Wednesday, August 25, 2010

George Weiss, R. I. P.

iWon News - 'What a Wonderful World' songwriter Weiss dies: "George David Weiss, who helped write chart-topping pop hits including 'Can't Help Falling in Love' and 'What a Wonderful World,' has died. He was 89.
[. . . .]
Among the notable compositions he wrote or co-wrote were 'Can't Help Falling in Love,' recorded by Elvis Presley; 'What a Wonderful World,' recorded by Louis Armstrong; 'Surrender,' recorded by Perry Como, and 'Oh! What It Seemed to Be' by Frank Sinatra.

Weiss had a role in creating the Tokens' hit version of 'The Lion Sleeps Tonight,' which was based on a 1939 song written by South African musician Solomon Linda. Weiss and two collaborators gave the song a reworked melody and new lyrics but kept the refrain - 'Wimoweh, wimoweh' - that was popularized in a 1950s version of the song performed by the Weavers.

The Tokens' version became a million-selling hit in 1961."

Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson.

1 comment:

Dan said...

I always loved "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" but I could never remembe the words.