Flipping through the pages of the Bellamy Brothers’ 25th anniversary booklet is not only a historical journey through their career, but a realization that these Florida singer/songwriters have had an impact far beyond the boundaries of the good ole USA.
Flipping through the pages of the Bellamy Brothers’ 25th anniversary booklet is not only a historical journey through their career, but a realization that these Florida singer/songwriters have had an impact far beyond the boundaries of the good ole USA.
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Howard and David have had records released in and/or toured in Germany, Japan, Norway England, Saudi Arabia, Italy, Australia and New Zealand, all of which brings to mind that these brothers truly have made their music a universal language that has traveled with them around the world.
While they are known primarily as country acts in the U.S., over-seas fans see them as pop acts with songs that may not have ever been released here. They had gold records in Norway, the United Kingdom and Germany going back as far as 1977, as well as in the U.S.
Howard and David have been prolific writers from “Let Your Love Flow” forward.
Songs range from the multi-meaning “If I Said You Had A Beautiful Body (Would You Hold It Against Me)” and the fun-loving “Get Into Reggae Cowboy” and “Redneck Girl.” They get serious with “You Ain’t Just Whistlin’ Dixie” and “Santa Fe,” and take a look at a slice of American life with “Old Hippy” and “Kids of the Baby Boom.” There are love songs with a twist, like “I Love Her Mind” and “Lovers Live Longer,” and love songs that just express the feeling like “I Need More Of You” and “Feelin’ The Feeling.”
One of the things about the words that come from the pen of these two guys is that you’re never sure where they’re going, so the song is not gonna be predictable, but when they take you there, you’re more than likely gonna love it.
The Bellamys have released 15 songs outside the U.S. that were never released here. Howard says there is a difference in writing for fans outside the U.S. even though they have had the same singles and albums released worldwide. “Let Your Love Flow” was actually a hit in Holland before it was ever released in the U.S.
“To be very honest, the industry there (overseas) is not quite as fickle as it is here,” Howard said. “You know for the European releases you have to have strong melody. The lyric is very important but I think the melody is more important. Because internationally melodies are something the fans can lock on to, they can take you for a ride even when you don’t understand the lyrics. The lyric is crucial but when you are releasing a song or album in a country where a different language is spoken, you really have to think about melody strongly.
“Another song that was a hit in Europe before it was here was ‘More Of You.’ It was a monster song in Europe. It was not going to be released here, but when the record label saw it was such a hit they did release it.
“And we had a song called ‘Cross Fire,’ a huge hit in Europe, but it was never released here. It had a beautiful melody. And there was ‘Neon Cowboy’ in Europe. There have just been so many.”
Howard when on to say that they don’t sit down to write specifically for any one market. “You know, I honestly don’t think we know what we’re going to write. If you go to configuring yourself you’ll let an idea run by you and you’ll let it go.”
After writing for 25-plus years, it would seem that a writer is going to be at the point where the writing is just about as good as it gets. Howard disagrees.
“I think you do hone your craft and get better at it. One of the keys to writing is having a great idea to start with. You’ve got to have that great idea; that’s why you’ve got to really keep the antennae open, like a sponge, absorbing things. We’re generally that way. We always try to be aware of what’s being said or going on around us. Ideas are out there everywhere and still a great song starts with a great idea. If you know how to write a song you can take that great idea and put it together.”
Howard admits, however, that after 25 years things don’t necessarily get easier.
“Coming up with new and different ideas gets harder because there is so much going on musically now, almost every melody and every idea has been used. But occasionally something seems to always crop up that has not been used. Sometimes I’ll think I have an idea then I’ll realize it has been used and it bums me out. We as a society have heard and done everything at this point; we are bombarded from every direction. It’s hard not to rehash things, but the key is trying to stay fresh and do something that has not been done.”
Many of the Bellamy’s songs are still very fresh ideas and melodies with a very distinctive sound. Sometimes older songs come around again and are recorded by a second generation, but so many of their tunes are so infinitely tied to them that it might make it hard for someone to come out with a newer better version of the original.
“A lot of people grew up on our music which tends to make us feel old,” Howard says, laughing. “These new artists have sung them in different bands throughout the years and I think there will come a time when the music will be re-recorded. I think songs that are long-lived tend to get re-recorded, and we have had some long-lived songs – one of the things we’ve been lucky in.
“Alan Jackson is a fan of ours, and I know he’s tossed around doing “Beautiful Body” a few times. He has our albums on his bus. You think you’ve influenced people with ideas and mixes and styles over the years. We see groups like Brooks & Dunn where we hear licks we did several years ago in a song, and you know you’ve influenced them because you hear it.
“We know we’ve always kind of lived on the edge in country as far as taking it in new directions, with songs like ‘Reggae Cowboy’ in the mid-80’s…’Old Hippies’ was pretty bold. But I think this business needs more renegades – everybody’s playing it safe right now. If something strikes a nerve in you it will most likely strike a nerve in somebody else so don’t be afraid to do it.”
The Bellamy’s were among the first artists who backed away from major label support and started their own label in the early 1990’s. Since that time they’ve released 14 albums and 20 singles and have had more fun and made more money than when they weren’t so much in control.
“I don’t know if you spend a lot of time thinking about what people think – we do the best we can on a song and pick the best songs we can and hopefully people will like them,” Howard says. “We understand the fans a lot. I think they know who we are because we’ve been very honest with them over the years. Fans are the reason we are still in business. We haven’t had radio support in the last few years, but our crowds get bigger and we sell a lot of albums. We’ve always tried to give fans everything we have at our show and on our albums. We put our all into it and I think people realize that.”
Howard and David have no regrets that they are recording and releasing their albums independently. They’ve owned their publishing for 20 years and are very honest when evaluating what they have and where they are today.
“We gave our publishing up for five years, but we got it back. In those days, and still today, you didn’t get a deal if you didn’t do that. It’s a very vicious business. When people ask how to get started, we always tell them to go to law school first.
“We have some great people working with us, but we handle most of it ourselves. We stay more involved in every aspect of our business. I still check the tires on the bus! When you get older you just get aware of so much; you have to be observant to survive in life in general. You cannot be oblivious to what’s going on around you.”
