Background
Around 1973, I met a very nice family through common friends. The oldest daughter had been a country singer for the last three years (she started when she was just 13), singing with Carolina Charlie and his band around the Norfolk area. She was extremely talented and very nice (but never my girlfriend - I have to note that for my wife's sake). Anyway, I had been trying out my new material for her and a couple of our friends, and they were very helpful critics. A year or so before that, when I was desperate for money, I had played in a country band for two weeks (the longest two weeks of my life to that point) but got fired by the leader for leading a Rock-'n-Roll revolution with the other band members. So, I decided that I would pay this talented girl back for her help by writing a country song for her to sing (I used to have a big ego). I wrote a happy country song (which was unusual for those years, what with country music lyrics centering around pick-up trucks, dogs, and your wife leaving you for your best friend). I also wanted to write something my Dad would enjoy - he's from Tennessee, but had given up listening to country music because the songs were all so depressing. Anyway, I played the new song for her, and that was it - nothing else was ever said about it (I guess she didn't like it?). When it came time to record the song for my album in 1979, I was searching for a new female country singer to sing the lead in the song. Alan said he had the perfect person - a girl named 'Scooter' Reid who sang with a country group at a club just down the road. One night when they were going to be playing, Alan and I went to the club. As we walked in the door, a girl I went to high school with turned around and yelled, "Mark!" I replied, "Debbie!" Alan confusedly muttered, "Scooter." It turns out that my high school friend Debbie Reid was Alan's country singer "Scooter" Reid, and she ending up singing my song like it was written just for her. (She was never my girlfriend either - I have to note that for my wife's sake.)
Instrumentation
Alan's drum track along with my piano and bass guitar tracks provide the country music foundation for this song. Add in my lead guitar lick to start the song and Donny Satterwaite's tremendous pedal steel guitar work, and the whole flavor is there. Debbie (er, I mean "Scooter") sings a great lead, and it is me, and me alone, singing the deep bass vocal part, reminiscent of the Oak Ridge Boys.
Behind the Scenes
Debbie and I doubled each other on all of the harmonies (except for my bass vocal line) to create a richer, fuller vocal wall effect, and our entire vocal session took only about three hours.