The brothers followed St. John’s advice, recording what became one of their signature songs in Los Angeles with producers Phil Gernhard and Tony Scotti. The Florida-born brothers had moved out West with money earned after David Bellamy composition “Spiders and Snakes” became a million-seller in 1974 for Jim Stafford.
The rest is country music history, with the Bellamy Brothers’ version topping the all-genre Billboard Hot 100 chart and cracking the Hot Country Songs chart’s Top 25. Beyond its strong performance in the United States, “Let Your Love Flow” became an international hit, charting high in Austria, Canada, Rhodesia, South Africa, Switzerland and West Germany.
The Bellamy Brothers hit got pop culture pick-me-ups over the years, from the song’s inclusion in the 1980 Tatum O’Neal film Little Darlings to a 2008 Barclaycard ad in the UK. The brothers’ future successes, namely 1979’s No. 1 country hit “If I Said You Had A Beautiful Body Would You Hold It Against Me,” pointed new fans back to the group’s near-perfect pop song.
If you’re curious about what “Let Your Love Flow” might sound like without any pop gloss, look no further than Conway Twitty and Loretta Lynn’s 1976 album United Talent. To hear it without country window dressing, give Joan Baez’s 1979 album Honest Lullaby a spin.
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