But somehow, the record found its way to Frank Sinatra.
By then, his daughter Nancy had become a star in her own right. Her song “These Boots Are Made for Walkin’” had gone to No. 1 that same year.
Frank played the Parks recording for Nancy’s producer, Lee Hazlewood. Hazlewood never forgot what happened next.
“He asked me, ‘Do you like it?’” Hazlewood recalled. “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.’”
They recorded it on February 1, 1967. Frank had already spent part of that day recording with the Brazilian great Antonio Carlos Jobim.
The musicians on that session included a young session guitarist named Glen Campbell.
When the single came out, Nancy’s name was listed first: “Nancy Sinatra and Frank Sinatra.”
The song went to No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and stayed there for four weeks. It also topped the charts in Britain and was nominated for the Grammy for Record of the Year.
And it made history. It was the first and only time a father and daughter have had a No. 1 song together in America.
Decades later, other stars recorded their own versions, including Robbie Williams and Nicole Kidman in 2001. But for many of us, there is only one “Somethin’ Stupid,” the one where Frank and Nancy sound like they are having the time of their lives.
Do you remember hearing this one on the radio in 1967? Share it with someone who loves the old songs as much as you do.