Carl Smith, 1927-2010

SFC_p1575Country Music Hall-of-Famer Carl Smith (pictured here in a 1953 Columbia records publicity shot) came to prominence in the 1950s  as performer on WSM’s “Grand Ole Opry”, and scored 30 Billboard top-10 country hits that decade, including “Let’s Live a Little” and “Hey Joe!”.  From 1952 to 1956 Smith was married to June Carter, and their daughter Carlene Carter would go on to have a successful music career of her own.
Smith was also a familiar face on television, first on ABC’s country music variety series Ozark Jubilee and later as the host of Carl Smith’s Country Music Hall on Canadian TV from 1964-1969.
In the late ’70s Smith and his second wife, the country singer Goldie Hill, retired from the music business to raise horses on their ranch in Franklin, Tennessee, where Smith died on Saturday at the age of 82.
Listen below to a clip of Carl Smith performing 1954’s “Loose Talk”, his last #1 country hit, from one of the dozens of Carl Smith records in the SFC: Loose Talk (Carl Smith)