"Somethin' Stupid" is a song written by C. Carson Parks and
originally recorded in 1966 by Parks and his wife Gail Foote,
as "Carson and Gaile". It is best known in the hit version by
Frank Sinatra and his daughter, Nancy Sinatra.
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.
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.
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.
The song has been covered many times in the years since the
song was originally released.
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, (Released December 10, 2001)
UK DVD, (Released December 10, 2001)
One More for the Rogue Tour
/ For a Few Dollars More... Tour (1998-1999) •
Robbie Williams North
American Tours (1999) •
The Sermon on the Mount Tour
(2000-2001) •
Weddings, Barmitzvahs &
Stadiums Tour / Sing When You're Pacific Rimming Tour (2001)
•
Weekends of Mass Distraction
Tour / Cock of Justice/Aussie Typo Tour (2003) •
Close Encounters Tour (2006)
•
TBA (2010)