Aaron Tippin and his co-writers wrote most of the songs for Call Of The Wild during Tippin's 1992 tour. Here, Tippin tells the stories -- and reflects on the meanings -- behind the songs:
‘The Call Of The Wild’
(Aaron Tippin, Buddy Brock, Michael P. Heeney)"I was on tour with Clint Black and Little Texas, and I was still on my bus one night when Little Texas was coming off stage. (You can always tell when this happens because the crowd really starts screaming.) Well, Buddy Brock and I were talking on the bus, and we heard that noise. I wasn't quite dressed, so I jumped up to get ready to go on stage, and I said, 'Well, boys, there's the call of the wild.' And both our eyes lit up."
‘Nothin' In The World’
(Aaron Tippin, Terry Brown)"Thank God for Terry Brown. He and I were working on another song, and in the middle of it we came up with the idea of 'Nothin' in the world could save me but a girl.' He was so persistent on stopping the song we were working on and starting that one that I finally said OK. I thought he was going to whup me. And the one we were working on, we ain't finished yet."
‘Working Man's Ph.D’
(Aaron Tippin, Philip Douglas, Bobby Boyd)"The idea for this song originated from Bobby Boyd. It's not that I put down education -- because I think everybody should be as educated as possible -- but somewhere down the line, we decided if you weren't a brain surgeon or an astronaut, you didn't have any reason to be proud of who you are and what you do. That's really all the song does. It says that no matter what you do for a living, take great pride in it."
‘I Promised You The World’
(Aaron Tippin, Bruce Burch, Vern Dane)"What's historic about this song for Aaron Tippin is that it's the first ballad I've ever written with a happy ending. This guy is just not going to throw in the towel. He's going to get everything he wants for this gal. He promised it, and he's not going to quit. I think that's what's really great about this song -- how it ends."
‘Honky Tonk Superman’
(Aaron Tippin, Buddy Brock)"There was a guy back in my hometwon. He didn't even drink, but he showed up at the honky-tonks every night. And, Buddy, he could have as much fun sober as anybody else could drunk. He kept us rolling and laughing. He would do anything. This was back in the days when I played this little honky-tonk where they'd ride motorcycles through the bar. One guy even rode a horse through there. It was an anything-goes type of place. The more I wrote on this song, the more I thought about that little place."
‘Trim Yourself To Fit The World’
(Aaron Tippin, Philip Douglas, Kim Williams)"This song is like something that I've included on all my previous albums. It's part of me and part of the listeners that I always love to have a little sliver of. It's also a Dad song. It's my father. It's just the moral side of Aaron Tippin. We've quit writing songs like 'Okie From Muskogee' and 'The Fightin' Side of Me' -- songs of just being proud. I guess that's why I try to bring it back. 'You've Got To Stand For Something' -- my first single -- was the real trademark of me. And I certainly hope that people will always expect that out of me.
‘Let's Talk About You’
(Aaron Tippin, Buddy Brock)"I guess I've got to dedicate this one to every songwriter I ever met in Nashville. In the midst of writing songs and hanging around each other, all my buddies and I get so heavy into songs that sometimes we have to back up a minute and rest. This is from one of those occasions where somebody was bragging about something, and we said, 'Yeah, sure, that's enough about me. Let's talk about you. What do you think about me?' It's just a funny little old saying."
‘Whole Lotta Love On The Line’
(Aaron Tippin, Donny Kees)"Donny Kees and I wrote this song. He really wanted me to do a demo on it. I tried and tried, but I couldn't make this song fit, because Donny's influences in it are R&B. I still loved this song and thought it was well-crafted, and I was very proud to have Charley Pride cut the song [in 1990]. I told Donny I'd love to cut 'Whole Lotta Love On The Line' if I could make it work for me. Then, we were in Modesto, California, and I came up with this little guitar lick that kind of reminded me of the Johnny Cash era. We got to fooling around with the lick and came up with a way of using it in the song that took it out of the R&B realm and put it into country."
‘My Kind Of Town’
(Aaron Tippin, Sanger D. Shafer)"This is the encore number. You cannot get past the first verse before the crowd is singing along with you. I wrote this with Whitey Shafer. He's an idol of mine. We've been working the past couple of years to come up with something that's really dynamite, and we nailed this one to the floor. Country fans love where they're from."
‘When Country Took The Throne’
(Aaron Tippin, Buddy Brock)"I've been in love with country music since I was a young teenager. And I saw it have to live in the ditch for so many years. Now I see today how popular it is, and I also see some of the greatest country songs I've ever heard being written and sung. I wanted to put a mark down on this album to say I was there the day country music took the throne and when all these fans got to see it come to maybe its greatest glory ever. It's just a stake in the dirt, that's all."
RCA/BMG
08/93