Carl's Scrapbook: The 70s: The Bellamy Brothers Band

 CHAPTER ONE

Opportunity Knocks!!

The year was 1978 and it was one of the most pivitol years of my life. On June 3, 1978, I got married for the second time -- this time "forever" ya know :-( -- and about a month later I was contacted by David and Howard Bellamy about the possibility of Jesse and myself becoming members of a back-up band to both record and do road work with them. They had been unhappy with the band that the record label had provided and were looking to put together their own group. They wanted to move slightly more into the "country music" market. Now I want to tell you -- this was a dream come true. It's not like I was hangin' out in Nashville or L.A., waitin' by the phone for a job offer. I was a small time, thirty-one year old guitar player, tryin' to eek out a living in Auburndale, Florida, usually content to just watch the big-show from the sidelines. Polk County was not exactly a major music center, but then again, it did seem to have become a frequent contributor.

And— it wasn't like the Bellamys were an unknown act trying to get a start in the music business. They had, after all, had a smash #1 pop hit with "Let Your Love Flow" just two years earlier. I was impressed and to say the least -- excited!

Jesse on the other hand was a hard sell. He held a managerial position with a major metropolitan paper company and although he dreamed as much as I did, he was always able to control his emotions and make sane and rational decisions. But then, how often did an opportunity like this come along? This was not the time for rational sanity. In the end, with a little coaxing on my part, the "dreamer" beat out the ol' "sales service manager" and we were off to Oz (actually it was Darby, Florida) to see the wizard.

Since the Bellamys were recruiting an entire band we suggested two other members of the current "Dizzy Rambler Band" (as we had become known): Dannie Jones on steel and Rodney Price on drums. I'm not sure that the Brothers were all that keen on a steel guitar at first, but after an initial audition rehearsal they were pretty much sold. Howard and David had already been jammin' and workin' out stuff with Jon Lafrandre, a piano player from Winter Haven (about four miles from Auburndale) so it was just a matter of puttin' it all together.

We started serious rehearsals (about 8 hours a day, five to six days a week) somewhere toward the end of July, 1978. We rehearsed at the Bellamy's family ranch in Darby, Florida (an area outside of Dade City, near San Antonio) in a little shack that was dubbed appropriately "The Shack". I was needless to say, in hog heaven -- my new bride by my side and rehearsing to "go out on the road". What more could a small town long-haired country boy want.

After about six weeks of rigorous rehearsal, the Brothers decided to put the act on stage, a sort of dress rehearsal. On Friday night, September 1, 1978, we played our first gig at the "Beer Barrel" in San Antonio, Florida. The tiny bar was packed to the gills and even standing room was at a premium. But they weren't dancing and they weren't talking -- they were listening and they were applauding. My attitude toward the music would never be the same again.