Carl Smith
Smith pictured around 1960
Background information
Also known as	Mister Country
Born	Carl Milton Smith (1927-03-15)March 15, 1927 Maynardville, Tennessee, U.S.
Died	January 16, 2010(2010-01-16) (aged 82) Franklin, Tennessee, U.S.
Genres	Country,rockabilly
Occupation	Singer
Years active	1942–1983
Labels	Columbia Records Hickory Records
Spouses	June Carter ​ ​ (m. 1952; div. 1956)​ Goldie Hill ​ ​ (m. 1957; died 2005)​

Carl Milton Smith (March 15, 1927 – January 16, 2010) was an Americancountry singer.^[1][2][3] Known as "Mister Country", he was one of the genre's most successful male artists during the 1950s, scoring 30 top-10Billboard 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 marriedJune Carter, with whom he had daughterCarlene; the couple divorced in 1956. His eldest daughter Carlene was the stepdaughter of fellow country singerJohnny Cash, who was subsequently married to his ex-wife June Carter. He later marriedGoldie Hill, and they had three children together. In 2003, he was inducted into theCountry Music Hall of Fame. According to theHollywood Walk of Fame website, he was a "drinking companion" to Johnny Cash, his daughter's stepfather.^[4][5]

Smith was born inMaynardville, Tennessee, in 1927 (the same town in which fellow country iconRoy Acuff had been born),^[6] and started to aspire to a musical career after hearing theGrand Ole Opry on the radio. He sold seed to pay for guitar lessons as a teenager.^[7][8] 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 thestring bass and spent his summer vacation working atWROL-AM inKnoxville, Tennessee, where he performed on Cas Walker's radio show.^[9]

After graduating fromhigh school, he served in theU.S. Navy from 1944–47. He returned to WROL and played string bass for country singersMolly O'Day andSkeets Williamson, and began his singing career. A colleague at the station sent anacetate disc recording of Smith toWSM-AM and theGrand Ole Opry inNashville, Tennessee, and WSM soon signed him. In 1950, Smith was signed to a recording contract withColumbia Records by producerDon Law.^[9]

In 1951, his song "Let's Live a Little" was a big hit, reaching number two on theBillboard country chart.^[10] 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".^[9] The songs made Smith a well-known name in country music. His band, the Tunesmiths, featured steel guitarist Johnny Silbert, who added an element ofWestern swing.^[8]

In 1952, Smith marriedJune Carter, daughter ofMaybelle Carter of theCarter Family. It was the first marriage for both. In 1955, the couple had a daughter, Rebecca Carlene Smith, who later became known asCarlene Carter, a country singer in her own right. The couple recorded the duets, "Time's a Wastin'" and "Love Oh Crazy Love". During the rest of the 1950s, Smith made regular appearances onBillboard's country chart, racking up many hits, including 30 in the top 10. His biggest hits include "Loose Talk", "Hey Joe!", and "You Are the One". He had five number-one hits in his career; "Loose Talk" was his last, in 1955.^[10] In 1956, Smith quit theGrand Ole Opry. Soon after, he joinedThe Phillip Morris Country Music Show and spent more than a year touring the United States, often in direct competition with touring Opry shows. He also made regular appearances on ABC-TV'sJubilee USA and was a fill-in host forRed Foley.

In 1956, Smith and June Carter divorced.^[10] In 1957, he appeared in the moviesThe Badge of Marshal Brennan andBuffalo Gun, and married country music singerGoldie Hill, best known for the number-one hit "I Let the Stars Get In My Eyes".^[10] Goldie retired from the music business. By the late 1950s, Smith's success began to dwindle on the country chart, and soon his string of top-10 hits began to dwindle.^[10]

By the 1960s, Smith's success as a country singer began to slow. His top-20 hits included "Air Mail To Heaven" in 1962 and "Take My Ring Off Your Finger" in 1964. His biggest hit of the decade was "Deep Water" in 1967, which peaked at number 10 and became his first top 10 in eight years (and his final top-10 appearance). In 1961, he was one of five rotating hosts on theNBC television seriesFive Star Jubilee. He also hostedCarl Smith's Country Music Hall inCanada, a series syndicated in the United States. Smith appeared onThe Jimmy Dean Show on April 9, 1964.

In the 1960s and 1970s, Smith incorporated more Western swing into much of his recorded material. He remained withColumbia Records for almost 25 years, leaving in 1975 to sign withHickory Records. By this time, his singles were barely making the charts.^[10] He appeared in theHawaii Five-O episode, "Man on Fire", first aired on October 21, 1976.

Due to his real estate and song publishing investments, he decided to retire from the music business in the late 1970s to concentrate on his second passion, raisingcutting horses,^[8] but in 1983, he recorded an album for the Gusto label. In 2003, he was inducted into theCountry Music Hall of Fame.

In his later years, Smith lived on a 500-acre (2.0 km²) horse farm inFranklin, Tennessee, (south ofNashville), where he died on January 16, 2010, at the age of 82. His wife Goldie had died five years prior. He was survived by two sons, Carl Jr. and Larry Dean, and two daughters, Carlene and Lori Lynn.^[8]

• Pugh, Ronnie. (1998). "Carl Smith". InThe Encyclopedia of Country Music. Paul Kingsbury, Editor. New York: Oxford University Press. pp. 489–90.

• Carl Smith atIMDb
• Carl Smith at theCountry Music Hall of Fame
• Carl Smith atAllMusic
• Carl Smith atFind a Grave

• 1927 births
• 2010 deaths
• People from Maynardville, Tennessee
• American country guitarists
• American male guitarists
• American country singer-songwriters
• Country musicians from Tennessee
• Country Music Hall of Fame inductees
• Members of the Country Music Association
• Grand Ole Opry members
• Guitarists from Tennessee
• 20th-century American guitarists
• 20th-century American male musicians
• United States Navy personnel of World War II
• American male singer-songwriters
• Singer-songwriters from Tennessee
• Cash–Carter family

• Articles with short description
• Short description matches Wikidata
• Use mdy dates from June 2022
• Short description is different from Wikidata
• Articles with hCards