59 Years Ago Today, Frank & Nancy Sinatra Made Chart History — and Someone Lost a $2 Bet Because of It
These tunes are made for listening, and that's just what we'll do!
In March 1967, Frank and Nancy Sinatra released their iconic duet "Somethin' Stupid." A month later it reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, where it stayed for four weeks, and a further nine weeks on the easy listening charts. To this day, it remains the only father-daughter duet to reach that milestone.
The song was originally written by folk singer C. Carson Parks, who recorded it with his wife Gaile Foote and released it in 1966, which caught Frank's attention. Sinatra went on to record the most successful version of the song by far. He pitched it to Nancy's producer Lee Hazlewood, who was immediately on board. Hazlewood later recalled the moment Frank played him the demo: "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.'"
The recording came with a funny anecdote. Nancy later shared on Facebook that Mo Ostin, the president of their label Reprise at the time, bet Frank $2 that the song would flop, worried that a father-daughter love song was too risky a move. Nancy shared a photo of the framed bill, with the caption reading "then the silly bastard bet me two dollars it would be a bomb!!" It went on to become Frank's second gold single and Nancy's third, and earned a Grammy nomination for Record of the Year at the 10th Grammy Awards. Nancy herself cheekily referred to it as "the Incest Song, which I think is, well, very sweet!"
The song has since taken on a life of its own. In 2001, Robbie Williams and Nicole Kidman released their version, featuring on his album Swing When You're Winning, and just like the Sinatras 34 years prior, they topped the UK Singles Chart. A cover by Lola Marsh later found a new generation of fans after featuring in a prominent scene in Better Call Saul and it became a recurring symbol for the show's central characters.
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