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OLDWICK, N.J. — 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.

By The Associated Press

August 25, 2010 at 4:13 pm

He died Monday of natural causes at his home in Oldwick, N.J., his wife, Claire, said.

Frank Sinatra, Elvis Presley and many other big-name artists recorded compositions written or co-written by Weiss, whose career choice greatly disappointed his mother. She wanted him to become a lawyer.

A Juilliard School of Music graduate who played the violin, piano, saxophone and clarinet, Weiss was a military bandleader during World War II. He gained wide recognition as a songsmith over the next few decades.

Among the 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.

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