| "Wonderful World" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Single by Sam Cooke | ||||
| from the album The Wonderful World of Sam Cooke | ||||
| B-side | "Along the Navajo Trail" | |||
| Released | April 14, 1960 | |||
| Format | 7" | |||
| Recorded | March 2, 1959 | |||
| Genre | Soul | |||
| Length | 2:09 | |||
| Label | Keen Records 2112 | |||
| Writer(s) | Sam Cooke, Herb Alpert, Lou Adler | |||
| Sam Cooke singles chronology | ||||
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| "Wonderful World" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Single by Herman's Hermits | ||||
| B-side | "I Gotta Dream On" (UK) "Traveling Light" (U.S.) |
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| Released | April 1965 | |||
| Format | 7" | |||
| Genre | Beat | |||
| Length | 1:57 | |||
| Label | MGM | |||
| Writer(s) | Sam Cooke, Lou Adler, Herb Alpert | |||
| Producer | Mickie | |||
| Herman's Hermits singles chronology | ||||
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"Wonderful World" (sometimes referred to as "(What a) Wonderful World") is a soul song that was written in the late 1950s by soul music pioneer Sam Cooke, along with songwriters Lou Adler and Herb Alpert.
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The song was first attributed to the pseudonym "Barbara Campbell" who was Sam Cooke's high school sweetheart. It was first recorded by Cooke in 1959 for his 1960 album, The Wonderful World of Sam Cooke. The song was released as a single in the spring of 1960, reaching #12 in the US and #27 in the UK. A bouncy love song, the lyrics have the singer disavowing knowledge of academic subjects (the song is often referred to informally by its first line, "Don't know much about history"), but affirming the object of his affection "but I do know that I love you". In fact, Craig Werner points that the first lines of the song may be understood as political: as a crossover song, it may be thought that Cooke informs its white listeners that one thing to forget (or at least not to know much about) about African-Americans is history (slavery and Jim Crow American laws), and of course biology.
Cooke had already left Keen for RCA when the song was 'discovered'. John Siamas of Keen had engineer Deano Lappas look through the Keen vaults for a good song, exactly as Art Rupe of Specialty had looked through the vaults and come up with 'I'll Come Running Back To You'. Bumps Blackwell and the regular session drummer were not present at the session. The drummer on this track, whose name is unknown, was likely around 15 or 16 years old and, as legend has it, recruited off of the street. Lou Rawls stood about a meter and a half away from Sam singing in the same microphone.
Herman's Hermits had major hit with an uptempo version of the song (omitting one verse) in the mid-1960s, which reached #4 in the U.S. and #7 in the UK. The Hermits' version was, according to singer Peter Noone and guitarist Keith Hopwood, done as a tribute to Cooke upon his death.
In 2004, the song was placed 373rd in Rolling Stone magazine's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.
The song is used in the classic 1978 film Animal House in the well-known lunchroom scene. The song was also included in the 1983 film Breathless. The original Sam Cooke version of the song comprised the title soundtrack of the 2005 film Hitch.
After a Greg Chapman cover of the song was featured prominently in the 1985 film Witness, "Wonderful World" gained further exposure, particularly in the United Kingdom, where it appeared in a well-remembered 1986 advertisement for Levi's 501 jeans. As a result, the song became a hit in the UK, reaching #2 in re-release. In a 2005 poll by the UK's Channel Four, the song was voted the 19th greatest song ever to feature in a commercial.[1]
The author Kenneth C. Davis writes a series of books entitled Don't Know Much About, referencing this song.
Aside from the Herman's Hermits version of the song, the song has been covered by many other artists including:
In August 2008, a parody version of the song was featured in a high-profile political advertisement from the Barack Obama presidential campaign. The lyrics were altered to satirize John McCain's lack of knowledge on economic issues ("Don't know much about industry...").
| Year | Chart | Position |
|---|---|---|
| 1960 | US Black Singles Chart | #2 |
| 1960 | US Pop Singles Chart | #12 |
| 1960 | UK Singles Chart | #27 |
| 1986 | The Netherlands | #1 [3] |
| 1986 | UK Singles Chart | #2 |
| Year | Chart | Position |
|---|---|---|
| 1965 | Pop Singles Chart | #4 |
| 1965 | UK Singles Chart | #7 |
| Year | Chart | Position |
|---|---|---|
| 1978 | Adult Contemporary | #1 |
| 1978 | Pop Singles Chart | #17 |
| Year | Chart | Position |
|---|---|---|
| 1976 | UK Singles Chart | #25 |
| Preceded by "Desiree" by Neil Diamond |
Billboard Easy Listening Singles number-one single by Art Garfunkel with James Taylor and Paul Simon February 11, 1978 (5 weeks) |
Succeeded by "Can't Smile Without You" by Barry Manilow |
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