When you hear that raspy, gravel-on-velvet voice singing about "trees of green" and "red roses too," it feels like a warm hug from history. Honestly, it’s basically the sonic equivalent of a sunny afternoon. Most people assume Louis Armstrong - What a Wonderful World was an instant smash hit that everyone loved from the jump.
That couldn't be further from the truth.
In reality, the song was born into a world that was—quite frankly—falling apart. It was 1967. The Vietnam War was tearing the American psyche in half. Racial tensions were at a boiling point. The "Summer of Love" was happening, sure, but so were the Newark and Detroit riots. Against that backdrop, a syrupy ballad about babies crying and friends shaking hands felt... out of place. Some even called it delusional.
The Midnight Session and the Locked Door
The story of how this track even got recorded is kinda wild. Louis Armstrong was in Las Vegas in August 1967, playing a residency at the Tropicana. Because his schedule was so packed, the recording session at United Recording didn't even start until 2:00 AM.
Louis didn't care about the hour. He loved the song. He thought of his home in Corona, Queens—his neighbors, the kids on the block, the simple life he’d built with his wife, Lucille. For him, the lyrics weren't a lie; they were a choice to see the good.
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But Larry Newton, the president of ABC Records, hated it. He wanted another "Hello, Dolly!"—an upbeat, swinging pop tune that would move units. When he showed up to the session and heard the slow, orchestral tempo of Louis Armstrong - What a Wonderful World, he flipped out. He tried to shut the whole thing down right then and there.
The producers literally had to lock him out of the studio so Louis could finish the take.
To make matters worse, the session was constantly interrupted by the loud whistles of passing freight trains. They had to record through the night, over and over. By the time they wrapped at 6:00 AM, Louis was exhausted, but he’d nailed it. He even took a massive pay cut—accepting only the $250 union scale—to make sure the orchestra got paid their overtime.
Why America Ignored a Masterpiece
After all that drama, you’d think the label would get behind it. Nope. Newton was so petty about being locked out of the studio that he refused to promote the record in the United States.
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It was a total flop at home.
In the U.S., it sold fewer than 1,000 copies initially. It didn't even sniff the Billboard Hot 100. Meanwhile, across the pond in the UK, the song hit Number 1 and became the biggest-selling single of 1968. It’s a weird quirk of history that the most "American" anthem of optimism was basically ignored by Americans for twenty years.
Louis continued to sing it, though. He’d introduce it by saying, "Some of you young folks been saying to me, 'Hey Pops, what you mean what a wonderful world? How about all them wars all over the place?'" His answer was always the same: "It ain't the world that's so bad, but what we're doing to it. All I'm saying is, see what a wonderful world it would be if only we'd give it a chance."
The 1988 Resurrection
Louis Armstrong died in 1971. He never saw the song become the cultural behemoth it is today. That didn't happen until 1987, when director Barry Levinson used it in the film Good Morning, Vietnam.
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The usage was brilliant because it was ironic. You see these horrifying images of explosions and war set against Satchmo’s peaceful voice. That contrast finally woke people up to the song's power. It re-entered the charts and hit the Top 40 in 1988, two decades after its release.
Today, it's everywhere. It’s in every wedding, every graduation, and about a thousand commercials. It has been covered by everyone from Israel Kamakawiwoʻole to the Ramones.
How to Listen to it "Right"
If you want to actually feel the weight of Louis Armstrong - What a Wonderful World, don't just treat it as background music.
- Listen to the 1970 Spoken Intro: There is a version Louis recorded a year before he died where he gives a spoken-word introduction. It’s heartbreakingly beautiful.
- Contextualize the "Gravel": Remember that Louis’s health was failing when he sang this. That "raspy" voice wasn't just a style; it was the sound of a man who had lived through Jim Crow, poverty, and exhaustion, yet still chose to sing about hope.
- Watch the 1968 BBC Performance: Seeing the sweat on his brow and the genuine smile in his eyes changes the song from a Hallmark card to a manifesto.
The song isn't about being naive. It's about a man who saw the worst of humanity and still decided that the "colors of the rainbow so pretty in the sky" were worth mentioning.
If you're looking to explore more of this era, go find the 1970 album Louis Armstrong and His Friends. It features the remake of this track with a much more soulful, funky arrangement that most people have never heard. It’s a great way to see how Louis was still evolving his sound right until the very end.