What a Wonderful World (Song)

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“What a Wonderful World” is a song written by Bob Thiele (as “George Douglas”) and George David Weiss. It was first recorded by Louis Armstrong on August 16, 1967. In April 1968, it topped the pop chart in the United Kingdom, but performed poorly in the United States because Larry Newton, the president of ABC Records, disliked the song and refused to promote it.

After it was heard in the film Good Morning, Vietnam, it was reissued as a single in 1988, and rose to number 32 on the Billboard Hot 100. Armstrong’s recording was inducted to the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1999.

Composition and production

Thiele, using the pseudonym George Douglas, co-wrote the song with George Weiss. Thiele’s real name has been used for the composer credits from 1988 onward. Thiele said the following regarding his inspiration for the song: “[I]n the mid-1960s during the deepening national traumas of the Kennedy assassination, Vietnam, racial strife, and turmoil everywhere, my co-writer George David Weiss and I had an idea to write a ‘different’ song specifically for Louis Armstrong that would be called ‘What a Wonderful World.'” Thiele also produced the original recording of the song, using his real name for the production credit. In Graham Nash’s book Off the Record: Songwriters on Songwriting, George Weiss says he wrote the song specifically for Louis Armstrong, as he was inspired by Armstrong’s ability to bring together people of different races.

One source claims the song was first offered to Tony Bennett, who turned it down, although Louis Armstrong biographer Ricky Riccardi disputes this.

Armstrong was gigging at the Tropicana Hotel in Las Vegas, so he chose to record the song nearby 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 Thiele, 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 swingy 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 physically removed and locked out of the studio for his disruption, which resulted in Newton later refusing to promote the song.

A second problem arose with the taping session: nearby freight train whistles interrupted the music twice, forcing the orchestra 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 be sure the orchestra members were paid extra for their overtime, Armstrong accepted only $250 musicians’ union scale for his work.

Release and reception

Because Newton refused to promote the song, it initially sold fewer than 1,000 copies in the US. It was a major success in the United Kingdom, however, reaching number 1 on the UK Singles Chart. In the US, it eventually reached number 116 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 His Master’s Voice before it became an exclusively classical music label. The song made Armstrong the oldest male to top the UK Singles Chart. (His 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 1.)

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 number 37.

Enduring success

The song gradually became something of a pop standard. An episode of The Muppet Show produced in 1977 and broadcast early in 1978 featured Rowlf the Dog singing the song to a puppy.

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 was used in the film Good Morning, Vietnam (despite its setting in 1965, two years before the song was recorded) and was re-released as a single, reaching number 32 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in February 1988. It charted at number 1 for the fortnight ending June 27, 1988 on the Australian chart.

When the ABC television sitcom Family Matters premiered in 1989, Armstrong’s version of “What a Wonderful World” was used as the show’s theme song.

However, after the fifth episode, it was replaced by the original song “As Days Go By”.

In 2001, rappers Ghostface Killah, Raekwon, and the Alchemist released “The Forest,” a song that begins with three lines of lyric adapted from “What a Wonderful World”, altered to become “an invitation to get high” on marijuana. The rappers and their record company, Sony Music Entertainment, were sued by Abilene Music, the owners of “What a Wonderful World”. The suit was thrown out after Judge Gerard E. Lynch determined that the altered lyric was a parody, transforming the uplifting original message to a new one with a darker nature.

After it was released digitally, Armstrong’s 1967 recording had sold over 2,173,000 downloads in the United States as of April 2014.

In 2021, it was ranked at No. 171 on Rolling Stone‘s “Top 500 Best Songs of All Time”.

Charts and certifications

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Eva Cassidy and Katie Melua version

In 2007, Georgian-British singer-songwriter Katie Melua recorded a version of “What a Wonderful World” 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. This version of “What a Wonderful World” was available for purchase only at Tesco stores and on the Tesco Direct website.

Upon its release, the single debuted at number 45 on the Scottish Singles Chart on the week of December 9, 2007. The next week, the song rose 44 positions to number one while also debuting at number one on the UK Singles Chart, giving both Cassidy and Melua their first number-one single in the United Kingdom. It became the first UK number-one single to be available through only one retailer, with 97 percent of its weekly 56,114 sales coming from the physical CD format sold at Tesco. The song quickly descended the UK chart after peaking, spending five weeks in the UK top 100. The cover was also successful in Sweden, reaching number 19 in November 2008, and became a minor hit in the Wallonia region of Belgium.

When the song reached number one in the UK, Melua thanked everyone who bought the single, saying, “Thank you to everyone who has shown such festive goodwill.” The duet was later included on her 2008 compilation album The Katie Melua Collection.

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Other notable versions

• 1988: Willie Nelson, on his album What a Wonderful World (reached number 6 on the Billboard Top Country Albums)
• 1989: Roy Clark, on his album What a Wonderful World (peaked at No. 73 on the Billboard Hot Country Singles chart)
• 1992: Nick Cave and Shane MacGowan, the lead single and title track to their split album What a Wonderful World (reached number 72 on the UK charts)
• 1993: Israel Kamakawiwo’ole, Hawaiian ukulele version (medley with “Somewhere Over the Rainbow“) on the album Facing Future (sold over 2.5 million copies in the U.S. and Canada alone)

• 1999: Anne Murray, on What a Wonderful World which also spawned a book and video (the album reached No. 1 on the US CCM chart, No. 4 on the US Country chart, No. 38 on the top 200, and No. 15 on the Canadian Country charts)
• 2002: Joey Ramone recorded a version for his first solo album Don’t Worry About Me.
• 2004: Rod Stewart recorded a version of the song with Stevie Wonder for Stewart’s album Stardust: The Great American Songbook, Volume III (released in the United States as the lead single from the album and by early 2005 reached No. 13 on the Billboard Adult Contemporary chart).
• 2010: Robert Wyatt, with Ros Stephen and Gilad Atzmon, recorded a version for the album For The Ghosts Within. The song was also released as a single.
• 2011: Bob Thiele Jr. did a cover of the song which was performed by Alison Mosshart and the Forest Rangers for the FX series Sons of Anarchy (SE4E1 Out) and was included in Songs of Anarchy: Music from Sons of Anarchy Seasons 1-4 album.
• 2012: Pat Byrne‘s version reached No. 3 in the Irish Singles Chart after appearing on The Voice of Ireland.
• 2018: Barbra Streisand blended the song with Lennon’s “Imagine” for her album Walls.
• 2019: Reuben and the Dark contributed a cover of the song for the soundtrack of the 2020 film Dolittle.
• 2024: Ingrid Michaelson covered it on her album For the Dreamers.

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Wonderful World (Sam Cooke Song)

“Wonderful World” (occasionally referred to as “(What A) Wonderful World“) is a song by American singer-songwriter Sam Cooke. Released on April 14, 1960, by Keen Records, it had been recorded during an impromptu session the previous year in March 1959, at Sam Cooke’s last recording session at Keen. He signed with RCA Victor in 1960 and “Wonderful World”, then unreleased, was issued as a single in competition. The song was mainly composed by songwriting team Lou Adler and Herb Alpert, but Cooke revised the lyrics to mention the subject of education more.

“Wonderful World” ended up doing substantially better on the charts than several of his early RCA singles, becoming his biggest hit single since “You Send Me” (1957). The song peaked at number 12 on the Billboard Hot 100 and hit number two on Billboard‘s Hot R&B Sides chart.

Herman’s Hermits charted with their recording of the song in 1965, reaching number one in Canada, number four in the United States, and number seven in the United Kingdom, respectively. A remake by Art Garfunkel with James Taylor and Paul Simon charted at number 17 in 1978. The Sam Cooke version was featured in the 1978 film Animal House and gained greater recognition in the UK upon a 1986 re-release when it peaked at number two on the UK Singles Chart, going gold (it had peaked at number 27 on the UK singles chart on first release in 1960). Its 1986 success was attributed to sound-alike versions featured in the film Witness (1985) and a Levi’s 501 television commercial.

Background

Lou Adler and Herb Alpert composed the song with the theme that neither knowledge nor education can dictate feelings, but that love “could make the world a wonderful place”. Adler did not take the song very seriously but Cooke appeared to be taken with it. “He’d say, ‘What about that song, you know?’ And then he’d start on it again,” recalled Adler. Cooke wanted to steer the song toward the subject of schooling, revised the song and decided to cut it at a recording session on March 2, 1959, five days after completing his Billie Holiday tribute album, Tribute to the Lady. The writing credit for the song was put under Cooke’s wife’s maiden name, Barbara Campbell. Campbell was also listed on the record labels for two other Cooke hits: “Only Sixteen” and “Everybody Loves to Cha Cha Cha“.

The session’s main goal was to record three songs Cooke had composed. There was no arranger or orchestra and the personnel consisted of Cooke, guitarist Cliff White, bassist Adolphus Alsbrook, teenage drummer Ronnie Selico and a quartet of singers that Cooke biographer Peter Guralnick believes may have been the Pilgrim Travelers – J.W. Alexander, Lou Rawls, and George McCurn (nicknamed Oopie).

There is no known footage of Cooke performing the song, even though, in 1986, ABKCO president Allen Klein offered a $10,000 reward for anyone obtaining such footage.

Release and reception

Cooke signed to RCA Victor in 1960 but his first two singles on the major label – “Teenage Sonata” and “You Understand Me” – failed to register on the charts. Meanwhile, John Siamas, co-founder of Keen Records, discovered the “demo” recording of “Wonderful World” among unreleased Cooke recordings. Keen released “Wonderful World” in competition with RCA’s issue of “You Understand Me” in the same week. “Wonderful World” quickly became Cooke’s best-performing single since his first hit “You Send Me“, reaching number 12 on the Billboard Hot 100 and number two on the magazine’s Hot R&B Sides chart. Billboard reviewed the single upon its release, giving it four stars and writing, “Moderate rocker gets a smooth belt from Sam Cooke in his usual, salable style.”

In 2004, the song was placed 373rd in Rolling Stone magazine’s 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.

The song was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2014.

Later versions

Herman’s Hermits version

• Herman’s Hermits had a major hit in the mid-1960s with an uptempo version of the song (omitting one verse) which reached number one in Canada, number four in the US, and number seven in the UK. The Hermits’ version was, according to singer Peter Noone and guitarist Keith Hopwood, done as a tribute to Cooke upon his death. In an interview with Hugh Brown prior to a 2020 concert in Edinburgh, Noone recalled that Jimmy Page, later founder of Led Zeppelin, played guitar on the track and was paid £12. Cash Box described it as having “an infectious, rhythmic blues-tinged warm-hearted style”.
• Otis Redding recorded a version of the song on his 1965 album Otis Blue.
• Johnny Nash recorded a version for his eponymous 1977 album What a Wonderful World.

Johnny Nash version

• In 1978, Art Garfunkel recorded the song at a slow tempo, with Paul Simon and James Taylor alternating as lead and backing vocalists. This reached number 17 on the US Billboard Hot 100 and number 15 on the Cash Box Top 100.^[10] The Garfunkel version also became a number-one US Adult Contemporary hit for five weeks. Despite Paul Simon’s presence on the recording, the song was not credited as a Simon and Garfunkel single. Instead, labels for US copies of the Columbia Records single read, “Art Garfunkel with James Taylor & Paul Simon”.

Simon and Garfunkel with James Taylor version

The song (as credited under the alternate title, “(What A) Wonderful World”) was included on later versions of Garfunkel’s solo album, Watermark. It was added in place of another song (“Fingerpaint”) to capitalize on the single’s success.The Garfunkel version includes a final verse not present in the original Sam Cooke recording; however, it is still credited to Adler, Alpert and Cooke. The lyrics to this new verse are as follows:Don’t know much about the middle ages, looked at the pictures then I turned the pagesDon’t know nothin’ ’bout no rise and fall, don’t know nothin’ ’bout nothin’ at allGirl it’s you that I’ve been thinkin’ of, and if I could only win your love, oh, girlWhat a wonderful, wonderful world this would beWhat a wonderful, wonderful, wonderful world this would be…The last line repeats, and the song fades out at this point.

• David Bromberg recorded a bluesy version with slightly altered lyrics for his 1975 album Midnight on the Water.
• Don McLean recorded a version of the song for his 1986 album For the Memories.
• Hong Kong singer Sandy Lam released a cover of the song in 1997.
• In 1993, Japanese group Ulfuls released a cover of the song, which was later used in 1997 as ending song for the drama “Sore ga kotae da!”
• Michael Bolton recorded a cover in 1999 for his second album of covers, Timeless: The Classics Vol. 2.

In popular culture

The song is used in the 1978 film Animal House in the well-known lunchroom scene where Bluto (John Belushi) gathers food in preparation for a food fight. The song was also included in the 1983 film Breathless. The original Sam Cooke version of the song comprised the title soundtrack of the 2005 film Hitch.

After a Greg Chapman cover of the song was featured prominently in the 1985 film Witness in a scene where Harrison Ford dances with Kelly McGillis, “Wonderful World” gained further exposure. Particularly in the United Kingdom, where a copy of the song, produced by Karl Jenkins and Mike Ratledge and with vocals sung by Barbadian Tony Jackson, a backing singer for Paul Young, appeared in “Bath”, a well-remembered, Roger Lyons-directed 1985 advertisement for Levi’s 501 jeans. As a result, the Sam Cooke version of the song became a hit in the UK, reaching No.2 and selling a certified 250,000 copies. In a 2005 poll by the UK’s Channel Four the song was voted the 19th-greatest song ever to feature in a commercial.

The song is featured in the Mafia III‘s Official Soundtrack, published on October 7, 2016.

Charts

Certifications

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