Question of the Day - 05 November 2021

The United Recording Corporation of Nevada was located at 3143 Industrial Road (now Sammy Davis Jr. Drive) just north of W. Desert Inn.

That would have put the Union Pacific train tracks right at the studio's back door, so yes, the anecdote you mention has a strong ring of plausibility, as the rumbling and screeching of the long freight trains, as well as the loud whistles as they crossed Desert Inn, would certainly have penetrated the walls of the studio in 1967, when the song was recorded.

Interestingly, "What a Wonderful World" was written by George David Weiss, a prolific songwriter and composer and an arranger for big bands in those days; he wrote it specifically for Louis Armstrong, thanks to his popularity with all cultures around the world.

Armstrong had just signed on with ABC Records and the record company's president was there that night for the session. The prez reportedly wanted a harder swinging version, like Armstrong's smash 1964 hit, "Hello Dolly." The slower version prevailed, though the prez had to be locked out of the studio to stop his disrupting the session, which ended after about four hours as the sun was coming up over the Strip. Thus, the record company did little to promote the song, which sold less than 1,000 in the U.S. initially, though it hit number one on the charts in the Armstrong-mad U.K. and its popularity spread from there. 

The site of the studio is currently occupied by a Thai street food restaurant in one of the string of strip malls on old Industrial Road. We doubt the restaurant plays any Satchmo records there … although with Armstrong getting renewed exposure via No Time To Die, you never know. (The John Barry/Hal David “We Have All the Time in the World,” with the vocal by Armstrong, is played over No Time to Die’s end-title crawl.)