Bellamy Brothers
Encyclopedia
The Bellamy Brothers are an American
pop
and country music
duo brothers David Milton Bellamy (born September 16, 1950) and Homer Howard Bellamy (born February 2, 1946), from Darby, Florida
, United States
. The duo had considerable musical success in the 1970s and 1980s, starting with the release of their crossover hit "Let Your Love Flow
" in 1976, a Number One single on the Billboard Hot 100
.
Starting in the late 1970s, the Bellamy Brothers found success in country music as well, charting twenty Number One singles and more than fifty hits overall on the country charts. To date, they have released more than fifty albums, primarily on Curb Records
.
around the house, and was also a member of a local Western swing
band; in addition, they were inspired by the rock and roll
music their sister played, Despite having never had formal music training, both brothers learned how to play guitar
, mandolin
, and banjo
. In addition, David learned accordion
, fiddle
, organ
, and piano
.
Their first musical gig was in 1968 at a benefit concert with their father in San Antonio, Florida
at the Rattlesnake Roundup. Soon after, the brothers moved to Atlanta, Georgia
and formed a band called Jericho. However, playing in bands and clubs proved tiresome for the brothers, who soon moved back home.
The brothers were soon noticed by a friend of recording artist Jim Stafford
, who eventually recorded "Spiders and Snakes", a tune written by David. "Spiders and Snakes" went on to become a Top 5 hit, providing the Bellamys with the money to move to Los Angeles, California
. Howard became a road manager
for Stafford; Stafford's previous road manager, Leo Gallagher
, later gained fame as a comedian
.
in 1975. A single featuring only David, "Nothin' Heavy", was unsuccessful. However, at the suggestion of Neil Diamond
's drummer Dennis St. John, the brothers recorded and released the single "Let Your Love Flow
", written by Diamond's roadie Larry Williams. Released in 1976, "Let Your Love Flow" was a No. 1 single on the United States
pop charts, as well as more than a dozen countries worldwide.
Although "Let Your Love Flow
" was also a hit on the Hot Country Singles & Tracks chart, the Bellamys' country music success was limited until 1979, when "If I Said You Had a Beautiful Body Would You Hold It Against Me
" was released. The song, whose double entendre
title was derived from a Groucho Marx
quote, landed the Bellamys their first country music No. 1 in the United States. It was first played on radio in the United Kingdom in Northern Ireland
before becoming "Song of the Year" for all of the U.K. in 1979.
"; serious ballads like "Santa Fe" and the insightful social commentary pieces, "Old Hippie
" and "Kids of the Baby Boom
." Billboard named the Bellamy Brothers as Top Country Duo and they eventually went on to set the record for most duo nominations from both Academy of Country Music
and Country Music Association
.
In 1991, the Bellamys switched to Atlantic Records
. Their tenure there produced one album before the duo formed its own label, a first in country music. Although they were still recording albums, their singles struggled to achieve the success of their previous hits, and by 1999 they had switched to Blue Hat Records for their Lonely Planet album.
, George Jones
, Alan Jackson
, Tanya Tucker
, and Montgomery Gentry
. A re-recorded version of "If I Said You Had a Beautiful Body", featuring Dolly Parton, spent one week at #60 on the Billboard Hot Country Songs
chart in 2005.
The Bellamy's most recent studio project was an album of gospel music
, titled Jesus Is Coming, released on May 8, 2007. Its title track was previously recorded on Native American in 1995.
In 2008, the song "Let Your Love Flow" was used in the Barclaycard
advert for their new contactless cards. The song re-entered the UK singles chart at #48 based on downloads and peaked at #21 in the pop charts in March 2009 and was listed on BMI’s list of Top 100 Song of the Century at #68 that same year.
A cover by Petra Haden was used in a 2010 Toyota Prius commercial.
The Anthology, Vol. 1. was released in 2009 and includes the single "Guilty of the Crime," which is a collaboration with the Bacon Brothers. The video features Shannen Doherty
of Beverly Hills, 90210
fame.
Both sets of brothers performed the song together on the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville, Tenn. on Sept. 1, 2009.
In June 2010, their song "Jalepeños", about the problems of political correctness, was banned before it could even be released to radio because of its profanity.
. Their single "Daddy's Got A Shotgun" made it on the Texas Music Chart's Top 50 of 2006.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
pop
Pop music
Pop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...
and country music
Country music
Country music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...
duo brothers David Milton Bellamy (born September 16, 1950) and Homer Howard Bellamy (born February 2, 1946), from Darby, Florida
Pasco County, Florida
Pasco County is a county located in the U.S. state of Florida. As of 2000, the population was 344,765. The July 1, 2007 census estimate according to the U.S. Census Bureau for the county is 462,715. Its county seat is Dade City, Florida which is in the northeast part of the county - somewhat...
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. The duo had considerable musical success in the 1970s and 1980s, starting with the release of their crossover hit "Let Your Love Flow
Let Your Love Flow
"Let Your Love Flow" is the title of a pop song written by Larry E. Williams, a former roadie for Neil Diamond, and made popular by the American country music duo The Bellamy Brothers. It was offered to Neil Diamond first, but he turned it down...
" in 1976, a Number One single on the Billboard Hot 100
Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
.
Starting in the late 1970s, the Bellamy Brothers found success in country music as well, charting twenty Number One singles and more than fifty hits overall on the country charts. To date, they have released more than fifty albums, primarily on Curb Records
Curb Records
Curb Records is a record label started by Mike Curb originally as Sidewalk Records in 1963...
.
History
David and Howard Bellamy were inspired by many musical sources from an early age. Their father played country musicCountry music
Country music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...
around the house, and was also a member of a local Western swing
Western swing
Western swing music is a subgenre of American country music that originated in the late 1920s in the West and South among the region's Western string bands...
band; in addition, they were inspired by the rock and roll
Rock and roll
Rock and roll is a genre of popular music that originated and evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s, primarily from a combination of African American blues, country, jazz, and gospel music...
music their sister played, Despite having never had formal music training, both brothers learned how to play guitar
Guitar
The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
, mandolin
Mandolin
A mandolin is a musical instrument in the lute family . It descends from the mandore, a soprano member of the lute family. The mandolin soundboard comes in many shapes—but generally round or teardrop-shaped, sometimes with scrolls or other projections. A mandolin may have f-holes, or a single...
, and banjo
Banjo
In the 1830s Sweeney became the first white man to play the banjo on stage. His version of the instrument replaced the gourd with a drum-like sound box and included four full-length strings alongside a short fifth-string. There is no proof, however, that Sweeney invented either innovation. This new...
. In addition, David learned accordion
Accordion
The accordion is a box-shaped musical instrument of the bellows-driven free-reed aerophone family, sometimes referred to as a squeezebox. A person who plays the accordion is called an accordionist....
, fiddle
Fiddle
The term fiddle may refer to any bowed string musical instrument, most often the violin. It is also a colloquial term for the instrument used by players in all genres, including classical music...
, organ
Organ (music)
The organ , is a keyboard instrument of one or more divisions, each played with its own keyboard operated either with the hands or with the feet. The organ is a relatively old musical instrument in the Western musical tradition, dating from the time of Ctesibius of Alexandria who is credited with...
, and piano
Piano
The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
.
Their first musical gig was in 1968 at a benefit concert with their father in San Antonio, Florida
San Antonio, Florida
San Antonio is a city in Pasco County, Florida, United States. It is a suburban city included in the Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, Florida Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 655 at the 2000 census, although local officials claim the true population in 2000 was 842. As of 2004,...
at the Rattlesnake Roundup. Soon after, the brothers moved to Atlanta, Georgia
Atlanta, Georgia
Atlanta is the capital and most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia. According to the 2010 census, Atlanta's population is 420,003. Atlanta is the cultural and economic center of the Atlanta metropolitan area, which is home to 5,268,860 people and is the ninth largest metropolitan area in...
and formed a band called Jericho. However, playing in bands and clubs proved tiresome for the brothers, who soon moved back home.
The brothers were soon noticed by a friend of recording artist Jim Stafford
Jim Stafford
James Wayne "Jim" Stafford is an American comedian, musician, and singer-songwriter, prominent in the 1970s. Stafford is self-taught on guitar, fiddle, piano, banjo, organ and harmonica....
, who eventually recorded "Spiders and Snakes", a tune written by David. "Spiders and Snakes" went on to become a Top 5 hit, providing the Bellamys with the money to move to Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
. Howard became a road manager
Road manager
In music industry, a Road Manager is a person who works with small to mid-sized tours...
for Stafford; Stafford's previous road manager, Leo Gallagher
Leo Gallagher
Gallagher is an American comedian, clown, and prop comic, most popularly known for smashing watermelons as part of his act.-Early life:...
, later gained fame as a comedian
Comedian
A comedian or comic is a person who seeks to entertain an audience, primarily by making them laugh. This might be through jokes or amusing situations, or acting a fool, as in slapstick, or employing prop comedy...
.
1970s
The duo signed to Curb RecordsCurb Records
Curb Records is a record label started by Mike Curb originally as Sidewalk Records in 1963...
in 1975. A single featuring only David, "Nothin' Heavy", was unsuccessful. However, at the suggestion of Neil Diamond
Neil Diamond
Neil Leslie Diamond is an American singer-songwriter with a career spanning over five decades from the 1960s until the present....
's drummer Dennis St. John, the brothers recorded and released the single "Let Your Love Flow
Let Your Love Flow
"Let Your Love Flow" is the title of a pop song written by Larry E. Williams, a former roadie for Neil Diamond, and made popular by the American country music duo The Bellamy Brothers. It was offered to Neil Diamond first, but he turned it down...
", written by Diamond's roadie Larry Williams. Released in 1976, "Let Your Love Flow" was a No. 1 single on the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
pop charts, as well as more than a dozen countries worldwide.
Although "Let Your Love Flow
Let Your Love Flow
"Let Your Love Flow" is the title of a pop song written by Larry E. Williams, a former roadie for Neil Diamond, and made popular by the American country music duo The Bellamy Brothers. It was offered to Neil Diamond first, but he turned it down...
" was also a hit on the Hot Country Singles & Tracks chart, the Bellamys' country music success was limited until 1979, when "If I Said You Had a Beautiful Body Would You Hold It Against Me
If I Said You Had a Beautiful Body Would You Hold It Against Me
"If I Said You Had a Beautiful Body Would You Hold It Against Me" is a song made famous by the country music duo The Bellamy Brothers. Written by David Bellamy, the song was released in 1979 and became their first No. 1 hit on the Billboard magazine Hot Country Singles chart that spring.Overall,...
" was released. The song, whose double entendre
Double entendre
A double entendre or adianoeta is a figure of speech in which a spoken phrase is devised to be understood in either of two ways. Often the first meaning is straightforward, while the second meaning is less so: often risqué or ironic....
title was derived from a Groucho Marx
Groucho Marx
Julius Henry "Groucho" Marx was an American comedian and film star famed as a master of wit. His rapid-fire delivery of innuendo-laden patter earned him many admirers. He made 13 feature films with his siblings the Marx Brothers, of whom he was the third-born...
quote, landed the Bellamys their first country music No. 1 in the United States. It was first played on radio in the United Kingdom in Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom. Situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, it shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...
before becoming "Song of the Year" for all of the U.K. in 1979.
1980s and 1990s
After the success of "If I Said You Had A Beautiful Body," the brothers continued with a run of country hits, including tunes such as the fun-loving "Redneck GirlRedneck Girl
"Redneck Girl" is a 1982 single by The Bellamy Brothers. "Redneck Girl" was written by David Bellamy and was the sixth number one country hit for The Bellamy Brothers. The single went to number one for one week and spent a total of twelve weeks on the country chart. Blake Shelton covered the...
"; serious ballads like "Santa Fe" and the insightful social commentary pieces, "Old Hippie
Old Hippie
"Old Hippie" is a single by American country music duo The Bellamy Brothers. Released in April 1985, it was the first single from their album Howard & David.The song reached No. 2 on the Billboard Hot Country Singles chart in July 1985 and No...
" and "Kids of the Baby Boom
Kids of the Baby Boom
"Kids of the Baby Boom" is a 1987 single by The Bellamy Brothers. "Kids of the Baby Boom" was written by David Bellamy and became The Bellamy Brothers' tenth and final number one on the country chart. The single went to number one for one week and spent a total of fourteen weeks on the country...
." Billboard named the Bellamy Brothers as Top Country Duo and they eventually went on to set the record for most duo nominations from both Academy of Country Music
Academy of Country Music
The Academy of Country Music was founded in 1964 in Los Angeles, California as the Country & Western Music Academy. Whereas the Country Music Association, founded in 1958, was based in Nashville, the Academy sought to promote country music in the western states. Among those involved in the...
and Country Music Association
Country Music Association
The Country Music Association was founded in 1958 in Nashville, Tennessee. It originally consisted of only 233 members and was the first trade organization formed to promote a music genre...
.
In 1991, the Bellamys switched to Atlantic Records
Atlantic Records
Atlantic Records is an American record label best known for its many recordings of rhythm and blues, rock and roll, and jazz...
. Their tenure there produced one album before the duo formed its own label, a first in country music. Although they were still recording albums, their singles struggled to achieve the success of their previous hits, and by 1999 they had switched to Blue Hat Records for their Lonely Planet album.
2000s
In 2005, the Bellamys returned to Curb Records to record Angels & Outlaws, Volume 1, a compilation album featuring re-recordings of the duo's older hits with additional artists, including Dolly PartonDolly Parton
Dolly Rebecca Parton is an American singer-songwriter, author, multi-instrumentalist, actress and philanthropist, best known for her work in country music. Dolly Parton has appeared in movies like 9 to 5, The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, Steel Magnolias and Straight Talk...
, George Jones
George Jones
George Glenn Jones is an American country music singer known for his long list of hit records, his distinctive voice and phrasing, and his marriage to Tammy Wynette....
, Alan Jackson
Alan Jackson
Alan Eugene Jackson is an American country music singer, known for blending traditional honky tonk and mainstream country sounds and penning many of his own hits. He has recorded 13 studio albums, 3 Greatest Hits albums, 2 Holiday albums, 1 Gospel album and several compilations, all on the Arista...
, Tanya Tucker
Tanya Tucker
Tanya Denise Tucker is a female American country music artist who had her first hit, "Delta Dawn", in 1972 at the age of 13...
, and Montgomery Gentry
Montgomery Gentry
Montgomery Gentry is an American country music duo composed of vocalists Eddie Montgomery and Troy Gentry. The two began performing in the 1990s as part of a band which also included Eddie Montgomery's brother John Michael Montgomery, and founded the existing duo in 1999.Signed to Columbia Records,...
. A re-recorded version of "If I Said You Had a Beautiful Body", featuring Dolly Parton, spent one week at #60 on the Billboard Hot Country Songs
Hot Country Songs
Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by Billboard magazine in the United States.This 60-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly mostly by airplay and occasionally commercial sales...
chart in 2005.
The Bellamy's most recent studio project was an album of gospel music
Gospel music
Gospel music is music that is written to express either personal, spiritual or a communal belief regarding Christian life, as well as to give a Christian alternative to mainstream secular music....
, titled Jesus Is Coming, released on May 8, 2007. Its title track was previously recorded on Native American in 1995.
In 2008, the song "Let Your Love Flow" was used in the Barclaycard
Barclaycard
Barclaycard, part of Barclays Retail and Business Banking, is a global payment business. The Barclaycard was the first credit card introduced in the UK, coming into service in 1966. It enjoyed a monopoly until the introduction of the Access card in 1972....
advert for their new contactless cards. The song re-entered the UK singles chart at #48 based on downloads and peaked at #21 in the pop charts in March 2009 and was listed on BMI’s list of Top 100 Song of the Century at #68 that same year.
A cover by Petra Haden was used in a 2010 Toyota Prius commercial.
The Anthology, Vol. 1. was released in 2009 and includes the single "Guilty of the Crime," which is a collaboration with the Bacon Brothers. The video features Shannen Doherty
Shannen Doherty
Shannen Maria Doherty is an American actress, producer, author and television director, known for her work as Heather Duke in Heathers , as Brenda Walsh in Beverly Hills, 90210 and its spinoff series 90210, and as Prue Halliwell in Charmed .-Early life and career:Doherty was born in Memphis,...
of Beverly Hills, 90210
Beverly Hills, 90210
Beverly Hills, 90210 is an American drama series that originally aired from October 4, 1990 to May 17, 2000 on Fox and was produced by Spelling Television in the United States, and subsequently on various networks around the world. It is the first series in the Beverly Hills, 90210 franchise...
fame.
Both sets of brothers performed the song together on the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville, Tenn. on Sept. 1, 2009.
In June 2010, their song "Jalepeños", about the problems of political correctness, was banned before it could even be released to radio because of its profanity.
Jesse and Noah
In the late 1990s, David's sons, Noah and Jesse, became active in the music scene. In 1998, they formed a group called Burning Sky. The group released a video that year for their single "It Weeps In My Heart" which was featured on CMT. They currently perform as the duo Jesse and Noah, which has found success in the state of TexasTexas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
. Their single "Daddy's Got A Shotgun" made it on the Texas Music Chart's Top 50 of 2006.
Discography
External links
- Bellamybrothers.com - official website