What a Wonderful World

"What a Wonderful World"
Single by Louis Armstrong
from the album What a Wonderful World
B-side	"Cabaret"
Released	1967
Format	7"
Genre	Traditional pop jazz
Length	2:21
Label	ABC 10982, HMV
Songwriter(s)	Bob Thiele (as George Douglas) George David Weiss[1]
Producer(s)	Bob Thiele[1]
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.^[1] Thiele and Weiss were both prominent in the music world (Thiele as a producer and Weiss as a composer/performer).^[2] 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.

History

One source claims the song was initially offered to Tony Bennett, who turned it down,^[3] although Louis Armstrong biographer Ricky Riccardi disputes this claim. ^[4] The song was offered to Louis Armstrong. 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. The song was not initially a hit in the United States, where it sold fewer than 1,000 copies because ABC Records head Larry Newton did not like the song and therefore did not promote it,^[5] but was a major success in the United Kingdom, reaching number one on the UK Singles Chart.^[1] In the United States, the song hit No. 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 HMV Records before becoming an exclusive classical music label.^[6] The song made Louis Armstrong the oldest male to top the UK Singles Chart.^[1] 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,^[7] 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, Armstrong's 1967 recording was featured in the closing scenes of the first series of BBC radio's cult hit, 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.

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.^[8] The rappers and their record company, Sony Music Entertainment, were sued by the owners of "What a Wonderful World," Abilene Music. The suit was thrown out of court after Judge Gerard E. Lynch determined that the altered lyric was indisputably a parody, transforming the uplifting original message to a new one with a darker nature.^[8][9]

By April 2014, Louis Armstrong's 1967 recording had sold 2,173,000 downloads in the United States after it was released digitally.^[10]

Charts and certifications

Eva Cassidy and Katie Melua version

"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 (Used to Eat Roses)" (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 passed away 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.^[26] Melua, who considers Cassidy one of her musical idols, had previously sang 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.^[26]

Upon release, the single debuted at number 45 on the Scottish Singles Chart on the week of December 9, 2007.^[27] The next week, the song rose 44 positions to number one while also debuting at number one on the UK Singles Chart, becoming both Cassidy's and Melua's first number-one single in the United Kingdom. However, the song quickly dropped off the UK chart after peaking, spending only five weeks in the UK top 100. In Scotland, the song stayed in the top 100 for 11 weeks. In November 2008, the song peaked at number 19 in Sweden and was a minor hit in Walloon 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."^[26] The duet was later included on her 2008 compilation album The Katie Melua Collection.

Other notable versions

• 1989: Roy Clark, on his album of the same name (peaked at No. 73 on the Billboard Hot Country Singles chart)^[33]
• 1992: Nick Cave, single sung with Shane MacGowan; in 2005 was also published on the album B-Sides & Rarities
• 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)^[34]
• 1994: Patti Smith performed the song at the memorial service to her late husband Fred "Sonic" Smith. In her 2015 memoir M Train, Patti Smith wrote: 'Whenever we heard it Fred would say, Trisha, it's your song. Why does it have to be my song? I'd protest. I don't even like Louis Armstrong. But he would insist the song was mine … so I decided to sing "Wonderful world" a cappella at the service. As I sang I felt the simplistic beauty of the song.'
• 1999: Anne Murray, on her platinum release of the same name, which also spawned a book and video (the album reached No. 1 on the US CCM chart, No. 4 on the US Country chart, and No. 38 on the top 200)
• 2002: Joey Ramone's posthumous version was used for the ending credits of Michael Moore's film Bowling for Columbine.
• 2002: Da Vinci's Notebook ended their album Brontosaurus with an a cappella version.
• 2003: Sarah Brightman's Harem album
• 2004: Céline Dion recorded the song for her album Miracle.
• 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).^[35]
• 2007: Foxygen covered the song on their self-produced first album Jurrassic Exxplosion Phillipic.
• 2008: Ministry, along with other cover songs on their album Cover Up
• 2009: The Clarks' version was recorded for their album Restless Days. This version was also featured on The Simpsons's Season 27 premiere, Every Man's Dream. It is also used after every Home win for the Pittsburgh Penguins at PPG Paints Arena.
• 2010: Ziggy Marley's version on The Disney Reggae Club
• 2012: Pat Byrne reached No. 3 in the Irish Singles Chart after appearing on The Voice of Ireland.
• 2012: Music charity Playing For Change recorded this song featuring Grandpa Elliott.^[36]
• 2015: Tiago Iorc's version was recorded to be used as the opening theme of the Brazilian telenovela Sete Vidas.^[37]
• 2013: Renée Geyer on her album Swing (2013)
• 2016: Tally Koren's version was recorded to be used in her album A Love Song for You.
• 2017: Lexi Walker, a singer prodigy, included it her album, "Inspire".

Appearances in film, television and others

References

External links

• How political is What A Wonderful World? - BBC News article about history and meaning of song
• Lyrics of this song at MetroLyrics
• Barrueco & Balles Music play What a Wonderful World