Somethin' Stupid

"Somethin' Stupid"
Single by Nancy Sinatra featuring Frank Sinatra
from the album The World We Knew
Released	March 1967
Format	vinyl record (7")
Genre	Pop
Length	2:37
Label	Reprise
Writer(s)	C. Carson Parks

"Somethin' Stupid" is a song written by C. Carson Parks and originally recorded in 1966 by Parks and his wife Gaile Foote, as "Carson and Gaile".

Original recording by Carson and Gaile

In the early 1960s, Carson Parks was a folk singer in Los Angeles. He was an occasional member of The Easy Riders, and also performed with The Steeltown Three, which included his younger brother Van Dyke Parks. In 1963 he formed the Greenwood County Singers, later known as The Greenwoods, who had two minor hits and included singer Gaile Foote. Before the Greenwoods disbanded, Parks and Foote married and, as Carson and Gaile, recorded an album for Kapp Records, San Antonio Rose, which included the track "Something Stupid". The recording was then brought to the attention of Frank Sinatra.

Frank and Nancy Sinatra

The most successful and best known version of the song was issued by Frank and Nancy Sinatra on Frank's album The World We Knew. Frank Sinatra played Parks' recording to his daughter Nancy's producer, Lee Hazlewood, who recalled "He asked me, 'Do you like it?' and I said, 'I love it, and if you don't sing it with Nancy, I will.' He said, 'We're gonna do it, book a studio.'" Their rendition was recorded on February 1, 1967. Al Casey played guitar on the recording. Some sources credit Claus Ogerman as having done the arrangement of the song; others, Billy Strange.

The song spent four weeks at #1 on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart and nine weeks atop the adult contemporary chart, becoming Mr. Sinatra's second gold single as certified by the RIAA and Ms. Sinatra's third. It was the first and only instance of a father-daughter number-one song in America. The single also reached #1 on the UK Singles Chart the same year. Because of the song's intimate nature, this single is sometimes unofficially referred to as "The Incest Song".

Other versions

The song has been covered many times in the years since the song was originally released.

Robbie Williams version

"Somethin' Stupid"
Single by Robbie Williams featuring Nicole Kidman
from the album Swing When You're Winning
Released	December 10, 2001
Format	CD single, cassette, DVD single
Recorded	2001
Genre	Soft rock
Length	2:50
Label	Chrysalis
Writer(s)	C. Parks
Robbie Williams chronology
"Better Man" (2001) "Somethin' Stupid" (2001) "Mr. Bojangles/I Will Talk And Hollywood Will Listen" (2002)

British singer Robbie Williams recorded "Somethin' Stupid" as a duet in 2001 with Academy Award-winning actress Nicole Kidman. The song appeared on Williams' 2001 album, Swing When You're Winning, and it topped the UK Singles Chart at the end of the year. The song became Williams' first Christmas Number-One single in the United Kingdom, and fifth as a featured artist. The single sold 98,506 copies in its first week and 366,000 copies over all earning a Silver Certification by the BPI. The song was the 30th best selling single of 2001 in the UK. The song also became another number-one single for Williams in New Zealand, being certified Gold, and became, at the time, his best selling single in Europe charting inside the top ten in most countries. In Australia, it became Williams' fourth top ten single, earning a Gold certification for over 35,000 copies sold. These are the formats and track listings of major single releases of "Somethin' Stupid".

UK CD Single

1. "Somethin' Stupid" - 2:51
2. "Eternity" [Orchestral Version] - 5:32
3. "My Way" [Live at the Albert Hall] - 7:00
4. "Somethin' Stupid" [Video] - 3:08

UK DVD Single

1. "Somethin' Stupid" [Video] - 3:08
2. "Let's Face The Music and Dance" [Audio] - 2:36
3. "That's Life" [Audio] - 3:07

Country	Certification (if any)	Sales/shipments
Australia	Gold	35,000+
Austria	Gold	15,000+
France	Silver	100,000+
Germany	Gold	250,000+
New Zealand	Gold	7,500+
Switzerland	Gold	20,000+
United Kingdom	Silver	200,000+

Chart (2001)	Peak position
European Hot 100	1
New Zealand Singles Chart	1
UK Singles Chart	1
Austrian Singles Chart	2
German Singles Chart	2
Irish Singles Chart	2
Italian Singles Chart	2
Swiss Singles Chart	3
Belgian (Flanders) Singles Chart	5
Dutch Singles Chart	5
Belgian (Wallonia) Singles Chart	6
Danish Singles Chart	6
Australian Singles Chart	8
Norwegian Singles Chart	9
Romanian Singles Chart	9
French Singles Chart	16
Swedish Singles Chart	17
Canadian Singles Chart	25

Other artists

• In the same year as the Sinatras' version topped the US charts, rising country star Tammy Wynette released her version (with David Houston) on her debut album, My Elusive Dreams.

• The Lennon Sisters recorded a version, featured on their album Somethin' Stupid. It was played during one of their spots on the Lawrence Welk Show

• Also in 1967, French singer Sacha Distel released a French language version called "Ces mots stupides" (meaning These stupid words). Also in the same year, Paul Mauriat recorded an instrumental version of the song, which appeared on Album No. 5.

• The Motown recording duo Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell covered the song on their 1967 album, United.

• Ali Campbell (of the band UB40) and his daughter Kibibi Campbell recorded the song for his 1995 solo album Big Love; it was released as a single in the UK reaching number 30 in December.

• The Smithereens' compilation album, Attack of the Smithereens, features a cover of the song.

• Other versions figured in the 2005 album by Albin de la Simone, sung in duet with Jeanne Cherhal; by Amanda Barrie and Johnny Briggs; by the jazz-alpine-folk band Global Kryner; and released by The Mavericks with Trisha Yearwood on their 1995 album Music for All Occasions; a Hebrew version, called "I Love You", was recorded by Matti Caspi and his daughter, and released in 2005, on his album You Are My Woman; the song was also performed as a b-side by the Australian band Frente off the single for "Accidentally Kelly Street".

• In 2006, the band DeVotchKa released the EP Curse Your Little Heart, which included a cover of "Somethin' Stupid."

• Also Welsh folk singer Mary Hopkin recorded a version on Y Caneuon Cynnar (The Early Recordings).

• Colombian duo, Ana & Jaime, recorded a version in Spanish called "Algo Estupido"

• The Trashcan Sinatras, legendary Scottish Band covered this song on their Album entitled "On a B Road"

• The Secret Sisters, country duo from Alabama, covered the song and featured it on their debut album "The Secret Sisters"

References

Preceded by "Lady" by Jack Jones	Billboard Easy Listening number-one single (Nancy and Frank Sinatra version) April 1, 1967 (9 weeks)	Succeeded by "Casino Royale" by Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass
Preceded by "Release Me" by Engelbert Humperdinck	UK number one single (Nancy and Frank Sinatra version) 13 April 1967 (two weeks)	Succeeded by "Puppet on a String" by Sandie Shaw
Preceded by "Happy Together" by The Turtles	Billboard Hot 100 number one single (Nancy and Frank Sinatra version) April 15, 1967 (four weeks)	Succeeded by "The Happening" by The Supremes
Preceded by "Gotta Get Thru This" by Daniel Bedingfield	UK Singles Chart number one single (Robbie Williams/Nicole Kidman version) December 15, 2001 - January 5, 2002	Succeeded by "Gotta Get Thru This" by Daniel Bedingfield