Copyright © 2011 by Ricky Riccardi

All rights reserved. Published in the United States by Pantheon
Books, a division of Random House, Inc., New York, and in Canada by
Random House of Canada Limited, Toronto.

Pantheon Books and colophon are registered trademarks of
Random House, Inc.

All permissions to reprint previously published material can be
found immediately following the index.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Riccardi, Ricky, [date]
What a wonderful world : the magic of Louis Armstrong’s later years /
Ricky Riccardi.
p. cm.
eISBN: 978-0-307-37923-8
1. Armstrong, Louis, 1901–1971. 2. Jazz musicians—United States—
Biography. I. Title.
ML419.A75R47 2011 781.65092—dc22 [B] 2010046541

www.pantheonbooks.com

Jacket image courtesy of the Louis Armstrong House Museum
Jacket design by Brian Barth

FRONTISPIECE Slowing down in Philadelphia in June 1968,
a thinned-down and tired Armstrong managed to still
flash his smile at Jack Bradley’s camera. Two months later,
kidney trouble would force Armstrong to spend nearly
a year and a half recovering at home.

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