Wonderful World (Sam Cooke song)
"Wonderful World" | ||||
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Single by Sam Cooke | ||||
from the album The Wonderful World of Sam Cooke | ||||
B-side | "Along the Navajo Trail" | |||
Released | April 14, 1960 | |||
Recorded | March 2, 1959 | |||
Studio | Radio Recorders, Hollywood | |||
Genre | Rhythm and blues, soul | |||
Length | 2:09 | |||
Label | Keen, A&M, Dunhill | |||
Songwriter(s) | Lou Adler, Herb Alpert, Sam Cooke | |||
Producer(s) | Sam Cooke | |||
Sam Cooke singles chronology | ||||
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Music video | ||||
"What A Wonderful World" (lyric video) on YouTube |
"Wonderful World" (occasionally referred to as "(What A) Wonderful World") is a song by American singer-songwriter
"Wonderful World" ended up doing substantially better on the charts than several of his early RCA singles, becoming his biggest hit single since "
Background
Lou Adler and Herb Alpert composed the song with the theme that neither knowledge nor education can dictate feelings, but that love "could make the world a wonderful place".[2] Adler did not take the song very seriously but Cooke appeared to be taken with it. "He’d say, ‘What about that song, you know?’ And then he'd start on it again," recalled Adler.[2] Cooke wanted to steer the song toward the subject of schooling, revised the song and decided to cut it at a recording session on March 2, 1959, five days after completing his Billie Holiday tribute album, Tribute to the Lady.[2] The writing credit for the song was put under Cooke's wife's maiden name, Barbara Campbell.[3] Campbell was also listed on the record labels for two other Cooke hits: "Only Sixteen" and "Everybody Loves to Cha Cha Cha".
The session's main goal was to record three songs Cooke had composed. There was no arranger or orchestra and the personnel consisted of Cooke, guitarist Cliff White, bassist Adolphus Alsbrook, teenage drummer Ronnie Selico and a quartet of singers that Cooke biographer Peter Guralnick believes may have been the Pilgrim Travelers – J.W. Alexander, Lou Rawls, and George McCurn (nicknamed Oopie).[2]
There is no known footage of Cooke performing the song, even though, in 1986,
Release and reception
Cooke signed to
In 2004, the song was placed 373rd in
The song was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2014.[7]
Later versions
"Wonderful World" | ||||
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Single by Herman's Hermits | ||||
B-side |
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Released | April 16, 1965 May 1965 (US) | (UK)|||
Recorded | March 1965 | |||
Studio | De Lane Lea, London | |||
Genre | Beat | |||
Length | 1:57 | |||
Label | MGM | |||
Songwriter(s) | Sam Cooke, Lou Adler, Herb Alpert | |||
Producer(s) | Mickie Most | |||
Herman's Hermits singles chronology | ||||
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"(What A) Wonderful World" | ||||
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Single by Art Garfunkel | ||||
from the album Watermark | ||||
B-side | "Wooden Planes" | |||
Released | January 1978 | |||
Genre | Easy listening | |||
Length | 3:30 | |||
Label | Columbia | |||
Songwriter(s) | Sam Cooke, Lou Adler, Herb Alpert | |||
Art Garfunkel singles chronology | ||||
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- Cash Box described it as having "an infectious, rhythmic blues-tinged warm-hearted style".[10]
- Otis Blue.
- eponymous1977 album What a Wonderful World.
- In 1978, Adult Contemporaryhit for five weeks. Despite Paul Simon's presence on the recording, the song was not credited as a Simon and Garfunkel single. Instead, labels for US copies of the Columbia Records single read, "Art Garfunkel with James Taylor & Paul Simon".
- The song (as credited under the alternate title, "(What A) Wonderful World") was included on later versions of Garfunkel's solo album, Watermark. It was added in place of another song ("Fingerpaint") to capitalize on the single's success.
- The Garfunkel version includes a final verse not present in the original Sam Cooke recording; however, it is still credited to Adler, Alpert and Cooke. The lyrics to this new verse are as follows:
- Don't know much about the middle ages, looked at the pictures then I turned the pages
- Don't know nothin' 'bout no rise and fall, don't know nothin' 'bout nothin' at all
- Girl it's you that I've been thinkin' of, and if I could only win your love, oh, girl
- What a wonderful, wonderful world this would be
- What a wonderful, wonderful, wonderful world this would be...
- The last line repeats, and the song fades out at this point.
- David Bromberg recorded a bluesy version with slightly altered lyrics for his 1975 album Midnight on the Water.
- For the Memories.
- Hong Kong singer Sandy Lam released a cover of the song in 1997.
- In 1993, Japanese group Ulfuls released a cover of the song, which was later used in 1997 as ending song for the drama "Sore ga kotae da!"
- Michael Bolton recorded a cover in 1999 for his second album of covers, Timeless: The Classics Vol. 2.
In popular culture
The song is used in the 1978 film
After a Greg Chapman cover of the song was featured prominently in the 1985 film
Cooke's version is also featured at the very beginning of the movie Hitch (film).
The song is featured in the Mafia III's Official Soundtrack, published on October 7, 2016.[17]
Charts
Weekly chartsSam Cooke version
Herman's Hermits version
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Johnny Nash version
Simon and Garfunkel with James Taylor version
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Certifications
Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
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United Kingdom (BPI)[31] | Gold | 400,000‡ |
‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone. |
References
- ^ "RPM Top Magazine - July 5, 1965 - Page 9" (PDF).
- ^ a b c d Guralnick 2005, p. 279.
- ^ "Wonderful World (Sam Cooke)". jonkutner.com. June 4, 2023.
- ^ Nelson George (April 26, 1986). "Rhythm & the Blues". Billboard. Vol. 98, no. 17. p. 25. Retrieved August 1, 2014.
- ^ a b c d Guralnick 2005, p. 324.
- ^ "Reviews of THIS WEEK'S SINGLES". Billboard. April 4, 1960. p. 57. Retrieved August 1, 2014.
- ^ https://www.grammy.com/awards/hall-of-fame-award#w
- ^ "RPM Top Magazine - July 5, 1965 - Page 9" (PDF).
- ^ "PETER NOONE & HERMAN'S HERMITS - A LIFE IN MUSIC". YouTube. Archived from the original on December 21, 2021. Retrieved April 26, 2021.
- ^ "CashBox Record Reviews" (PDF). Cash Box. May 22, 1965. p. 12. Retrieved January 12, 2022.
- ^ a b "Top 100 1978-03-18". Cashbox Magazine. Retrieved May 25, 2015.
- ^ "Bluto's a Zit - Animal House (5/10) Movie CLIP (1978) HD". YouTube. Archived from the original on December 21, 2021. Retrieved April 26, 2021.
- ^ Bryan Appleyard (August 22, 1986). "Spectrum: I Sold It Through the Grapevine / Pop Music in Advertising". The Times.
- ^ Sam Ingleby (May 17, 2004). "Karl Jenkins: Fanfare for the Common Man". The Independent.
- ^ "Latest Releases". Ron Roker. Archived from the original on November 27, 2013. Retrieved June 28, 2014.
- The Manchester Evening News. July 1, 2005. Retrieved April 30, 2013.
- ^ "Mafia 3's Excellent Soundtrack Revealed, Contains These 100-Plus Songs". GameSpot. Retrieved May 6, 2020.
- ^ "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved August 1, 2014.
- ^ Rovi Corporation. Retrieved August 1, 2014.
- ^ "Nederlandse Top 40 – Sam Cooke" (in Dutch). Dutch Top 40. Retrieved August 1, 2014.
- ^ "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved August 1, 2014.
- ^ "The Irish Charts – Search Results – Wonderful World". Irish Singles Chart. Retrieved January 30, 2019.
- ^ "Sam Cooke Chart History (Canadian Digital Song Sales)". Billboard. Retrieved July 3, 2022.
- ^ "Item Display – RPM – Library and Archives Canada". Collectionscanada.gc.ca. July 5, 1965. Retrieved April 20, 2023.
- ^ "Herman's Hermits Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard. Retrieved August 1, 2014.
- ^ "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved August 1, 2014.
- ^ "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved August 1, 2014.
- ^ "Item Display – RPM – Library and Archives Canada". Collectionscanada.gc.ca. April 1, 1978. Retrieved February 18, 2019.
- ^ "Item Display – RPM – Library and Archives Canada". Collectionscanada.gc.ca. April 1, 1978. Retrieved February 18, 2019.
- ^ "Art Garfunkel Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard. Retrieved August 1, 2014.
- ^ "British single certifications – Sam Cooke – Wonderful World". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved June 30, 2023.
Bibliography
- Wolff, Daniel J.; Crain, S. R.; White, Clifton; Tenenbaum, G. David (1995). You Send Me: The Life and Times of Sam Cooke. William Morrow & Co. ISBN 0-688-12403-8.
- Guralnick, Peter (2005). Dream Boogie: The Triumph of Sam Cooke. Little, Brown and Company. ISBN 978-0316377942.