Poor Solomon Linda

I saw "The Bucket List" again recently. Fab movie - loved the message behind it, that you should get done those important things in life that should not be left undone.

But I do have a problem with it. In the movie, after Morgan Freeman and Jack Nicholson fly to Johannesburg (or at that point they might have been in Tanzania) and then go on safari, they sing "The Lion Sleeps Tonight," the uber hit from the 60s that made The Tokens famous and became an anthem in The Lion King. The original writer and creator of the song was Solomon Linda.

Linda got his foot in the door at a record company the old-fashioned way: he worked there as a cleaner, using his contacts to get what was first "Mbube" (and then later became "The Lion Sleeps Tonight") exposed to the public. He died in abject poverty in 1962, not knowing that his song was about to become a smash hit (the typical story of a musician being sold down the river by unscrupulous record labels). His family was eventually paid out in a settlement from the rights owners of the song. The full story with links can be accessed at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solomon_Linda.

But here's the problem: if you read the listing of songs at the end of the movie, you'll see that creative credit for the song lists Creatore, Peretti and Weiss, NOT Linda, as the composers. It's not enough that the Linda family got paid out for the use of the song. Solomon Linda should also be credited as the originator and creator of the song in any and all references to it. Musicians don't just want the money - they also want to be recognised for their work and their creativity. This is a wrong that should really be righted.

For more detail, click on the following links:
http://www.richardsilverstein.com/tikun_olam/2006/03/26/solomon-linda-songwriter-who-penned-the-lion-finally-gets-his-just-desserts/
http://www.3rdearmusic.com/forum/mbube2.html.