Known as Mr. Country, Carl Smith ranked among the era’s leading honky tonkers during the 1950s, amassing more than thirty Top Ten hits across that ten-year span. He maintained a presence on the charts well into the late 1970s, placing at least one single each year except one. His smooth ballad style softened the harder contours of traditional country, yet he delivered unvarnished honky tonk as convincingly as any peer; the roughest material gained extra bite from the inclusion of drums. Among the first country performers to feature a drummer on a regular basis, he drew criticism for the choice, though the driving pulse of those faster numbers left a lasting mark. Western swing also surfaced from time to time in his work, and the style occupied a larger share of his output as his career progressed. Because his focus remained on honky tonk ballads and Western swing, he seldom reached pop listeners. Even so, he stood among the most widely recognized country vocalists of his generation, cutting such enduring recordings as “Let’s Live a Little,” “Let Old Mother Nature Have Her Way,” “This Orchard Means Goodbye,” “Cut Across Shorty,” “Loose Talk,” “(When You Feel Like You’re in Love) Don’t Just Stand There,” and “Hey Joe!,” appearing in several films, and hosting his own television program. At his retirement in the early 1980s he had registered nearly one hundred entries on the country charts.
Born and raised in Maynardsville, TN—the same town that produced Roy Acuff—Smith grew up admiring Acuff, Ernest Tubb, and Bill Monroe. As a teenager he taught himself guitar, reportedly purchasing his first instrument with earnings from selling flower seeds. At fifteen he was performing with the San Francisco-based country group Kitty Dibble and Her Dude Ranch Ranglers. Two years later he added string bass to his skills and spent a summer working at Knoxville’s WROL radio. After high school he served briefly in the U.S. Navy before returning to Tennessee.
Back home he resumed appearances at WROL, most often playing bass behind Skeets Williamson and Molly O’Day. He soon began singing as well, and a colleague forwarded an acetate of his vocals to WSM in Nashville. The station signed him, leading to regular work at the Grand Ole Opry. Columbia Records offered a recording contract in 1950. His debut hit, “Let’s Live a Little,” reached number two in 1951; before the year ended he had added three more chart entries, among them the classic “If Teardrops Were Pennies” and his first number-one single, “Let Old Mother Nature Have Her Way.” Also in 1951 he married June Carter, daughter of Maybelle Carter; although the marriage later ended in divorce, the couple’s daughter Carlene would later enjoy her own recording career in the 1970s.
Smith remained a steady chart presence throughout the 1950s, collecting thirty-one Top Ten singles in that decade alone. In addition to recording, he took roles in Western films such as 1957’s The Badge of Marshal Brennan. He left the Grand Ole Opry in 1956 to join a Phillip Morris package tour. The following year he wed country singer Goldie Hill, whose number-one hit “I Let the Stars Get in My Eyes” had brought her prominence.
Although his dominance at the very top of the charts lessened after the 1950s, he continued to register hits. During the 1960s he regularly reached the Top 40, reflecting his stature as a respected elder statesman. In 1961 he appeared on ABC’s Four Star Jubilee; shortly afterward he began hosting the Canadian series Carl Smith’s Country Music Hall, which later aired in the United States as well. Through the 1960s and into the early 1970s he increasingly featured Western swing on his albums. He remained with Columbia until 1975, when he moved to Hickory. A few modest later hits, some issued on ABC/Hickory, preceded his retirement in the late 1970s.
Although he issued a greatest-hits collection in the early 1980s, Smith largely stepped away from performing after 1979. He and Goldie resided on a horse farm near Franklin, TN, where they competed professionally in equestrian events. Goldie Hill passed away in 2005; Smith died in early 2010 following a stroke.
