THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, May 18, 1996 TAG: 9605170083
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY FRANK ROBERTS, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 51 lines
WILL CAPT. WILLIS Tippin return to Hampton Roads in time to hear his son sing Sunday?
``He's somewhere in the Atlantic,'' said his boy, Aaron. ``He's captain of a seismographic ship. I hope he gets back in time. I plan on seeing him.''
Fans plan on seeing the younger Tippin Sunday at the Chesapeake Jubilee.
With his tight T-shirts and Popeye-sized muscles, the strong-voiced, very strong singer is easy to recognize. His songs, often tributes to the blue-collar man, are familiar, too.
Tippin was a member of the tribe, having worked as a farmhand, welder, truck driver and heavy-equipment operator, and his songs - ``Working Man's Ph.D'' and ``You've Got to Stand for Something'' - show his respect for that background.
Sunday's show will include those standards, plus ``That's as Close as I'll Get to Loving You,'' the hit single from his current album, ``Tool Box.'' Tippin also will dig into the archives for a medley of favorites.
``It's pretty cool, pieces of the old greats. People really love that,'' he said. ``The new kids, when they play something different, it's rock 'n' roll. That's hard for me to figure because the crowd goes crazy when you do the old country stuff.
``The show is brand-new. I gotta do the hits, but I have some new rabbits to pull outta the hat. Folks expect something new and different, not the same old thing time after time.''
There are a lot of new developments in Tippin's life, too.
``I got married, started a new business - a hunting and firearms store - and built a new house,'' he said. ``I needed the new place. I'm an old hillbilly and getting back to the woods means a lot.''
Writing music was his first claim to fame in Nashville. Tippin, who was born in Florida, still takes pen in hand, but ``Tool Box'' features only three of his efforts.
The others are products of some of Music City's best-known writers. Tippin's schedule keeps him on the go, but he'll be back in the RCA studio soon.
``I just got my orders,'' he said. ``I'll cut another album in the fall.'' ILLUSTRATION: Color photo
PETER NASH
KEYWORDS: PROFILE BIOGRAPHY COUNTRY MUSIC by CNB