History
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".
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 a 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.
Otis Redding recorded a version of the song on his 1965 album Otis Blue.
In 2004, the song was placed 373rd in Rolling Stone magazine's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.
Read more about this topic: Wonderful World (Sam Cooke Song)
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