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Show I I World 2S Of Music Bellamys produce sweet, rustic sounds - By JACK WILLIAMS Copley News Service - HOLLYWOOD - Home Is an 80-acre farm in Darby, Fla., population 100, not counting the cows, the chickens, the spiders and the' snakes. It is where the . Bellamy Bros. David 'and Howard come to roost, when they're not out cultivating the bumpy roads of a career in country coun-try music. ' "It's a mixed-up life," David Bellamy said in an interview. "One day we're sittin' out with the cows in ;the front yard, and the next we're in some big city like New York." It's also a life the Bellamys Bella-mys wouldn't trade for all the cattle in Darby (most of which the family owns, -.anyway), i The Bellamys have their farm, their music and a professional itinerary that lakes them out on the road 200 days a year. Another date, another place. But the same old Southern-fried music that crossed over the country charts seven years ago with a hit song that echoes qcross the airways to this 4ay: "Let Your Love flow." The Bellamys keep it simple and sweet, reflecting reflect-ing life on the farm 30 miles north of Tampa that their family has owned for about 150 years. ;vThey live with their wives and children on separate sep-arate homes on the spread, not far from the 90-year-old house that their greatgrandfather great-grandfather built, now occupied oc-cupied by parents Homer and Frances. There are 60 registered Brahma cattle, an orange grove, vegetable gardens and enough animals to stock a menagerie. They may be the only real cowboys cow-boys in country music, say the Bellamys. They started out at an event called the Rattlesnake Roundup a couple of decades ago. One of their songs, "Spiders and Snakes," was recorded soon after by Jim Stafford, and the Bellamys were destined for a fruitful career, ca-reer, farm or no farm. It has not been, however, without its ups and downs. "After 'Let Your Love Flow,' " said David, "we had a disagreement with our record company about production and management. man-agement. So for about a year and a half we just waited out our contract. "It was a terrible deal. We came from the country and signed with producers, managers and stuff, and after awhile we saw our mistake. Fortunately, we were able to come back. We could have ended as a one-hit act." With tongue in cheek, and a background of listening listen-ing to rock as well as country coun-try music, the brothers Bellamy turned out a subsequent sub-sequent stream of hits that included "Dancin' Cowboys," Cow-boys," "Sugar Daddy," "Lovers Live Longer," "Do You Love as Good as You Look" and "If I Said You Had A Beautiful Body, Would You Hold It Against Me?" David wrote the latter for his pregnant wife. "She was kinda depressed de-pressed about losing her figure," he recalled. "I wrote it to cheer her up. Three days later, the baby was born." "I've been told the phase has been around for ages. A 70-year-old guy told me at a concert that he heard the line ('If I Said You Had A Beautiful Body, Would You Hold It Against Me?') when he was a boy." The Bellamys write music anywhere they can traveling in a bus or airplane air-plane to their next gig, passing time in hotels, kicking back on their farm. "Whenever there's an idea, I jot it down," said David. "We have a remote truck at the farm now where we can record, instead in-stead of having to go into LA. "A lot of our stuff is positive, posi-tive, not so much of the cryin'-in-yer-beer act as some country performers. That's not to say that's bad. But our music may be a little lit-tle more fun. It could be the Florida sunshine." |