What a Wonderful World
Encyclopedia
"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
and released as a single in 1968. 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 Bug Music, Inc..
, who turned it down. Thereafter, it was offered to Louis Armstrong. The song was not initially a hit in the United States, where it sold fewer than 1,000 copies because the head of ABC Records did not like the song and so did not promote it, but was a major success in the United Kingdom, reaching number one on the UK Singles Chart
. In the U.S. the song hit #116 on the Bubbling Under
Charts. 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 Louis Armstrong the oldest male to top the charts, at sixty-six years and ten months old. Armstrong's record was broken in 2009 when the cover of Islands in the Stream
recorded for Comic Relief
- which included 68-year-old Tom Jones
- reached number one.
ABC Records' European distributor EMI
forced ABC to issue a What A Wonderful World album in 1968 (catalogue number ABCS-650) which did not chart in the US due to ABC's non-promotion of it, but did chart in the UK where it was issued by Stateside Records
with catalogue number SSL 10247 and peaked on the British chart at #37.
The song gradually became something of a standard and reached a new level of popularity. In 1988, Louis Armstrong's 1968 recording was featured in the film Good Morning, Vietnam
and was re-released as a single, hitting #32 on the US Billboard chart in February 1988. The single charted at number one for the fortnight ending June 27, 1988 on the Australian charts.
(first series). The song was later used for the closing titles of the corresponding television episode, and in the first teaser for the Hitchhiker's film
, lasting only one stanza
before the Earth explodes.
A part of the song was used in The Runner (Davandeh), an Iran
ian movie. It was included in the soundtrack for the film Good Morning, Vietnam
in 1987. It was sung by Willie Nelson
for the 1996 film Michael
.
The Louis Armstrong version was also used during a sequence in Michael Moore
's film Bowling for Columbine
, where it accompanies scenes of violence in a montage about United States intervention in international affairs, as well as having the Joey Ramone
cover playing over the ending credits. It has also been used ironically as the theme music to the BBC series A Life of Grime
. The Louis Armstrong version was used also in the 2004 Japanese film Swing Girls
during a scene where the main characters are chased by a wild boar. The Israel Kamakawiwoʻole medley with Over the Rainbow
was featured in the films Finding Forrester
, Meet Joe Black
, 50 First Dates
and the documentary Joe Strummer: The Future Is Unwritten
.
Bob Thiele
Bob Thiele was an American record producer who worked on countless classic jazz albums and record labels.-Biography:...
(as George Douglas) and George David Weiss
George David Weiss
George David Weiss was an American songwriter and former President of the Songwriters Guild of America.-Career:...
. It was first recorded by Louis Armstrong
Louis Armstrong
Louis Armstrong , nicknamed Satchmo or Pops, was an American jazz trumpeter and singer from New Orleans, Louisiana....
and released as a single in 1968. 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.
Carlin America
Carlin America is an independent music publishing conglomerate with a catalog of over 100,000 titles. The company, created under its current name in 1995 by its founder Freddy Bienstock is headquartered on East 38th Street in Manhattan.Its songs include...
, and Bug Music, Inc..
History
Intended as an antidote for the increasingly racially and politically charged climate of everyday life in the United States, the song also has a hopeful, optimistic tone with regard to the future, with reference to babies being born into the world and having much to look forward to. The song was initially offered to Tony BennettTony Bennett
Tony Bennett is an American singer of popular music, standards, show tunes, and jazz....
, who turned it down. Thereafter, it was offered to Louis Armstrong. The song was not initially a hit in the United States, where it sold fewer than 1,000 copies because the head of ABC Records did not like the song and so did not promote it, but was a major success in the United Kingdom, reaching number one on the UK Singles Chart
UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...
. In the U.S. the song hit #116 on the Bubbling Under
Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles
The Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles is a chart published weekly by Billboard magazine in the United States. It lists the top 25 singles below number 100 that have not yet charted on the Billboard Hot 100. Sometimes, however, singles halt their progress on this chart, and never appear on the Hot 100...
Charts. 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
Classical music
Classical music is the art music produced in, or rooted in, the traditions of Western liturgical and secular music, encompassing a broad period from roughly the 11th century to present times...
label. The song made Louis Armstrong the oldest male to top the charts, at sixty-six years and ten months old. Armstrong's record was broken in 2009 when the cover of Islands in the Stream
Islands in the Stream
"Islands in the Stream" is the title of a song written by the Bee Gees and sung by American country music artists Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton. It was released in August 1983 as the first single from Rogers' album Eyes That See in the Dark and the second pop number-one for both Rogers and Parton...
recorded for Comic Relief
Comic Relief
Comic Relief is an operating British charity, founded in 1985 by the comedy scriptwriter Richard Curtis and comedian Lenny Henry in response to famine in Ethiopia. The highlight of Comic Relief's appeal is Red Nose Day, a biennial telethon held in March, alternating with sister project Sport Relief...
- which included 68-year-old Tom Jones
Tom Jones (singer)
Sir Thomas John Woodward, OBE , known by his stage name Tom Jones, is a Welsh singer.Since the mid 1960s, Jones has sung many styles of popular music – pop, rock, R&B, show tunes, country, dance, techno, soul and gospel – and sold over 100 million records...
- reached number one.
ABC Records' European distributor EMI
EMI
The EMI Group, also known as EMI Music or simply EMI, is a multinational music company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the fourth-largest business group and family of record labels in the recording industry and one of the "big four" record companies. EMI Group also has a major...
forced ABC to issue a What A Wonderful World album in 1968 (catalogue number ABCS-650) which did not chart in the US due to ABC's non-promotion of it, but did chart in the UK where it was issued by Stateside Records
Stateside Records
Stateside Records is a British record label which initially released licenced American recordings and is now a reissue label....
with catalogue number SSL 10247 and peaked on the British chart at #37.
The song gradually became something of a standard and reached a new level of popularity. In 1988, Louis Armstrong's 1968 recording was featured in the film Good Morning, Vietnam
Good Morning, Vietnam
Good Morning, Vietnam is a 1987 American comedy-drama film set in Saigon during the Vietnam War, based on the career of Adrian Cronauer, a disc jockey on Armed Forces Radio Service , who proves hugely popular with the troops serving in South Vietnam, but infuriates his superiors with what they call...
and was re-released as a single, hitting #32 on the US Billboard chart in February 1988. The single charted at number one for the fortnight ending June 27, 1988 on the Australian charts.
In popular culture
"What a Wonderful World" was used ironically in 1978 radio broadcast of the last episode of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the GalaxyThe Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (radio series)
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy is a science fiction comedy radio series written by Douglas Adams . It was originally broadcast in the United Kingdom by BBC Radio 4 in 1978, and afterwards on global short wave radio on the BBC World Service, National Public Radio in the U.S. and CBC Radio in...
(first series). The song was later used for the closing titles of the corresponding television episode, and in the first teaser for the Hitchhiker's film
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (film)
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy is a 2005 comic science fiction film based on the book of the same name by Douglas Adams. Shooting was completed in August 2004 and the movie was released on April 28, 2005 in Europe, Australia and New Zealand, and on the following day in Canada and the United...
, lasting only one stanza
Stanza
In poetry, a stanza is a unit within a larger poem. In modern poetry, the term is often equivalent with strophe; in popular vocal music, a stanza is typically referred to as a "verse"...
before the Earth explodes.
A part of the song was used in The Runner (Davandeh), an Iran
Iran
Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...
ian movie. It was included in the soundtrack for the film Good Morning, Vietnam
Good Morning, Vietnam
Good Morning, Vietnam is a 1987 American comedy-drama film set in Saigon during the Vietnam War, based on the career of Adrian Cronauer, a disc jockey on Armed Forces Radio Service , who proves hugely popular with the troops serving in South Vietnam, but infuriates his superiors with what they call...
in 1987. It was sung by Willie Nelson
Willie Nelson
Willie Hugh Nelson is an American country music singer-songwriter, as well as an author, poet, actor, and activist. The critical success of the album Shotgun Willie , combined with the critical and commercial success of Red Headed Stranger and Stardust , made Nelson one of the most recognized...
for the 1996 film Michael
Michael (1996 film)
Michael is a 1996 American fantasy film directed by Nora Ephron and released in 1996. The film stars John Travolta as the Archangel Michael, who is sent to Earth to do various tasks, including mending some wounded hearts...
.
The Louis Armstrong version was also used during a sequence in Michael Moore
Michael Moore
Michael Francis Moore is an American filmmaker, author, social critic and activist. He is the director and producer of Fahrenheit 9/11, which is the highest-grossing documentary of all time. His films Bowling for Columbine and Sicko also place in the top ten highest-grossing documentaries...
's film Bowling for Columbine
Bowling for Columbine
Bowling for Columbine is a 2002 documentary film written, directed, produced, and narrated by Michael Moore. The film explores what Michael Moore suggests are the causes for the Columbine High School massacre and other acts of violence with guns...
, where it accompanies scenes of violence in a montage about United States intervention in international affairs, as well as having the Joey Ramone
Joey Ramone
Joey Ramone was an American vocalist and songwriter, best known as the lead vocalist in the punk rock band the Ramones. Joey Ramone's image, voice and tenure as frontman of the Ramones made him a countercultural icon.-Early life:Joey Ramone was born Jeffry Hyman to parents Noel and Charlotte Hyman...
cover playing over the ending credits. It has also been used ironically as the theme music to the BBC series A Life of Grime
A Life of Grime
A Life of Grime is a BBC reality series following the work of environmental health inspectors...
. The Louis Armstrong version was used also in the 2004 Japanese film Swing Girls
Swing Girls
is a 2004 comedy film co-written and directed by the Japanese filmmaker Shinobu Yaguchi about the efforts of a group of high school girls to form a jazz band....
during a scene where the main characters are chased by a wild boar. The Israel Kamakawiwoʻole medley with Over the Rainbow
Over the Rainbow
"Over the Rainbow" is a classic Academy Award-winning ballad song with music by Harold Arlen and lyrics by E.Y. Harburg. It was written for the movie The Wizard of Oz, and was sung by Judy Garland in the movie...
was featured in the films Finding Forrester
Finding Forrester
EnglishFinding Forrester is a 2000 American drama film written by Mike Rich and directed by Gus Van Sant. A black American teenager, Jamal Wallace , is invited into a prestigious private high school. By chance, Jamal befriends a reclusive writer, William Forrester , through whom he refines his...
, Meet Joe Black
Meet Joe Black
Meet Joe Black is a 1998 American fantasy romance film produced by Universal Studios, directed by Martin Brest and starring Brad Pitt, Anthony Hopkins and Claire Forlani, loosely based on the 1934 film Death Takes a Holiday...
, 50 First Dates
50 First Dates
50 First Dates is a 2004 American romantic comedy film directed by Peter Segal and written by George Wing. The film stars Adam Sandler as a woman-chasing veterinarian and Drew Barrymore as an amnesiac, along with Rob Schneider, Sean Astin, Lusia Strus, Blake Clark, and Dan Aykroyd.Most of the film...
and the documentary Joe Strummer: The Future Is Unwritten
Joe Strummer: The Future Is Unwritten
Joe Strummer: The Future Is Unwritten is a 2007 documentary film directed by Julien Temple about Joe Strummer, the lead singer of the English punk rock band The Clash, that went on to win the British Independent Film Awards as Best British Documentary 2007. The film premiered 20 January 2007 at...
.
Chronological list of covers
External links
- 'Somewhere Over The Rainbow / What A Wonderful World – Israel Kamakawiwo’ole' Mini-Review on Stray Poetry
- What a Wonderful World Lead sheet at wikifonia.org