| "What a Wonderful World" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 Scandinavian release cover | ||||
| Single by Louis Armstrong | ||||
| from the album What a Wonderful World | ||||
| B-side | "Cabaret" | |||
| Released | September 1967[1] | |||
| Recorded | 1967 | |||
| Studio | United, Las Vegas, US | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 2:21 | |||
| Label | ABC | |||
| Songwriter(s) | Bob Thiele (as George Douglas) George David Weiss[3] | |||
| Producer(s) | Bob Thiele[3] | |||
| Louis Armstrong singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Music video | ||||
| "What a Wonderful World" on YouTube | ||||
"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 live in 1959. It was later recorded in studio and released in 1967 as a single. In April 1968, it topped the pop chart in the United Kingdom,[3] 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.[4] Armstrong's recording was inducted to the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1999.
- ^ "Pop Spotlights". Billboard. September 23, 1967. p. 18.
- ^ Gabriel, Lawrence (January 1, 1998). "Louis Armstrong". In Knopper, Steve (ed.). MusicHound Lounge: The Essential Album Guide. Detroit: Visible Ink Press. p. 21.
- ^ a b c Rice, Jo (1982). The Guinness Book of 500 Number One Hits (1st ed.). Enfield, Middlesex: Guinness Superlatives Ltd. p. 117. ISBN 0-85112-250-7.
- ^ "Chart History: Louis Armstrong – Hot 100". Billboard. Retrieved August 7, 2020.