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| “What a Wonderful World” | |
|---|---|
| Single by Louis Armstrong | |
| from the album What a Wonderful World | |
| B-side | “Cabaret“ |
| Released | 1967 |
| Format | 7″ |
| Genre | Traditional popjazz |
| Length | 2:21 |
| Label | ABC 10982, HMV |
| Songwriter(s) | Bob Thiele (as George Douglas) George David Weiss |
| Producer(s) | Bob Thiele |
| Louis Armstrong singles chronology | |
| “Mi va de cantare” (1967)”What a Wonderful World” (1967)”Hello Brother” (1968) |
“What a Wonderful World” is a pop ballad written by Bob Thiele (as “George Douglas”) and George David Weiss. It was first recorded by Louis Armstrong and released in 1967 as a single, which topped the pop charts in the United Kingdom.Thiele and Weiss were both prominent in the music world (Thiele as a producer and Weiss as a composer/performer). Armstrong’s recording was inducted in the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1999. The publishing for this song is controlled by Memory Lane Music Group, Carlin Music Corp. and BMG Rights Management.
One source claims the song was first offered to Tony Bennett, who turned it down,[3] although Louis Armstrong biographer Ricky Riccardi disputes this claim.[4] George Weiss recounts in the book Off the Record: Songwriters on Songwriting by Graham Nash that he wrote the song specifically for Louis Armstrong. Weiss was inspired by Armstrong’s ability to bring people of different races together.
Because he was gigging at the Tropicana Hotel, Armstrong recorded the song in Las Vegas at Bill Porter’s United Recording studio. The session was scheduled to follow Armstrong’s midnight show, and by 2 am the musicians were settled and tape was rolling. Arranger Artie Butler was there with songwriters Weiss and Theile, and Armstrong was in the studio singing with the orchestra. Armstrong had recently signed to ABC Records, and ABC president Larry Newton showed up to photograph Armstrong. Newton wanted a swingey pop song like “Hello, Dolly!“, a big hit for Armstrong when he was with Kapp Records, so when Newton heard the slow pace of “What a Wonderful World”, he tried to stop the session. Newton was locked out of the studio for his disruption, but a second problem arose: nearby freight train whistles interrupted the session twice, forcing the recording to start over. Armstrong shook his head and laughed off the distractions, keeping his composure. The session ended around 6 am, going longer than expected. To make sure the orchestra members were paid extra for their overtime, Armstrong accepted only $250 musicians union scale for his work.
The song was not initially a hit in the United States, where it sold fewer than 1,000 copies because Newton did not like or promote it, but was a major success in the United Kingdom, reaching number one on the UK Singles Chart. In the United States, the song hit No. 16 on the Billboard Bubbling Under Chart. It was also the biggest-selling single of 1968 in the UK where it was among the last pop singles issued by HMV Records before becoming an exclusive classical music label. The song made Armstrong the oldest male to top the UK Singles Chart. Armstrong’s record was broken in 2009 when a remake of “Islands in the Stream” recorded for Comic Relief—which included the 68-year-old Tom Jones—reached number one in that chart. Tony Bennett did go on to record “What A Wonderful World” several times, as in 2003 with k.d. lang, paying homage to Bennett’s friend, Armstrong.
ABC Records’ European distributor EMI forced ABC to issue a What a Wonderful World album in 1968 (catalogue number ABCS-650). It did not chart in the United States, due to ABC not promoting it, but charted in the UK where it was issued by Stateside Records with catalogue number SSL 10247 and peaked on the British chart at No. 37.
The song gradually became something of a standard and reached a new level of popularity. In 1978, it was featured in the closing scenes of BBC radio’s, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, and was repeated for BBC’s 1981 TV adaptation of the series. In 1988, Armstrong’s recording appeared in the film Good Morning, Vietnam (despite the film being set in 1965 – two years before it was recorded) and was re-released as a single, hitting No. 32 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in February 1988. The single charted at number one for the fortnight ending June 27, 1988 on the Australian chart. It is also the closing song for the 1995 movie 12 Monkeys.
By April 2014, Louis Armstrong’s 1967 recording had sold 2,173,000 downloads in the United States after it was released digitally.
Eva Cassidy and Katie Melua version
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| “What a Wonderful World” | |
|---|---|
| Single by Eva Cassidy and Katie Melua | |
| from the album The Katie Melua Collection | |
| B-side | “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” (Katie Melua) |
| Released | December 3, 2007 |
| Format | CD single |
| Length | 4:19 |
| Label | Dramatico |
| Producer(s) | Mike Batt |
| Eva Cassidy singles chronology | |
| “Fields of Gold” (2007)”What a Wonderful World” (2007)”Songbird” (2007) | |
| Katie Melua singles chronology | |
| “Mary Pickford“ (2007)”What a Wonderful World“ (2007)”If the Lights Go Out“ (2008) |
In 2007, Georgian-British singer-songwriter Katie Melua recorded a version of the song with American singer and guitarist Eva Cassidy, who had died in 1996. Recorded by Melua singing over the original Cassidy track, the duet was released in late 2007 as a charity single for the British Red Cross. Melua, who considers Cassidy one of her musical idols, had previously sung with Cassidy in this manner on Christmas Eve 2006, when she performed “Over the Rainbow” on the BBC One television program Duets Impossible with a videotape of Cassidy singing the song.
Watch the movie “Meet Joe Black”
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