The Tokens

American vocal group from Brooklyn, New York · RCA Victor

The Tokens cut their version for RCA Victor in 1961, where it went out in October as the B-side of “Tina” and climbed to No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100. Their arrangement — the soaring wordless soprano line over doo-wop harmony — is a genuinely inspired piece of pop record-making, and it is the reason the tune is known worldwide. The only error is chronological: they were covering a song that had already travelled from Johannesburg to New York by way of The Weavers.

Who recorded it

Songs credited to The Tokens that are covers

The Lion Sleeps Tonight

Cover — originally recorded by Solomon Linda's Original Evening Birds

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