American country singer Carl Milton Smith–known professionally as Carl Smith–was born on 15 March 1927 in Maynardville, Tennessee. Inspired by the Grand Ole Opry, he began his musical journey as a teenager, performing with local bands and playing string bass at WROL-AM in Knoxville. He was signed by Columbia Records in 1950. His breakthrough came with "Let's Live a Little" in 1951, finding its way to the number two spot on the Billboard country chart. He followed this success with hits like "If the Teardrops Were Pennies" and "Let Old Mother Nature Have Her Way". Notable hits from the early 1960s include "Loose Talk" and "Hey Joe!". By the late 1950s, his chart success began to wane. In the 1960s, he returned with hits like "Air Mail To Heaven" and "Deep Water". He hosted TV shows, including Five Star Jubilee and retired from music in the late 1970s. He was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2003 and died on 16 January 2010, at his horse farm in Franklin, Tennessee.
