HISTORY OF "WHEN YOU WERE CUTE AND I HAD ALL MY HAIR"

An upbeat country/folk song, “When You Were Cute and I Had All My Hair” depicts a middle-aged man talking to his wife about the wonderful life they have had with their four beautiful children. Now that the children are gone and they are empty nesters, he is still deeply in love with her as if it were the first day they met.

How did “When You Were Cute and I Had All My Hair” come to fruition? In 2,000, Siobhan and I were playing at Fiddler’s Green, an Irish bar in Rochester, NY. Jim and Margie Hastings were there for dinner for the first time because they won a gift certificate to the restaurant. They stayed for the entire show, and we got to chatting with them for quite some time when the show was over. We connected and a friendship was born. At subsequent shows at Fiddler’s Green, Jim and Margie brought their four children, Pat, Kenny, Katie, and Dan, and it did not take long before we became part of the family.

As the years rolled on, Jim, Margie, and the kids continued to support our music at a wide variety of venues. One night, we were scheduled to play at Borders, a bookstore in Henrietta, NY. Jim, Margie, and their youngest son, Dan, came to see us, and when they got to the bookstore, we sadly informed them we had been double-booked. The five of us decided to hang out together at another restaurant, and since Dan was with us and only ten years old, we Chose Chuckie Cheese so that he would have something to do while the adults chatted.

As Jim, Margie, Siobhan, and I chatted listening to the sounds of children playing games at Chuckie Cheese, Jim reminded Margie of some special event that occurred for them back before they were married. Margie could not recall this event, and Jim made several attempts to stimulate her memory. After failing several times, Jim, in total frustration, humorously said, “It was back when you were cute, and I had all my hair.”

For some reason, Jim’s statement, “When you were cute, and I had all my hair,” became imprinted in my mind. I played around with it for several years, and finally Jim’s statement became the last line of a somewhat catchy chorus that depicts a man enjoying an evening by the fire with his wife after many years of a happy marriage.

After getting the chorus together, I had to develop a setting and story to support it. As with most of my songs, when they are ready to come out, they do, and this one was ready, and it flowed out within a day. The setting is merely a three verse ballad of Jim and margie’s life together with their four children. I knew it was a keeper instantly, and now all it needed was a melody and some chords.

To enhance the tone, mood, and theme of this Humorously charming upbeat ballad, it was essential to keep the chord progression simple and the tempo fast. So, that’s just what Siobhan and I did with her bass, my guitar, harmonica and vocal. After we put the song together, we went over to record the basic tracks with Rich Cooley, a neighborhood friend. Following this, we brought in two fine musicians, Perry Cleaveland and Bob Spadafora, to add some finishing touches. Perry with his mandolin and fiddle created some awesome sounds, and both Perry and Bob added some terrific backup harmonies to the chorus. We could not have asked for more. In the final mix, Siobhan and I decided to only use the harmonica in the introduction because we had too many other great sounds we wanted to include. Hope you enjoy the download, and I hope it becomes part of your permanent playlist!

If you want to get a feel for the song before you download it, we have a video of us playing the basic tracks on YouTube. Here is a link to our YouTube Channel:
Practicing “When You Were Cute and I Had All My Hair”

If you liked what you heard on our YouTube Channel, here’s a link to where you can download it and add it to your playlist:
CD Baby Download Page for “When You Were Cute and I Had All My Hair”

THE SIDE ROOM PRESENTS STEVE PIPER

Hey Folks,

This blog started out giving you posts of the songwriter’s notes, lyrics, and music for my original songs. As with many things, it has gone in new directions. So, if you just started reading my post and are interested in my original material, here is a link to mySongwriter Notes.

On Thursday, 8/17, Steve Piper will be our guest in the Side room at Buffalo Bill’s. If you have never seen Steve , you are in for some great original music. Take a look at the videos listed below, and see for yourself!
”See These Days Unwind”
”There’s No Easy Way Out”
”The Song the Blackbird Sings”
”It Never Gets Old”
”This House”

Want to know more about Steve Piper?
Steve Piper’s Web Site

The concert is free, but we do ask for donations to support our performers. Siobhan has created five CDs, one for each of our five seasons. Each CD contains songs of the performers who appeared during that season. The requested donation for each CD is $10, and the proceeds go to the performers who are playing on the night of the donation. The CDs have gotten good reviews, and we hope they get passed around to let others know about the great talent we have appearing at this venue.

The concerts take place on the first and third Thursdays of every month in the side room of Buffalo Bill’s Family Restaurant and Taproom, 19 Main Street, Shortsville, NY. The show runs from 7 to 9 PM. To learn more about Buffalo Bill’s, check out their site right here:
Buffalo Bill’s Family Restaurant and Taproom

Here is a link to videos of performers playing in the Side Room. The videos will give you a feel of how much fun we have at each show. Check them out!

Hope you can join us!
All the best,

Siobhan and Frank

Upcoming Shows:

Paulsen Baker and Chaapel, September 7
The Cadleys, September 21
Jack Jones, Kendall Paul Wilt, and Fran Cary, October 5
Tom Whitmore, October 19
Loren Barrigar, November 2
John Dady, November 16
Kerry Regan, December 7
Michael George, Perry Cleaveland, and Doug Henri, December 21
Gordon Munding and Genesee Johnny, January 4
John Carter, January 18
Fred Vine, Lynn Pigage, and Alex Vine, February 1
The Maria Gillard Trio (Maria Gillard, Elaine Verstraete, and Perry Cleaveland), February 15
Brian Ayers and Mike Nelson, March 1
Connie Deming, March 15
Warren Paul, April 5
Paul Swiatek and Perry Cleaveland, April 19
Scott Regan, May 3
Jeff Riales, Mike Wittek, and Dana Fine, May 17
The Healing Committee (Alan Whitney, Kathryn Koch, and Tim Pitcher), June 7
Ben and Rita Proctor (members of Crooked North), June 21
Joe Rickard (AKA Joemama), July 5
The Michael Yacci Trio (Mike Yacci, Bryan Maslin, and Paul Yacci), July 19
The Brothers Blue, August 16