Entertainment : Bellamy Brothers concert to include favorites from four decades

The Bellamy Brothers have traveled to 65 countries; they will sing Saturday in Vinton.

“Let your love flow.”

“If I said you had a beautiful body, would you hold it against me?”

“Kids of the Baby Boom.”

“Old Hippie.”

“Lovers live longer.”

For the Bellamy Brothers, the dozens of hit songs, including those mentioned above, and four decades of traveling throughout the world, all began with a song you may have never even heard: “Spiders and Snakes.”

David Bellamy wrote that song – about a boy who tried to scare a girl he had a crush on by holding a frog in front of her – in 1973. Jim Stafford recorded the song, and it sold 3 million copies.

Royalties from “Spiders and Snakes” allowed the David and Howard Bellamy to move to Los Angeles to pursue their own musical career.

Before that, said Howard, the brothers from Florida had only performed in “broke bands,” a term which refers to years of singing for little or no money.

The Bellamys continue to live on the ranch where their parents raised them, and continue to sing and travel all over the world. Their concert Saturday in Vinton is one of about 90 scheduled for 2015.

While “Spiders and Snakes” helped get their careers started, it was “Let Your Love Flow” that made the brothers famous throughout the world.

That song, their first hit single, has been listed among the Top 100 Songs of the Century and one of the 15 songs played most often on the radio.

“That enabled us to travel abroad so many years,” said Howard. “We have performed concerts in 65 countries; that song is what opened doors for us. It was a bigger song than any of us thought it would be.”

The concert will include many of the songs that Bellamy Brothers fans remember most.

“Our songs have had long lives,” says Howard, who spoke to us from his home in Florida last month.

Throughout their careers, the Bellamys have performed with many other well-known singers.

“We have worked with so many people who passed recently – Ray Price, Johnny Cash, Chet Atkins, Kitty Wells. We loved Roger Miller and his wacky kind of writing,” says Howard.

“America has been so fortunate to have so many artists in all genres,” he adds. “This country is built on music. As we travel the world, people from all countries respect American music and are drawn to it. Music conjures up old memories. It’s been wonderful, touring for 40 years.”

The two biggest influences on Howard and David, however, were Homer and Frances, their parents.

Every time the brothers wrote a new song, they played it for their parents first.

“We have never found anyone to fill that void,” says Howard. “I always trusted their opinion way over the record execs.”

Homer taught his sons to love a variety of music. One of his favorites was Jimmy Rogers, the “Blue Yodeler.” David’s sons, Noah and Jesse, are now performing and making records. One of their songs is a tribute to their grandpa; it’s called “The Homer Bellamy Centennial Blue Yodel.”

Another new aspect of the Bellamy Brothers is the Gospel music they have written and recorded. The duo has two Gospel albums.

Self-described “heterosexual Methodists,” the brothers have shared a variety of views of society in some of their recent songs. “Drug Problem” refers not to substances but to how their parents “drug” them to church, funerals and other places to help make them better citizens.

“Mom took us to church every Sunday,” says Howard. “We grew up singing in church.”

The Gospel songs, he said, still have the best harmony and melody of any music.

“Those albums were fun to do,” he said.

While saying that America is still the best place in the world to live, Howard says many here have “lost our moral core.”

“The world is confused and uncertain,” he says. “Who knows if we can work our way out of it. It’s a concern to all Americans.”

The concert will end as all Bellamy Brothers concerts have for the past few years, with a song they wrote called “Pray for me.”

“Even if we sing in a bar, we will end with that song,” says Howard. “It gives them something to think about.”

‘All we know’

When not traveling, the Bellamy Brothers continue to live, work and write music on the ranch where they were raised.

“It’s all we know,” says Howard. “We never considered it work, so we really can’t retire.”

While a few dozen songs have become well-known throughout the world, most of the songs the brothers have written have never been heard.

“When we’re gone, someone will have much to go through,” he said.S