What a Wonderful World is a popular song written by Bob Thiele and George David Weiss and recorded by Louis Armstrong in 1967. Sung in Armstrong's distinctive gravelly voice over a lush orchestral arrangement, its simple, warmly optimistic lyric about everyday beauty was released amid the Vietnam War and civil unrest and sold poorly in the United States at first, reportedly because the head of Armstrong's own record label disliked it and gave it little promotion. Its use in the 1987 film Good Morning, Vietnam brought it back into wide circulation, and it has since become one of the best known and most covered songs of the twentieth century, closely identified with Armstrong himself.
Facts
Year Created Medium
Medium (category) Connections
Associated With
Louis Armstrong, Artists Armstrong's 1967 recording is the song's defining and most closely associated performance.
In Form
A jazz standard song; classified under the Music art form.
In Genre
Sources
1. What a Wonderful World (Wikipedia)
WikipediaLead section, second sentence
It was first recorded by Louis Armstrong on August 16, 1967.
Lead section
"What a Wonderful World" is a song written by Bob Thiele (as "George Douglas") and George David Weiss.
- Wikipedia article: work classified by its own real-world art form
lead paragraph
"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
In Group: Jazz and Popular Recordings, Lead
It was first recorded by Louis Armstrong on August 16, 1967.
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