Call of the Wild is the third album released by American country music

Country music

Country music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...

 singer Aaron Tippin

Aaron Tippin

Aaron Dupree Tippin is an American country music artist and record producer. Initially a songwriter for Acuff-Rose Music, he gained a recording contract with RCA Records in 1990...

. Released in 1993 on RCA Records

RCA Records

RCA Records is one of the flagship labels of Sony Music Entertainment. The RCA initials stand for Radio Corporation of America , which was the parent corporation from 1929 to 1985 and a partner from 1985 to 1986.RCA's Canadian unit is Sony's oldest label...

 Nashville, it produced the singles "The Call of the Wild", "Honky-Tonk Superman", "Workin' Man's Ph.D.", and "Whole Lotta Love on the Line". Of these, only "Workin' Man's Ph.D" reached Top 10 on the U.S. Billboard

Billboard (magazine)

Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...

country charts. The album was produced by Scott Hendricks

Scott Hendricks

Scott Hendricks is an American record producer who has worked with several country music artists. He has had over 80 top 10s, and 45 number 1 hits. Between 1995 and 1997, he was also the president and chief executive officer of Capitol Records Nashville...

, unlike Tippin's first two albums which were produced by Emory Gordy, Jr.

Emory Gordy, Jr.

Emory Gordy, Jr., born December 25, 1944, in Atlanta, Georgia, is an American musician and music producer. Since 1989, he has been married to country music artist Patty Loveless. Gordy was inducted into the Georgia Music Hall of Fame in 1992...

Critical reception

Brian Mansfield

Brian Mansfield

Brian Mansfield is an American writer and journalist. A longtime music writer and critic for USA Today, Mansfield is also the writer/producer of syndicated weekly radio program America's Opry Weekend for American radio network Dial Global Radio Networks and author and co-author of a number of books...

 of Allmusic gave the album three stars out of five, saying that "some of Tippin's song choices were hillbilly

Hillbilly

Hillbilly is a term referring to certain people who dwell in rural, mountainous areas of the United States, primarily Appalachia but also the Ozarks. Owing to its strongly stereotypical connotations, the term is frequently considered derogatory, and so is usually offensive to those Americans of...

 silly." Mike Greenblatt of Modern Screen's Country Music gave a mostly-favorable review, saying that the album showed a sense of artistic growth over his first two discs, making note of Tippin's "one-of-a-kind, elastic voice" but referring to "Whole Lotta Love on the Line" as being "in that netherworld of benign country fluff."

Track listing

1. "The Call of the Wild" (Aaron Tippin, Buddy Brock, Michael P. Heeney) - 4:32
2. "Honky-Tonk Superman" (Tippin, Brock) - 2:54
3. "Nothin' in the World (Gonna Keep Me from You)" (Tippin, Terry M. Brown) - 2:34
4. "Workin' Man's Ph.D
   Workin' Man's Ph.D
   "Workin' Man's Ph.D" is the title of a song co-written recorded by American country music artist Aaron Tippin. It was released in June 1993 as the lead-off single from his album Call of the Wild. It peaked at #7 in the United States, and #6 in Canada. It was written by Tippin, Philip Douglas, and...
   
   " (Tippin, Philip Douglas, Bobby Boyd) - 3:31
5. "I Promised You the World" (Tippin, Bruce Burch, Vern Dant) - 4:54
6. "When Country Took the Throne" (Tippin, Brock) - 2:26
7. "Let's Talk About You" (Tippin, Brock) - 2:46
8. "Whole Lotta Love on the Line" (Tippin, Donny Kees) - 3:44
9. "My Kind of Town" (Tippin, Sanger D. Shafer
   Sanger D. Shafer
   Sanger D. "Whitey" Shafer is an American country songwriter and musician. He wrote numerous hits for stars such as George Jones, Lefty Frizzell, and George Strait.-Life:...
   
   ) - 3:02
10. "Trim Yourself to Fit the World" (Tippin, Douglas, Kim Williams) - 2:35

Personnel

• Stuart Duncan
  Stuart Duncan
  Stuart Duncan is a bluegrass musician who plays the fiddle, mandolin, guitar and banjo. Born in Quantico, Virginia and raised in Santa Paula, California, where he played in the school band, he has been a member of the Nashville Bluegrass Band since 1985, and is a much-in-demand session musician...
  
   – fiddle
  Fiddle
  The term fiddle may refer to any bowed string musical instrument, most often the violin. It is also a colloquial term for the instrument used by players in all genres, including classical music...
  
  , mandolin
  Mandolin
  A mandolin is a musical instrument in the lute family . It descends from the mandore, a soprano member of the lute family. The mandolin soundboard comes in many shapes—but generally round or teardrop-shaped, sometimes with scrolls or other projections. A mandolin may have f-holes, or a single...
  
  
• Paul Franklin
  Paul Franklin (musician)
  Paul Franklin is an American multi-instrumentalist, known mainly for his work as a steel guitarist. He began his career in the 1970s as a member of Barbara Mandrell's road band; in addition he toured with Mel Tillis and Jerry Reed. He has since become a prolific session musician in Nashville,...
  
   – steel guitar
  Steel guitar
  Steel guitar is a type of guitar or the method of playing the instrument. Developed in Hawaii in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, a steel guitar is usually positioned horizontally; strings are plucked with one hand, while the other hand changes the pitch of one or more strings with the use...
  
  
• Brent Mason
  Brent Mason
  Brent Mason is an American session guitarist and occasional songwriter. He is known primarily for his work in the field of country music. In addition to releasing two instrumental studio albums, he holds several credits as a songwriter...
  
   – electric guitar
  Electric guitar
  An electric guitar is a guitar that uses the principle of direct electromagnetic induction to convert vibrations of its metal strings into electric audio signals. The signal generated by an electric guitar is too weak to drive a loudspeaker, so it is amplified before sending it to a loudspeaker...
  
  
• Alan O'Bryant – background vocals on "The Call of the Wild"
• Matt Rollings
  Matt Rollings
  Matt Rollings is an American composer, musician and record producer. He plays piano, organ, and keyboards.Known mainly for playing in Lyle Lovett's Large Band, he has worked with many artists, not all country...
  
   – piano
  Piano
  The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
  
  
• John Wesley Ryles
  John Wesley Ryles
  John Wesley Ryles is an American country music artist. He made his debut in 1968 with the single "Kay", a Top Ten hit on the Billboard Hot Country Singles charts, and the title track to his debut album for Columbia Records.Ryles later recorded one album, Reconsider Me, for the Plantation label,...
  
   – background vocals on all tracks except "Whole Lotta Love on the Line," "Call of the Wild," "When Country Took the Throne"
• Cindy Richardson Walker – background vocals on "I Promised You the World"
• Billy Joe Walker, Jr. – acoustic guitar
  Acoustic guitar
  An acoustic guitar is a guitar that uses only an acoustic sound board. The air in this cavity resonates with the vibrational modes of the string and at low frequencies, which depend on the size of the box, the chamber acts like a Helmholtz resonator, increasing or decreasing the volume of the sound...
  
  
• Dennis Wilson – background vocals on "I Promised You the World"
• Lonnie Wilson – drums
• Glenn Worf
  Glenn Worf
  Glenn Worf is one of the premier Nashville session bassists. He was born in Dayton, Ohio but grew up in Madison, Wisconsin and has concentrated on the bass guitar since he was thirteen. He majored in music at the University of Wisconsin - Eau Claire. Inevitably his talents forced him to abandon the...
  
   – bass guitar
  Bass guitar
  The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
  
  

Chart performance

Chart (1993)	Peak position
U.S. Billboard Top Country Albums	6
U.S. Billboard 200	53
Canadian RPM Country Albums	12