Calvin Grant Shofner (April 7, 1932 – October 10, 2013), known professionally as Cal Smith, was an American

country A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. It may be a sovereign state or make up one part of a larger state. For example, the country of Japan is an independent, sovereign state, whil ...

musician, most famous for his 1974 hits " Country Bumpkin" and "

It's Time to Pay the Fiddler ""It's Time to Pay the Fiddler" is a song written by Don Wayne and Walter Haynes Walter Haynes (December 14, 1928 – January 1, 2009) was an American steel guitarist and music producer who worked with such artists as Patsy Cline Jimmy ...

Career

Calvin Grant Shofner was born on April 7, 1932, in Gans, Oklahoma, as the youngest of three sons of James "Otto" and Ethel (Quinn) Shofner. During the Great Depression, the Smiths headed west and settled in

Oakland Oakland is the largest city and the county seat of Alameda County, California, United States. A major West Coast of the United States, West Coast port, Oakland is the largest city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, the third ...

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the ...

, and he grew up in San Jose, California. Smith began his music career performing at the Remember Me Cafe in

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

at the age of 15, but he was not financially successful at first. Throughout the 1950s, he was not able to continue his music career, so he worked at various other jobs, including

truck driving A truck or lorry is a motor vehicle designed to transport cargo, carry specialized payloads, or perform other utilitarian work. Trucks vary greatly in size, power, and configuration, but the vast majority feature body-on-frame constructio ...

and bronco busting. He appeared on the '' California Hayride'' television show in the mid-1950s before serving two years in the

military A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. It is typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with its members identifiable by their distin ...

. After his discharge, he began playing in a band in the

San Francisco Bay Area The San Francisco Bay Area, often referred to as simply the Bay Area, is a populous region surrounding the San Francisco, San Pablo, and Suisun Bay estuaries in Northern California. The Bay Area is defined by the Association of Bay Area Gov ...

. In 1961,

country music Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, o ...

legend

Ernest Tubb Ernest Dale Tubb (February 9, 1914 – September 6, 1984), nicknamed the Texas Troubadour, was an American singer and songwriter and one of the pioneers of country music. His biggest career hit song, " Walking the Floor Over You" (1941), ...

heard the band play and, after an audition, hired Smith to play guitar for the Texas Troubadours. Thus, Smith is heard playing in most of Tubb's 1960s recordings. His first solo single was "Tear Stained Pillow" / "Eleven Long Years" on the local Plaid label. Smith's stage name began to catch on after he released his second solo single, "I'll Just Go Home", in 1966 for Kapp Records, and he first cracked the ''Billboard'' chart with his second single, "The Only Thing I Want". Smith permanently parted ways with Tubb and the Texas Troubadours in 1969 and he released his first solo album, ''Drinking Champagne'', in 1969. The album's title track had reached the Top 40 on the country chart the previous year, and was later a Top 10 hit for

George Strait George Harvey Strait Sr. (born May 18, 1952) is an American country music singer, songwriter, actor, and music producer. Strait is considered one of the most influential and popular recording artists of all time. In the 1980s, he was credited fo ...

in 1990. In 1970, Smith signed with

Decca Records Decca Records is a British record label established in 1929 by Edward Lewis. Its U.S. label was established in late 1934 by Lewis, Jack Kapp, American Decca's first president, and Milton Rackmil, who later became American Decca's president. ...

, and his popularity quickly soared, starting off with his 1972 Top 10 hit, "

I've Found Someone of My Own "I've Found Someone of My Own" is a song written by Frank F. Robinson and performed by The Free Movement. It was produced by Joe Porter, arranged by Jimmie Haskell and Michael Omartian, and was featured on the band's 1972 album, '' I've Found Som ...

". He began recording songs written by some of the biggest names in the industry; for instance, in March 1973, his rendition of Bill Anderson's "

The Lord Knows I'm Drinking "The Lord Knows I'm Drinking" is a song written by Bill Anderson, and recorded by American country music singer Cal Smith. It was released in November 1972 as the third single from the album ''I've Found Someone of My Own''. Song background S ...

" became his first number-one country hit. When Decca became

MCA Records MCA Records was an American record label owned by MCA Inc., which later became part of Universal Music Group. Pre-history MCA Inc., a powerful talent agency and a television production company, entered the recorded music business in 1962 wi ...

in 1973, he enjoyed his biggest successes. In 1974, he recorded two of his greatest hits, "

" and " Country Bumpkin", which received Song of the Year Awards from both the

Academy of Country Music The Academy of Country Music (ACM) was founded in 1964 in Los Angeles, California as the Country & Western Music Academy. Among the founders were Eddie Miller, Tommy Wiggins, and Mickey and Chris Christensen. They wanted to promote country musi ...

and the

Country Music Association The Country Music Association (CMA) was founded in 1958 in Nashville, Tennessee. It originally consisted of 233 members and was the first trade organization formed to promote a music genre. The objectives of the organization are to guide and enha ...

Later career

Smith continued to have success with

into the late 1970s including the Top 20 singles "Between Lust And Watching TV" (1974), "She Talked A Lot About Texas" (1975), "I Just Came Home To Count The Memories" (1977), and "Come See About Me" (1977). After this he continued to have minor successes that included "The Rise And Fall Of The Roman Empire" in 1979. Smith released his last album, ''Stories of Life by Cal Smith'', in 1986 on Step One Records, where he scored a minor hit that year with "King Lear".

Personal life

In 1977, Smith joined entrepreneur Larry Schmittou and other country music stars, such as

Conway Twitty Harold Lloyd Jenkins (September 1, 1933 – June 5, 1993), better known by his stage name Conway Twitty, was an American singer and songwriter. Initially a part of the 1950s rockabilly scene, Twitty was best known as a country music performer. ...

Jerry Reed Jerry Reed Hubbard (March 20, 1937 – September 1, 2008) was an American singer, guitarist, composer, and songwriter as well as an actor who appeared in more than a dozen films. His signature songs included " Guitar Man", "U.S. Male", " A Thi ...

, Larry Gatlin, and Richard Sterban, as investors in the Nashville Sounds, a minor league baseball team of the Double-A Southern League that began play in 1978. Smith and his wife, Darlene, lived in the Branson,

Missouri Missouri is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee ...

area. Smith died in Branson on October 10, 2013. He is survived by Darlene, his son Calvin, five grandchildren and 15 great-grandchildren. He was preceded in death by a son, Jimmie Todd.

Discography

Albums

Singles

*^A"The Lord Knows I'm Drinking" also peaked at No. 64 on the ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

'' Hot 100.

Awards

1974 Major events in 1974 include the aftermath of the 1973 oil crisis and the resignation of President of the United States, United States President Richard Nixon following the Watergate scandal. In the Middle East, the aftermath of the 1973 Yom K ...

—

- Song of the Year *

—

- Song of the Year *

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- Single of the Year * 2007 - Oklahoma Music Hall of Fame - Inductee

References

External links

*
Cal Smith at CMT.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Cal 1932 births 2013 deaths People from Sequoyah County, Oklahoma Musicians from Oakland, California American country singer-songwriters American country guitarists American male guitarists MCA Records artists Decca Records artists Kapp Records artists Guitarists from California 20th-century American guitarists Country musicians from California Country musicians from Oklahoma 20th-century American male musicians American male singer-songwriters Singer-songwriters from Oklahoma Singer-songwriters from California