Collector's Choice
2002
The 'Sixties Hits Of Carl Smith
About This Album
Carl Smith's legacy and reputation is built on the hardcore honky tonk he cut for Columbia in the '50s, which ranks among the purest and best of its era. Since the dawn of the CD reissue boom in the '80s, that has been the Carl Smith music that's been reissued, first on Columbia/Legacy's excellent The Essential Carl Smith (1950-1956) then on Bear Family's fine 1996 five-disc box set Satisfaction Guaranteed, which contained the entirety of his '50s recordings. So much emphasis was placed on this era that listeners who came to Smith late may have thought he didn't record or didn't have success in the '60s, when the opposite is true. He continued recording for Columbia in the '60s, and while he rarely broke the country Top Ten, he placed frequently in the Top 20 right into 1970, ranking as one of the most consistent, reliable singers of the decade. This material remained out of print until Collectors Choice's 2002 collection The Sixties Hits of Carl Smith, which rounded up 24 of his hits, including every side that charted in the Top 20, along with seven singles that charted in the Top 40 or beyond. Smith didn't play it as pure as he did during the '50s: his honky tonk became a little less gritty, his productions were a little smoother, occasionally adding sweet backing vocals, he dabbled in folk and pop inflections, and he generally streamlined his music to fit the times.
Track List (try tracks 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15,16,17 and 18)

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