A Song for a Turbulent Time
By 1967, America was a nation grappling with the Vietnam War and significant social upheaval. In the midst of this turmoil, producer Bob Thiele and songwriter George David Weiss penned a song designed as an antidote. They wrote “What a Wonderful World”
specifically for Louis Armstrong, believing his universally beloved persona and warm, gravelly voice could deliver a message of hope and unity that the country desperately needed. Inspired by Armstrong's unique ability to bring people of all races together, the song was a gentle ballad, a stark contrast to the charged atmosphere of the era. Thiele felt that Armstrong was the perfect artist to heal the nation with a simple, optimistic tune.
The Midnight Standoff in Vegas
Armstrong, who had recently signed with ABC Records, was performing a residency at the Tropicana Hotel in Las Vegas. The recording session was scheduled for 2 a.m., immediately following his midnight show. But the late-night session was dramatically interrupted by the arrival of Larry Newton, the president of ABC Records. Newton had been expecting another upbeat, peppy hit from Armstrong, similar to his 1964 chart-topper, “Hello, Dolly!”. When he heard the slow, serene tempo of “What a Wonderful World,” he was horrified. He saw no commercial potential in the ballad and demanded they stop the session immediately.
Locked Out and Left for Dead
Producer Bob Thiele refused to back down. He and Newton engaged in a heated argument, which ended with Thiele and the engineers physically removing the record label president and locking him out of the studio. Undeterred by the drama, a cheerful Armstrong and the orchestra continued working until 6 a.m. to perfect the track. However, Newton would have his revenge. Furious about being overruled, he refused to promote the single in the United States. With virtually no marketing support from the label, “What a Wonderful World” was dead on arrival in America, selling fewer than 1,000 copies. Armstrong did his best to push it himself, but it barely made a ripple, stalling at number 116 on the Billboard charts.
A Hit Abroad, A Sleeper at Home
While Larry Newton’s decision effectively buried the song in the U.S., it was a completely different story across the Atlantic. In the United Kingdom, the song was properly promoted by ABC's European distributor, EMI. It soared to number one on the UK Singles Chart in April 1968, becoming the biggest-selling single of the year in Britain. At 66 years old, the song made Armstrong the oldest male artist to ever top the UK charts. Yet, back in his home country, the song remained largely unknown to the general public, a forgotten track on an album that ABC also failed to promote.
A Hollywood Revival
Louis Armstrong passed away in 1971, never getting to see his signature song achieve the success it deserved in America. For two decades, it remained a deep cut for all but his most dedicated fans. That all changed in 1987 with the release of the film Good Morning, Vietnam. The movie, starring Robin Williams as a rebellious military DJ, featured the song in a powerful montage contrasting the beautiful landscapes of Vietnam with harrowing scenes of war. The placement was ironically poignant, and it introduced the song to a massive new audience. Re-released as a single in 1988, “What a Wonderful World” finally became a hit in the U.S., climbing to number 32 on the Billboard Hot 100, twenty-one years after its contentious recording.
