa's only recording studio. In 1939, while recording a number of songs in the studio, Linda improvised the song "Mbube". "Mbube" was a major success for Linda and the Evening Birds, reportedly selling more than 100,000 copies in South Africa over nine years. While the song proved a monumental success, Linda did not profit, as he sold his rights to "Mbube" to Eric Gallo for ten shillings just after the recording session. Seeing that Linda could not read and had no understanding of royalties, a court would later deem this deal unfair. Gallo also paid Linda the equivalent of $2 for the first run of a few hundred records.

Later years: 1948–1962

In 1948, the Evening Birds disbanded, and a year later Linda married Regina Madiba. While raising a family he continued to perform. His song "Mbube" had made him well known in South Africa.
In 1959, Linda collapsed onstage, which doctors ruled a result of kidney failure. He died three years later aged 53. At the time of his death, his bank account contained roughly $40 in today's money. His family could not afford a tombstone.

Musical analysis and impact

Linda is credited with a number of musical innovations that came to dominate the isicathamiya genre. Instead of using one singer per voice part, the Evening Birds used a number of bass singers. He introduced the falsetto main voice, which incorporated female vocal texture into male singing. His group was the first known to use striped suits to indicate that they were urban sophisticates. At the same time, their bass singing retained some musical elements indicative of traditional choral music.
The journalist Rian Malan comments on his music: "He has songs about work, songs about crime, songs about how banks rob you by giving you paper in exchange for real money, songs about how rudely the whites treat you when you go to get your pass stamped." Linda's song "Yetulisigqoko" is interpreted by Erlmann as a protest song against the British regime of class and racial oppression; the song recalls treatment by Pass Office officials and ends with the words "Sikhalela izwe lakithi". Such expressions were an occasional feature of mbube songs.

Legacy

"Wimoweh" and "The Lion Sleeps Tonight"

Years after "Mbube" found success in South Africa, Gallo sent some records to Decca Records in the United States, included in which was "Mbube". Alan Lomax found them and sent them to the folk singer Pete Seeger of the Weavers. "Mbube" intrigued Seeger, and he transcribed it word for word, although he misheard the chorus as wimoweh. In December 1951, the Weavers released a cover of "Mbube" named "Wimoweh", which, as Malan writes, "was faithful to the Zulu original in almost all respects save for the finger-popping rhythm." Linda received no credit. Some years later, the Tokens, a New York-based doo-wop group, decided to record their own version. They solicited the help of George David Weiss, who gave the song English lyrics and a modern feel, making the final improvised notes the new tune. It was released in October 1961 as a B-side, and Linda, again, received no credit.
"The Lion Sleeps Tonight" surged to No. 1 in the US charts and in numerous other countries. Many covers of the song found similar success in the years to come. In 1994, it featured in the Disney Company|Disney] film The Lion King. The film would gross nearly $1 billion and produce many soundtrack CDs. By the mid-2000s, "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" had been recorded by over 150 artists worldwide and had a role in more than thirteen movies.

Rediscovery

In spite of the song's immense fame, Linda's family had earned very little in royalties, and Linda himself had been all but forgotten. At the turn of the century, Linda's family was still desperately poor, living in "a tiny township house of three rooms, an outside toilet, and an asbestos roof without a ceiling." Five of his eight children had died. Due to this, in 2000, the South African journalist Rian Malan penned an essay for Rolling Stone which shed light on the origins of "The Lion Sleeps Tonight". He told the story of "Mbube", its eventual rise to success, and the struggles faced by Linda's daughters, and concluded that "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" had earned some $15 million in royalties. Two years later, fellow South African François Verster composed a documentary about Linda and "Mbube", A Lion's Trail. Both Malan's essay and Verster's documentary greatly publicised Linda's history.
The history of "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" and the plight of Linda’s daughters have been chronicled. Beyond Malan's essay and Vester's documentary, they were covered in the 2019 Netflix film ReMastered: The Lion’s Share. Moreover, Beyoncé's 2020 musical film Black Is King partially came into being after she learned of how Linda was not recognised for his contributions to "The Lion Sleeps Tonight". In the film, the original "Mbube" rather than the Tokens' version is used. In 2022, Linda's hometown Pomeroy was renamed to Solomon Linda.

Legal turmoil

Covers of "Mbube" have been plagued by disputes over songwriting credits and royalties since the 1950s. In fact, the journalists Simon Robinson and David Browne deem the song one of the most contentious in pop music. Around 1951, Pete Seeger began demanding Linda receive his fair share of revenue from "Wimoweh", but it was only until two decades later that The Richmond Organization, which owned the rights to "Mbube", conceded some of the earnings to Linda's family. They also recognized the Weavers' cover as being based on "Mbube". After the Tokens' cover became a global hit, TRO and George David Weiss' team locked horns in court. Weiss' team would retain rights over "The Lion Sleeps Tonight", but they were ordered to send ten percent of performance royalties to Linda's family.
In 2004, Linda's descendants sued Disney for $1.5 million for its use of "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" in The Lion King. Their lawyer Owen Dean argued that, from 1991 to 2000, they received some $15,000 in royalties, while the song earned an estimated total of $15 million. The case attracted global attention. Before a trial could take place, however, the case was settled. Abilene Music, which held the US copyright to "The Lion Sleeps Tonight", agreed to pay the family a lump sum representing royalties earned from 1987 onward and grant them a share of future income until 2017. The family's lawyers expressed satisfaction at these concessions. Furthermore, Linda received recognition for his work as well as a cowriting credit on "The Lion Sleeps Tonight". Nonetheless, the song continued stirring up legal conflict. Since the Linda family's settlement with Disney became void in 2017, they could not profit from the song's use in the 2019 film ''The Lion King.''

Partial discography

During his musical career, Solomon Linda recorded many songs in the Gallo Recording Studio. He was accompanied by his vocal group, The Evening Birds.

1938: Makasani/Mfo Ka Linda
1938: Ngqo Ngqongo Vula/Ngi Boni Sebeni
1939: Ntombi Ngangiyeshela /Hamba Pepa Lami
1939: Yetulisigqoko
1939: Mbube/Ngi Hambile
1939: Sangena Mama/Sohlangana
1939: Sengiyofela Pesheya/Ziyekele Mama
1940: Jerusalema /Basibizalonkizwe
1940: Sigonde 'Mnambiti /Bhamporo
1942: Ngazula Emagumeni /Gijima Mfana
1942: Ndaba Zika Linda/Ngiyomutshel'Ubaba