Flashback Friday: Bruddah IZ "Somewhere Over the Rainbow / What a Wonderful World"

FLASHBACK FRIDAY @ Mel's Internet Music Universe Blog

One of the most beautiful songs to ever come out of Hawaii, this is Israel Kamakawiwoʻole's (Bruddah IZ) is a medley of the classic Judy Garland track "Over the Rainbow" and Louis Armstrong's "What a Wonderful World."

According to the Wikipedia this song was recorded in one take in 1988 and was included in IZ's album Facing Future that was released in 1993. The song eventually received international acclaim, airplay and recognition after being featured in several movies including Meet Joe Black, Finding Forrester and 50 First Dates.

IZ died in 1997 and unfortunately never saw this recording reach the stellar heights it has received over the past decades. The song is a consistent best seller in the digital music space at services such as Amazon.com and iTunes.

Today in honor of "Somwhere Over the Rainbow/What a Wonderful World", we make it the Flashback Friday feature track on this blog.



Judy Garland's original version of "Over the Rainbow" from The Wizard of Oz (1939).



Louis Armstrong's recording of "What a Wonderful World"