Carl Smith obituary

Popular country singer in the early 1950s Carl Smith, who has died aged 82, was a key figure in the changing sound of country music in the early 1950s. Like Eddy Arnold, he purveyed a softer, warmer vocal manner, while keeping the music muscular by placing it in the bluesy small-group setting of Texan honky-tonk. But as well as an ingratiating ballad style, he had an aptitude for up-tempo rockabilly. He was admired for his music and his sharp-suited elegance by the young Waylon Jennings. Smith w...

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