Who first recorded the song “Goofus”?

Written by Wayne King and William Harris, with lyrics by Gus Kahn, “Goofus” was popular in the 1930’s. Les Paul, a famous guitarist, recorded it in 1950, and it placed at number 29 on the Billboard charts on September 29 of that year.

Two weeks later, on October 1950, Phil Harris released his version as the A-side of a single, with “The Think” on the B-side. Chet Atkins included “Goofus” on his 1960 album, “Chet Atkins’ Workshop”.

In 1976, the Carpenters—siblings Karen (vocals) and Richard (keyboard, composition) recorded a version for their “A Kind of Hush” album and also released “Goofus” as a single. The song reached the number 4 spot on the Billboard Easy Listening chart, placed 56 on Billboard’s Hot 100 chart, and came in at number 83 on the Canadian Singles Chart.