Undaunted, the pair continued to press on, stumbling upon the song "I'd Really Love to See You Tonight", written by a young Mississippi-based songwriter, Parker McGee.

July 1976 saw the release of England Dan & John Ford Coley's debut album for Big Tree, Nights Are Forever, also produced by Lehning.

[3] Their second Big Tree single, "Nights Are Forever Without You", also written by Parker McGee, also made the Billboard Top 10.

[3] After seeing the duo score a huge hit, A&M capitalized on the success by releasing a compilation album in 1976, I Hear Music, using songs recorded years earlier.

Their second Big Tree LP, Dowdy Ferry Road, followed in March 1977, yielding the hit singles, "It's Sad To Belong (To Someone Else)" (#21) (written by Randy Goodrum) and Coley's "Gone Too Far" (#23).

During their early years on the road, the two performers played as an acoustic duo, but during their "hit years" on Big Tree they toured with a backup band that included Danny Gorman (drums, percussion), Bubba Keith (guitar, backing vocals), John Leland (bass), Ovid Stevens (guitar) and Michael Vernacchio (keyboards, synthesizers).

In March 1980, "In It For Love", one of two new recordings added to The Best of England Dan and John Ford Coley (December 1979), managed to reach only #53 as a single.

The duo split in 1980 when Seals decided to pursue a career in country music, where he found success throughout the 1980s,[3] scoring hits such as "Meet Me in Montana" (with Marie Osmond) and "Bop".

He returned to an active touring schedule in the 1990s and 2000s and was also co-producer for acts such as Eddie Money (with Vince Gill) and Tom Wurth.