[I]n the mid-60s during the deepening national traumas of the Kennedy assassination, Vietnam, racial strife, and turmoil everywhere, my co-writer George David Weiss and I had an idea to write a different song specifically for Louis Armstrong... What a Wonderful World. We wanted this immortal musician and performer to say, as only he could, the world really is great... At the time Louis's Hello Dolly was the biggest hit record in the country and... Armstrong was a bigger star than at any previous moment in his career. As he was constantly on tour... I went to Joe Glazer, ...Louis's manager ...With Glazer's permission and a small children's portable phonograph... I went down to Washington D.C. ...Between shows I auditioned our number ...Armstrong said, Pops, I dig it. Let's do it! (Of course, we called him Pops, and he called everybody Pops.) ...Louis agreed to record it for minimum union scale (...$250 at the time)...