But the composer of the catchy tune, South. It is politically correct to use `he or she', and not just `he', when you mean a man or a woman. It is arguably the world's most famous song about a lion - and for more than eight decades it has made a lot of money for many people around the world. Karl Denver (Angus McKenzie), singer, born 1931 died December 21, 1998.( also PC) (of language or behaviour) that does not offend particular groups of people. This made no impact on the psyche of the acid house generation, however, and Denver returned to the cabaret circuit. There was a brief, unexpected return to the charts in 1989 when the eccentric Happy Mondays had them guesting on their track Lazyitis and on an updated recording of Wimoweh on the fashionable Factory label. Although The Karl Denver Trio faded from the media limelight, they continued to perform in cabaret at home and overseas. There were small hits for the Trio in 1964, but their music sounded decidedly old-fashioned compared with that of the Fab Four and the numerous beat groups who now dominated the pop scene. In 1962 the Trio appeared in summer season at Great Yarmouth and the following year were given their own Light Programme show, Side by Side. Find album reviews, track lists, credits, awards and more at AllMusic. The Karl Denver Trio version displayed Denver's vocal gymnastics to full effect and its success propelled the group into the upper reaches of British show business. Discover Wimoweh (And Other Songs of Freedom and Protest) by Pete Seeger released in 1968. Denver claimed to have discovered the song in South Africa during his days as a seaman but it had already been a hit in the hands of American folk group The Weavers, and The Tokens had re-recorded it with new lyrics as The Lion Sleeps Tonight. Denver himself was hailed in the New Musical Express as 'an artist with a totally different and distinctive approach'.ĭenver's hits included a pre-1914 Victor Schertzinger song Marcheta, an equally antique French song, A Little Love A Little Kiss, the hillbilly tune Mexicali Rose and Wimoweh. He appealed to the curious British penchant for yodelling cowboys exemplified in the1950s by Slim Whitman, whose signature tune Indian Love Call was part of the Denver stage act. This was an interregnum in British pop after rock 'n' roll and before the Beatles. Good also negotiated a record deal with Decca and acted as producer on the series of hit singles enjoyed by the group over the next three years. In 1961 the trio was 'discovered' by impresario Jack Good, who presented them on his television series Wham! and got them on to a national tour headed by Jess Conrad and Billy Fury. about listening to a gang of boys from Cefneithin belting out their own version of Wimoweh in Welsh. They toured the Northern clubs and appeared on Granada Television's Band Stand. BBC Wales political editor Betsan Powys blog. Taking the stage name Karl Denver, he appeared on radio and television, and the prestigious Grand Ole Opry show, before the immigration department caught up with him and he was deported in 1959.īack in Britain he settled in Manchester, where he teamed up with Gerry Cottrell and Kevin Neill to form the Karl Denver Trio. By this time he had set his sights on a career as a singer, and he jumped ship in the United States and made for Nashville, the centre of country and western music.
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