Carl Smith’s hat and letter. Carl was one of Waylon’s friends and he was an ardent admirer of his music as well as his business acumen. Waylon listened to Carl in the 50s on the radio station KWKH, a 50,000 watt channel out of Shreveport, Louisiana. The program was called "The Louisiana Hayride", which helped to launch the careers of some of the greatest musicians of the era - Elvis, George Jones, and Faron Young just to mention a few. Carl Smith was known as "Mr. Country" and was one of the most popular honky tonkers of the 1950s. During this decade he racked up more than thirty Top 10 hits. He sustained his popularity well into the 70s and finally recorded his last album in 1986, retiring from country music to raise horses. His smooth ballad style coupled with hardcore country made him one of the most popular of the era. He was was one of the first to add a drum kit to his band and took a tremendous amount of criticism for this. His hits include, “Cut Across Shorty”, ”Don’t Just Stand There”, and “Live A Little.”

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