Dave Milton and Homer Howard, known as the Bellamy brothers, are a music duo who had success on U.S. country charts in the 1970s and 1980s as well as crossover appeal in various European markets.
Born in Dade City, the two brothers were raised on country music by their father who played in a local Western string band. The two were also introduced to rock and roll by their sister, and they decided to learn a variety of instruments including the guitar, mandolin, banjo, accordion, fiddle, organ, and piano. They formed a rock-and-roll group known as The Accidents and later The Heterogenous Grouping and moved to Atlanta to perform.
After a few years, they moved back home to Florida. In 1973, they met and befriended Jim Stafford and helped him write his huge hit “Spiders and Snakes.” With the revenue produced from that hit, the two moved out to Los Angeles to record music. They signed onto Curb Records in 1975 and released chart topper “Let Your Love Flow” in 1976. Continuing to write country songs, they released “If I Said You Have a Beautiful Body Would You Hold It Against Me” in 1979 which became Record of the Year in the UK. The song’s title was also voted the number one country pick up line of all time in a 2003 issue of Country Weekly. In the 1980s they also recorded hits such as “Redneck Girl,” “Santa Fe,” “Old Hippie,” and “Kids of the Baby Boom.”
Important to their career are their collaborations with other country artists such as Dolly Parton, George Jones, Alan Jackson, Tanya Tucker, and Montgomery Gentry on their 2005 compilation album Angels & Outlaws, Volume 1. The brothers also branched out in the late 2000s and early 2010s with a couple Gospel albums. During this time, they also collaborated with Swiss and German artists to promote their sounds and music to an international audience. The down-to-earth and bare nature of their lyrics speaks to their fans, and they can be spotted side-by-side wielding acoustic guitars ready to play.