Biography
Cal Smith launched his independent recording path after departing Ernest Tubb’s ensemble, scoring multiple successes of his own from the final years of the 1960s into the middle of the 1970s. Although the tender “Country Bumpkin” became his signature piece, the rough-edged resonance of his baritone served equally well on caustic numbers such as “The Lord Knows I’m Drinking,” a pointed rebuke of provincial religious hypocrisy. Born Calvin Grant Shofner in Oklahoma, he spent his formative years in the San Francisco Bay area. A guitarist from boyhood, he traveled with rodeo troupes during adolescence before contemplating a professional stage life. Backed by his parents—who felt performing kept him out of barroom trouble—he began working at age fifteen in a venue called The Remember Me Cafe, earning a dollar and fifty cents nightly along with a meal while playing chiefly for migrant vineyard laborers.
Steady income from music remained elusive, so throughout the 1950s he held an assortment of jobs that ranged from truck driver to bronco buster. His first marriage proved brief; when his wife demanded he abandon music, he opted for the road. A later union proved more lasting. Shortly after the California Hayride television show began in the mid-1950s, Smith joined its cast. Following a two-year military hitch he returned to the Bay Area, where he worked as a disc jockey at San Jose’s KEEN and performed locally in a group that included Bill Drake, sibling of one of Ernest Tubb’s Texas Troubadors. Tubb caught his act, auditioned him, and hired him in 1961 as rhythm guitarist and master of ceremonies. Several of Tubb’s 1960s hits feature Smith’s guitar work. Still billed as Grant Shofner, he secured his initial solo deal with Kapp Records in 1966 after Tubb’s endorsement. That year he issued his debut single, “I’ll Just Go Home.” The follow-up, “The Only Thing I Want,” became his first chart entry, reaching the Top 60; when “Drinking Champagne” climbed into the Top 40 in 1968, Smith left Tubb’s organization to concentrate on solo work. During his remaining tenure at Kapp he placed eight additional singles, among them “Heaven Is Just a Touch Away.”
Signing with Decca late in 1970 opened doors to material from Nashville’s leading songwriters. In 1972 he reached the Top Five with the unsentimental breakup tune “I’ve Found Someone of My Own.” Months afterward he claimed his first number-one hit with Bill Anderson’s “The Lord Knows I’m Drinking,” which also registered a modest pop crossover. Subsequent releases cooled until 1974, when the Don Wayne composition “Country Bumpkin” delivered his second chart-topper and established itself as a perennial radio favorite. Later that same year “It’s Time to Pay the Fiddler” became his third number one. He continued charting through 1979, moving to the MCA roster for outings such as “The Rise and Fall of the Roman Empire.” Once his primary recording period concluded, Smith invested in Nashville’s minor-league baseball franchise, the Nashville Sounds. He resurfaced briefly in 1986 on the roots-focused Step One label with the album Stories of Life by Cal Smith.
Steady income from music remained elusive, so throughout the 1950s he held an assortment of jobs that ranged from truck driver to bronco buster. His first marriage proved brief; when his wife demanded he abandon music, he opted for the road. A later union proved more lasting. Shortly after the California Hayride television show began in the mid-1950s, Smith joined its cast. Following a two-year military hitch he returned to the Bay Area, where he worked as a disc jockey at San Jose’s KEEN and performed locally in a group that included Bill Drake, sibling of one of Ernest Tubb’s Texas Troubadors. Tubb caught his act, auditioned him, and hired him in 1961 as rhythm guitarist and master of ceremonies. Several of Tubb’s 1960s hits feature Smith’s guitar work. Still billed as Grant Shofner, he secured his initial solo deal with Kapp Records in 1966 after Tubb’s endorsement. That year he issued his debut single, “I’ll Just Go Home.” The follow-up, “The Only Thing I Want,” became his first chart entry, reaching the Top 60; when “Drinking Champagne” climbed into the Top 40 in 1968, Smith left Tubb’s organization to concentrate on solo work. During his remaining tenure at Kapp he placed eight additional singles, among them “Heaven Is Just a Touch Away.”
Signing with Decca late in 1970 opened doors to material from Nashville’s leading songwriters. In 1972 he reached the Top Five with the unsentimental breakup tune “I’ve Found Someone of My Own.” Months afterward he claimed his first number-one hit with Bill Anderson’s “The Lord Knows I’m Drinking,” which also registered a modest pop crossover. Subsequent releases cooled until 1974, when the Don Wayne composition “Country Bumpkin” delivered his second chart-topper and established itself as a perennial radio favorite. Later that same year “It’s Time to Pay the Fiddler” became his third number one. He continued charting through 1979, moving to the MCA roster for outings such as “The Rise and Fall of the Roman Empire.” Once his primary recording period concluded, Smith invested in Nashville’s minor-league baseball franchise, the Nashville Sounds. He resurfaced briefly in 1986 on the roots-focused Step One label with the album Stories of Life by Cal Smith.
Albums
