"Man With a Plan" didn't perform well as a single for
Carl Smith, probably because it wasn't a honky tonk ballad of the sort for which he was known in the '60s. The song stalled shy of the Top 40, but it's one of his best efforts of the period -- a playfully boastful number with
Jimmy Dean-style production. The remainder of the album that shares its name offers more predictable fare, including covers of "Tragic Romance" and the
Webb Pierce/Wayne P. Walker song "How Do You Talk to a Baby." There are some drinking and dancing songs, too, and
Mel Tillis' inspirational composition "Beautiful Wings" closes the album.
Don Law and
Frank Jones produced the album and, with the exception of the title track, did their usual job, surrounding
Smith with fiddles rather than strings and keeping the affair pointed in a more "traditional" direction.