Somethin' Stupid

"Somethin' Stupid"
A-side label of one of US vinyl releases
Single by Frank Sinatra and Nancy Sinatra
from the album The World We Knew
B-side	"I Will Wait for You" (Frank)
Released	March 1967
Format	Vinyl record (7")
Genre	Pop
Length	2:37
Label	Reprise
Writer(s)	C. Carson Parks[1]
Producer(s)	Jimmy Bowen, Lee Hazlewood[1]
Certification	Gold (RIAA)

"Somethin' Stupid", also "Something Stupid", is a song written by C. Carson Parks. It was originally recorded in 1966 by Parks and his wife Gaile Foote, as Carson and Gaile. The song is best known for the 1967 version by Frank Sinatra and his daughter Nancy Sinatra, which reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.^[1] In 2001, a cover version by British singer Robbie Williams and actress Nicole Kidman reached number one in the UK Singles Chart.

Carson and Gaile version

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 in 1966 for Kapp Records, San Antonio Rose, which included the song "Something Stupid". The recording was then brought to the attention of Frank Sinatra.^[2][3]

Frank and Nancy Sinatra version

Frank (left) and Nancy Sinatra

The most successful and best-known version of "Somethin' Stupid" was issued in 1967 as a single by Nancy Sinatra and Frank Sinatra and subsequently appeared on Frank's album The World We Knew. Frank had played Parks' recording to his daughter'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.'"^[2][3] Their rendition was recorded on February 1, 1967. Al Casey played guitar on the recording and Hal Blaine was the drummer.^[4] Hazlewood and Jimmy Bowen were listed as the producers of the single, with arrangement by Billy Strange.^[1]

The single spent four weeks at number 1 on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart and nine weeks atop the easy listening (now adult contemporary) chart, becoming Frank's second gold single as certified by the RIAA and Nancy's third.^[5] It was the first and only instance of a father-daughter number-one song in America. Nancy Sinatra has said she thinks it's "very sweet" that some people refer to it as the "Incest Song".^[6] The single also reached number 1 on the UK Singles Chart the same year.^[1] It was also nominated for the Record Of The Year at the 10th Grammy Awards, losing to the 5th Dimension's upbeat hit song "Up, Up And Away".^[7]

Robbie Williams and Nicole Kidman version

"Somethin' Stupid"
Single by Robbie Williams and Nicole Kidman
from the album Swing When You're Winning
Released	December 14, 2001
Format	CD single, cassette, DVD single
Recorded	2001
Genre	Pop, vocal jazz
Length	2:50
Label	Chrysalis
Writer(s)	C. Carson Parks
Robbie Williams singles chronology
"Better Man" (2001) "Somethin' Stupid" (2001) "Mr Bojangles" /"I Will Talk and Hollywood Will Listen" (2002) Nicole Kidman singles chronology "Come What May" (2001) "Somethin' Stupid'" (2001) "One Day I'll Fly Away" (2002)
Music video "Somethin' Stupid" on YouTube

British singer Robbie Williams recorded a cover version of "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 accompanying music video was directed by Vaughan Arnell.

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,^[8] 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.^[9]

Track listings

UK CD single

1. "Somethin' Stupid" – 2:51
2. "Eternity" (Orchestral version) – 5:32
3. "My Way" (Live at the Albert Hall) – 6:59
4. "Somethin' Stupid" (video) – 3:08

UK DVD single

1. "Somethin' Stupid" (video) – 3:06
2. "Let's Face the Music and Dance" (audio) – 2:35
3. "That's Life" (audio) – 3:07

Chart performance

Chart (2001–02)	Peak position
Australia (ARIA)[10]	8
Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 40)[11]	2
Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders)[12]	5
Belgium (Ultratop 50 Wallonia)[13]	6
Canada (Nielsen SoundScan)[14]	25
Denmark (Tracklisten)[15]	6
Europe (Eurochart Hot 100)	1
France (SNEP)[16]	14
Germany (Official German Charts)[17]	2
Ireland (IRMA)	2
Italy (FIMI)[18]	1
Netherlands (Dutch Top 40)[19]	9
Netherlands (Single Top 100)[20]	5
New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ)[21]	1
Norway (VG-lista)[22]	9
Poland (Polish Singles Chart)[23]	1
Portugal (Billboard)[24]	1
Romania (Romanian Top 100)[25]	9
Spain (PROMUSICAE)[26]	2
Sweden (Sverigetopplistan)[27]	17
Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade)[28]	3
UK Singles (The Official Charts Company)	1

Certifications

Country	Certification (if any)	Sales/shipments
Australia	Gold[9]	35,000+
Austria	Gold[29]	15,000+
Belgium	Gold[30]	25,000+
France	Silver[31]	172,000+
Germany	Gold[32]	250,000+
New Zealand	Gold[8]	7,500+
Switzerland	Gold[33]	20,000+
United Kingdom	Silver[34]	378,000+

References

1. Rice, Jo (1982). The Guinness Book of 500 Number One Hits (1st ed.). Enfield, Middlesex: Guinness Superlatives Ltd. p. 108. ISBN 0-85112-250-7.
2. "C. Carson Parks". C. Carson Parks. Retrieved April 2, 2014.
3. Rob Finnis and Tony Rounce, Booklet with CD "You Heard It Here First", Ace Records CDCHD1204, 2008
4. Blaine, Hal and David Goggin, Hal Blaine and the Wrecking Crew: The Story of the World’s Most Recorded Musician, MixBooks, Emeryville, California, 1990 p.xx
5. Whitburn, Joel (1996). The Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits, 6th Edition (Billboard Publications)
6. John Patterson (June 2, 2008). "John Patterson talks with Nancy Sinatra about sex, men and marriage | Music". The Guardian. Retrieved June 15, 2013.
7. "GRAMMY Rewind: 10th Annual GRAMMY Awards". GRAMMY.com. 1968-02-29. Retrieved 2016-10-01.
8. "The Official New Zealand Music Chart". Rianz.org.nz. Archived from the original on March 9, 2009. Retrieved April 2, 2014.
9. "ARIA Charts - Accreditations - 2002 Singles". Aria.com.au. Archived from the original on March 7, 2008. Retrieved April 2, 2014.
10. "Australian-charts.com – Robbie Williams & Nicole Kidman – Somethin' Stupid". ARIA Top 50 Singles.
11. "Austriancharts.at – Robbie Williams & Nicole Kidman – Somethin' Stupid" (in German). Ö3 Austria Top 40.
12. "Ultratop.be – Robbie Williams & Nicole Kidman – Somethin' Stupid" (in Dutch). Ultratop 50.
13. "Ultratop.be – Robbie Williams & Nicole Kidman – Somethin' Stupid" (in French). Ultratop 50.
14. "Robbie Williams | Awards". AllMusic. February 13, 1974. Retrieved April 2, 2014.
15. "Danishcharts.com – Robbie Williams & Nicole Kidman – Somethin' Stupid". Tracklisten.
16. "France - Tous les Titres de chaque Artiste - "Somethin' Stupid" with Robbie Williams". Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique. SNEP. infodisc.fr. Retrieved June 30, 2014.
17. "Musicline.de – Robbie Williams & Nicole Kidman Single-Chartverfolgung" (in German). Media Control Charts. PhonoNet GmbH.
18. "Italy - Nicole Kidman". Federazione Industria Musicale Italiana. FIMI. italiancharts.com. Retrieved June 30, 2014.
19. "Nederlandse Top 40 – Robbie Williams & Nicole Kidman search results" (in Dutch) Dutch Top 40.
20. "Netherlands - "Somethin' Stupid" with Robbie Williams". Single Top 100. MegaCharts. dutchcharts.nl. Archived from the original on August 21, 2014. Retrieved June 30, 2014.
21. "Charts.org.nz – Robbie Williams & Nicole Kidman – Somethin' Stupid". Top 40 Singles.
22. "Norwegiancharts.com – Robbie Williams & Nicole Kidman – Somethin' Stupid". VG-lista.
23. "Airplay Chart Top 30 – Lista Krajowa". Pifpaf Production. April 2002. Archived from the original on 26 October 2007.
24. "Hits of the World". Billboard. February 9, 2002. ISSN 0006-2510. Retrieved September 15, 2012.
26. "Spanishcharts.com – Robbie Williams & Nicole Kidman – Somethin' Stupid" Canciones Top 50.
27. "Swedishcharts.com – Robbie Williams & Nicole Kidman – Somethin' Stupid". Singles Top 100.
28. "Swisscharts.com – Robbie Williams & Nicole Kidman – Somethin' Stupid". Swiss Singles Chart.
29. "IFPI Austria - Verband der Österreichischen Musikwirtschaft" (in German). Ifpi.at. Archived from the original on July 16, 2007. Retrieved April 2, 2014.
30. Archived September 27, 2007, at the Wayback Machine.
31. Archived November 24, 2006, at the Wayback Machine.
32. "Gold/Platin Datenbank durchsuchen" (in (German)). Archived from the original on September 27, 2007. Retrieved July 25, 2007.
33. Steffen Hung. "The Official Swiss Charts and Music Community". Swisscharts.com. Archived from the original on April 7, 2014. Retrieved April 2, 2014.
34. Archived September 30, 2007, at the Wayback Machine.

External links

• Lyrics of this song at MetroLyrics