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Last week we looked at Memphis producer Chips Moman and his stable of songwriters: Wayne Carson, Mark James, Mac Davis and Eddie Rabbitt. Moman had taken the gifted Alex Chilton and turned him into a star, and had brought Elvis Presley’s career back from the dead. By 1972, Moman’s work was done. He had laid the groundwork for Hot Country, and it would be the job of Mac Davis and Eddie Rabbitt to take it to the next level.

Mac Davis had grown up in Lubbock, TX. He was small, but a brawler, losing most of his fights. Even after joining Golden Gloves, he ended up on the mat more often than standing upright.

He moved to Atlanta, working as a regional manager for two labels and writing songs on the side. This was where he got the audition singing “In the Ghetto” (under its original title, “The Vicious Circle”) for Sammy Davis, Jr. As a musician, he worked with Nancy Sinatra for a few years in the twilight of her career.

In 1970 Mac left Sinatra for Columbia Records where he joined the label’s roster of country stars. He had several song writing hits behind him for other artists, and it was time for Mac to make his own mark as a vocalist. In 1972, he hit it out of the park.

Mac Davis began by effortlessly striding the divide between country and pop. Music was changing in the Seventies. Country had always had its songs about honky-tonk angels and the seedier side of rural life. Now that the sexual revolution had invaded the areas outside of cities and college towns, Mac reflected that with a song telling his woman not to get too attached because he wasn’t ready to settle down. The lyrics don’t mince words.

Mac Davis: “Baby Don’t Get Hooked on Me”