Carl Smith

Country Musician. He was raised listening to music of the Grand Ole Opry, influenced by Roy Acuff (also a native of Maynardville, Tennessee) and Bill Monroe. While a teenager, he gained recognition as a guitarist, bass player and singer at WROL Radio in Knoxville before graduation from high school. Following a stint in the United States Navy at the end of World War II, he played with the local band The Brewster Brothers before returning to WROL. A recorded demo of him singing led to a contract with Columbia Records in 1950 and regular appearances at the Grand Ole Opry. From the early 1950s throughout the early 1970s, Smith referred to as “Mr. Country” became one of the best known Honky-Tonk performers during that period, regularly placing top twenty hits on the country charts, beginning with “Let’s Live a Little”, also including “If Teardrops Were Pennies”, “Me and My Broken Heart”, “(When You Feel Like You’re in Love) Don’t Just Stand There” and “Let Old Mother Nature Have Her Way”. In addition, he was known to television audiences in Canada as host of “Carl Smith’s Country Music Hall” during the 1960s. In 1952 he married June Carter, divorcing in 1957. The couple’s daughter Rebecca Carlene Smith (later Carlene Carter), who was born in 1955 became a country music performer during the 1970s. In 1957, he married country singer Goldie Hill and remained with her until her death in 2005. He retired from performing during the 1970s to raise horses. He was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2003.