When Mac Davis' producer, Rick Hall, asked him to write a "hook" song, Davis took it literally, coming up with the line "baby, don't get hooked on me" and a melody to go with it. Hall loved it, so Davis finished writing the song that night and recorded it with Hall the next day. The song hooked plenty of fish (listeners), going to #1 on both the Hot 100 and Adult Contemporary charts.
In this song, a love interest is getting a little too comfortable with Davis, so he gives her a warning, telling her not to get hooked on him because he's bad news: he'll just use her and set her free. Unlike songs like "Brandy (You're a Fine Girl)" where the singer can't commit but shows some compassion for the girl, in this one Davis doesn't seem to care a whit about her feelings: Girl don't let your life get tangled up with mine 'Cause I'll just leave you, I can't take no clinging vine Davis didn't like what he wrote, but once he recorded the song, it was too late: Columbia Records heard its hit potential and put it out as a single. "I thought it was super egotistical and pretentious," David told Billboard.
This was recorded at Fame Studios, which was run by Rick Hall in Muscle Shoals, Alabama. In the '60s, soul classics from the likes of Wilson Pickett and Etta James were recorded there; in 1969 four top musicians at Fame left to start Muscle Shoals Sound Studios nearby, establishing two top-tier facilities in this remote locale. When Davis recorded this song in 1972, both studios were going strong.
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