Carl Smith

Carl Milton Smith (March 15, 1927 – January 16, 2010) was an American country singer. Known as "Mister Country", he was one of the genre's most successful male artists during the 1950s, scoring 30 top-10 Billboard hits (21 of which were consecutive). Smith's success continued well into the 1970s, when he had a charting single every year but one. In 1952, Smith married June Carter, with whom he had daughter Carlene; the couple divorced in 1956. He later married Goldie Hill, and they had three children together. In 2003, he was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame. According to the Hollywood Walk of Fame website, he was a "drinking companion" to Johnny Cash, his daughter's stepfather.

Biography Early career Smith was born in Maynardville, Tennessee, in 1927 (the same town in which fellow country icon Roy Acuff had been born), and started to aspire to a musical career after hearing the Grand Ole Opry on the radio. He sold seed to pay for guitar lessons as a teenager. At age 15, he started performing in a band called Kitty Dibble and her Dude Ranch Ranglers. By age 17, he had learned to play the string bass and spent his summer vacation working at WROL-AM in Knoxville, Tennessee, where he performed on Cas Walker's radio show.

After graduating from high school, he served in the U.S. Navy from 1944–47. He returned to WROL and played string bass for country singers Molly O'Day and Skeets Williamson, and began his singing career. A colleague at the station sent an acetate disc recording of Smith's to WSM-AM and the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville, Tennessee, and WSM soon signed him. In 1950, Smith was signed to a recording contract with Columbia Records by producer Don Law. During 1951, he had three other hits, including "If the Teardrops Were Pennies" and his first number-one hit, "Let Old Mother Nature Have Her Way".

"Guilty Conscience"

"I Overlooked an Orchid (While Searching For a Rose)"

"Let's Live a Little"

"There's Nothing As Sweet As My Baby"

"Mr. Moon"

"If Teardrops Were Pennies"

"Let Old Mother Nature Have Her Way"

"(When You Feel Like You're in Love) Don't Just Stand There"

"Me and My Broken Heart" (cover of Hank Williams song)

"Are You Teasing Me"

"It's a Lovely, Lovely World"

"Our Honeymoon"

"That's the Kind of Love I'm Looking For"

"Just Wait 'Til I Get You Alone"

"This Orchid Means Goodbye"

Single only "Trademark"

Satisfaction Guaranteed "Do I Like It?"

Single only "Hey Joe"

Greatest Hits "Satisfaction Guaranteed"

"Dog-Gone It, Baby, I'm in Love"

"Back Up Buddy"

The Tall, Tall Gentleman "Go, Boy Go"

Carl Smith's Best "Loose Talk"

Carl Smith "More Than Anything Else in the World"

Single only

"Kisses Don't Lie"

Walkin' Tall "No, I Don't Believe I Will"

Carl Smith's Best "Wait a Little Longer Please, Jesus"

Sunday Down South "There She Goes"

Carl Smith "Old Lonesome Times"

Greatest Hits "Don't Tease Me"

Single only "You're Free to Go"

Greatest Hits "I Feel Like Cryin'"

Carl Smith

"I've Changed"

Single only "You Are the One"

"Doorstep to Heaven"

"Before I Met You"

The Tall, Tall Gentleman "Wicked Lies"

"You Can't Hurt Me Anymore"

"Try to Take It Like a Man"

"Why, Why"

"Your Name Is Beautiful"

"Guess I've Been Around Too Long"

"Walking the Slow Walk"

"The Best Years of My Life"

Let's Live a Little "It's All My Heartache"

Single only "Ten Thousand Drums"

Walkin' Tall "Tomorrow Night"

"Make the Waterwheel Roll"

"Cut Across Shorty"

The Carl Smith Touch "If the World Don't End Tomorrow (I'm Comin' After You)"

"You Make Me Live Again"

"Kisses Never Lie"

"Air Mail to Heaven"

The Tall, Tall Gentleman "Things That Mean the Most"

Single only "The Best Dressed Beggar (In Town)"

The Country Gentleman

"Live for Tomorrow"

The Tall, Tall Gentleman "In the Back Room Tonight"

Single only "I Almost Forgot Her Today"

"Triangle"

"The Pillow That Whispers"

"Take My Ring Off Your Finger"

"Lonely Girl"

"When It's Over"

"She Called Me Baby"

Kisses Don't Lie "Keep Me Fooled"

"Be Good to Her"

"Let's Walk Away Strangers"

The Country Gentleman

"Why Do I Keep Doing This to Us"

"Why Can't You Feel Sorry for Me"

"Man with a Plan"

Man with a Plan "You Better Be Better to Me"

"It's Only a Matter of Time"

"Mighty Day"

"I Should Get Away Awhile (From You)"

"Deep Water"

"Foggy River"

"You Ought to Hear Me Cry"

Carl Smith's Greatest Hits, Vol. 2 "There's No More Love"

Single only

"Faded Love and Winter Roses"

Faded Love And Winter Roses "Good Deal Lucille"

"I Love You Because"

"Heartbreak Avenue"

"Pull My String and Wind Me Up"

"Pick Me Up on Your Way Down"

"Bonaparte's Retreat"

"How I Love Them Old Songs"

"Don't Worry 'bout the Mule (Just Load the Wagon)"

"Lost It on the Road"

"Red Door"

"Don't Say You're Mine"

"Mama Bear"

"If This Is Goodbye"

1973 "I Need Help"

Single only

"The Way I Lose My Mind"

The Way I Lose My Mind "Roly Poly"

The Girl That I Love

"If You Don't, Somebody Else Will"

Single only "A Way with Words"

"Show Me a Brick Wall"

"This Kinda Love Ain't Meant for Sunday School"

1978 "This Lady Loving Me"