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"Kisses Don't Lie" was a Top Five hit for Carl Smith in 1955, but the album bearing that name appeared years later in his career and was mostly comprised of covers of classic and modern country hits. Buck Owens' "Together Again" and Merle Haggard's "My Friends Are Gonna Be Strangers" are rendered in Smith's no-frills honky tonk style, and he returns "You Don't Have to Be a Baby to Cry," a pop hit in 1963 for the Caravelles, to its country roots. The theme of the album is allegedly one of Smith performing the songs of all-time great country composers, but in reality it is no different from typical '60s country album fare. Carl Smith retained more of his hard honky tonk sound from the '50s than many of his contemporaries, so his albums were welcome oases of straight country in that context. ~ Greg Adams
