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The Blues Brothers

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This article is about the rhythm and blues band. For the film and other uses, see Blues Brothers (disambiguation).
The Blues Brothers <tr style="text-align: center;"><td colspan="3">Elwood and Jake Blues and the Bluesmobile
Elwood and Jake Blues and the Bluesmobile
</td></tr>
Background information

<tr><td>Origin</td><td colspan="2">New York City, New York</td></tr><tr><td>Genre(s)</td><td colspan="2">Rhythm and blues, blues, soul</td></tr><tr><td>Years active</td><td colspan="2">1978-present</td></tr><tr><td style="padding-right: 1em;">Label(s)</td><td colspan="2">Atlantic</td></tr><tr><th style="background: #b0c4de;" colspan="3">Members</th></tr><tr><td style="text-align: center;" colspan="3">Steve "the Colonel" Cropper
"Blue" Lou Marini
Alan "Mr. Fabulous" Rubin
Rob "The Honeydripper" Paprozzi
Eddie "Knock on Wood" Floyd</td></tr><tr><th style="background: #b0c4de;" colspan="3">Former members</th></tr><tr><td style="text-align: center;" colspan="3">Jake Blues
Elwood J. Blues
Donald "Duck" Dunn
Steve "Getdwa" Jordan
Willy "Too Big" Hall
Tom "Bones" Malone
Matt "Guitar" Murphy
Paul "The Shiv" Shaffer
Murphy Dunne
Tom "Triple Scale" Scott

Zee Blues
"Mighty Mack" McTeer
Larry "T" Thurston
Tommy "Pipes" McDonnell</td></tr>

Image:Bluesbrothersjail.JPG

The Blues Brothers are an American rhythm and blues band founded in 1978 by comedians Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi as part of a musical sketch on Saturday Night Live. Belushi and Aykroyd, respectively in character as lead vocalist "Joliet" Jake Blues and harpist/vocalist Elwood Blues, fronted the band, which was comprised of well-known and respected musicians. The band made its debut as the musical guest on the April 22, 1978 episode of Saturday Night Live.

The band then began take on a life beyond the confines of the television screen, releasing an album, Briefcase Full of Blues, in 1978, and then having a Hollywood film, The Blues Brothers, created around its characters in 1980.

After the death of Belushi in 1982, the Blues Brothers have continued to perform with a rotation of guest singers and other band members. The original band reformed in 1988 for a world tour and again in 1998 for a sequel to the film, Blues Brothers 2000. It makes regular appearances at musical festivals worldwide.

Contents

[edit] Band members

[edit] Original lineup

While not all members appeared in the original film, the full band included:

[edit] Other members

At various times, the following have been part of the act:

[edit] Band history

[edit] Origins

The genesis of the Blues Brothers was a January 1976 Saturday Night Live skit. In it, "Howard Shore and his All-Bee Band" play the Slim Harpo song "I'm a King Bee", with Belushi singing and Aykroyd playing harmonica, dressed in the bee costumes they wore for the "Killer Bees" sketch.

Following early tapings of SNL, it was popular among cast members to attend Aykroyd's blues bar, which he had purchased not long after joining the cast. It was there that he introduced Belushi to the blues, who even though from Chicago, was not familiar with such music. An interest soon became a fascination and it wasn't long before the two began singing with local blues bands. Jokingly, SNL band leader Howard Shore suggested they call themselves "The Blues Brothers".

Belushi's budding interest in the blues solidified in October 1977 when he was in Eugene, Oregon, filming National Lampoon's Animal House. He went to a local hotel to hear 25-year-old blues singer/harmonica player Curtis Salgado. After the show, Belushi and Salgado talked about the blues for hours. Belushi found Salgado's enthusiasm infectious. In an interview at the time with the Eugene Register-Guard he said:

I was growing sick of rock and roll, it was starting to bore me...and I hated disco, so I needed some place to go. I hadn't heard much blues before. It felt good.

Salgado lent him some albums by Floyd Dixon, Charles Brown, Johnny "Guitar" Watson, and others. Belushi was hooked.<ref>This is detailed in an article in the January 4, 1979 edition of the Eugene Register-Guard.</ref>

Belushi began to appear with Salgado on stage, singing the Floyd Dixon song "Hey, Bartender" on a few occasions, and using Salgado's humorous alternate lyrics to "I Don't Know":

I said Woman, you going to walk a mile for a Camel
Or are you going to make like Mr. Chesterfield and satisfy?
She said that all depends on what you're packing
Regular or king-size
Then she pulled out my Jim Beam, and to her surprise
It was every bit as hard as my Canadian Club.

These lyrics were used again for the band's debut performance on SNL.

[edit] Band formation

With the help of pianist-arranger Paul Shaffer, Belushi and Akyroyd started assembling a collection of studio talents to form their own band. These included SNL band members, saxophonist "Blue" Lou Marini and trombonist-saxophonist Tom Malone, who had previously played in Blood, Sweat & Tears. At Shaffer's suggestion guitarist Steve Cropper and bassist Donald "Duck" Dunn, the powerhouse combo from Booker T and the M.G.'s and subsequently almost every hit out Memphis' Stax Records during the 1960s, were signed as well.

Belushi wanted a powerful trumpet player and a hot blues guitarist, so Julliard-trained trumpeter Alan Rubin was brought in, as was guitarist Matt Murphy, who had performed with many blues legends.

For the brothers' look, Belushi borrowed John Lee Hooker's trademark sunglasses and soul patch. The suits were inspired by beatnik fashion, as well as the modern mythic image of the "Men in Black".

Their style was fresh and in many ways, different from prevailing musical trends: A very raw and "live" sound compared to the increasing use of sound synthesis and vocal-dominated music of the late 1970s and 80s.

[edit] The sound

While the music of the Blues Brothers is based on R&B, blues, and soul, it also drew heavily on rock and jazz elements, usually taking a blues standard and bringing a rock sound and style to it. The band could be drawn into three sections: the four-man horn section, the traditional rock instruments of the five-man rhythm section, and the two singing brothers. The sound of the band was a synthesis of two different traditions: the horn players all came from the clean, precise, jazz-influenced sound of New York City; while the rhythm section came from the grittier soul and blues sound of Chicago and Memphis. The success of this meld was due both to Shaffer's arrangements and to the musicians' talents.

In Stories Behind the Making of The Blues Brothers, a 1998 documentary included on some DVD editions of the first Blues Brothers film, Cropper noted that some of his peers thought that he and the other musicians backing the Blues Brothers were selling out to Hollywood or using a gimmick to make some quick money. Cropper responded by stating that he thought Belushi was as good as (or even better than) many of the singers he had backed; he also noted that Belushi had, early in his career, briefly been a professional drummer, and had an especially keen sense of rhythm.

[edit] Albums, early gigs, character backgrounds

The Blues Brothers recorded their first album, Briefcase Full of Blues, in 1978 while opening for comedian Steve Martin at Los Angeles' Universal Amphitheatre. The album was #1 on the Billboard 200 went double platinum, and featured Top 40 hit covers of Sam and Dave's "Soul Man" and The Chips' "Rubber Biscuit".

The album liner notes fleshed out the fictional back story of Jake and Elwood, having them growing up in a Roman Catholic orphanage in Rock Island, Illinois and learning the blues from a janitor named Curtis. Their blood brotherhood was sealed by cutting their middle fingers with a string said to come from the guitar of Elmore James.<ref>Biography of the Blues Brothers from their album, A Briefcase Full of Blues, retrieved on November 30, 2006.</ref>

The band, along with the New Riders of the Purple Sage, opened for the Grateful Dead for the final show at Winterland, New Year's Eve 1978.

With the film, came the soundtrack album, which was the band's first studio album. "Gimme Some Lovin'" was a Top 40 hit and the band toured to promote the film, which led to a third album (and second live album), Made in America, recorded at the Universal Amphitheatre in 1980. The track "Who's Making Love" peaked at No 39. It was the last recording the band would make with Belushi's Jake Blues.

Belushi's wife, Judith Jacklin, and his friend, Tino Insana, wrote a book, Blues Brothers: Private, that further fleshed out the Blues Brothers' universe and gave a back story for the first movie.

In 1981, Best of the Blues Brothers was released; this album would be the first of several compilations and hits collections issued over the years.

[edit] 1982 and beyond

On March 5, 1982, John Belushi died in Hollywood of an accidental overdose of heroin and cocaine.

An animated sitcom with Jake and Elwood was planned, but scrapped after only a couple of episodes were produced.

After Belushi's death, updated versions of the Blues Brothers have performed on SNL and for charitable and political causes. Aykroyd has been accompanied by Jim Belushi and John Goodman in character as "Zee" Blues and "Mighty Mack" McTeer. The copyright owners have also authorized some copycat acts to perform under the Blues Brothers name; one such act performs regularly at the Universal Studios Florida theme park in Orlando, Florida and Universal Studios Hollywood.

In 1988 Cropper, Dunn, Murphy, and others re-formed The Blues Brothers Band for a world tour. They released an album of new material in 1992 entitled Red White and Blues, which included a guest appearance from Elwood Blues.

To promote Blues Brothers 2000, Dan Aykroyd and John Goodman performed at the halftime of Super Bowl XXXI, along with ZZ Top and James Brown. The performance was preceded with a faux news report stating the Blues Brothers had escaped custody and were on their way to the Louisiana Superdome. The raucous innuendo-laden performance was considered somewhat scandalous at the time.

A Blues Brothers video game was made for the Amiga/PC platforms by Titus. In 1991, the same company produced a video game for the NES and Super NES. A Nintendo 64 game titled Blues Brothers 2000 was also released.

Aykroyd has continued to be an active proponent of blues music and parlayed this avocation into foundation and partial ownership of the House of Blues franchise, an international chain of nightclubs. In character as Elwood, he also hosts the syndicated House of Blues Radio Hour.

John Belushi's brother James Belushi toured with the band for a short time as "Zee Blues", and even recorded the album Blues Brothers & Friends: LIVE! From Chicago's H.O.B with Dan Aykroyd but unfortunately, he didn't appear in "Blues Brothers 2000" (1998). It's rumored he was approached to play not the role of "Mighty Mack" (played by John Goodman), but the role of the local Sheriff "Cab" Chamberlain (which eventually went to Joe Morton). Jim would later reunite with Aykroyd to record yet another album, not as the Blues Brothers but as themselves: Belushi/Aykroyd - Have Love Will Travel (Big Men-Big Music).

In 2004, the musical, The Blues Brothers Revival, premiered in Chicago. The story was about Elwood trying to rescue Jake from an eternity in limbo/purgatory. The musical was written and composed with the approval and permission from both the John Belushi estate (including his widow, Jackie Belushi Pisano) and Dan Aykroyd.

The Blues Brothers featuring Elwood and Zee regularly perform at House of Blues venues and various casinos across North America. They are usually backed by James Belushi's Sacred Hearts Band.

The Blues Brothers Band tours the world regularly. The only original members still in the band are Steve Cropper, Lou Marini, and Alan Rubin. The lead singer is Rob "The Honeydripper" Paparozzi, and they are frequently joined by Eddie Floyd.

[edit] Films

[edit] The Blues Brothers

Main article: The Blues Brothers (film)

In 1980, The Blues Brothers, directed by John Landis, was released. Featuring epic car chases involving the Bluesmobile and musical performances by Aretha Franklin, James Brown, Cab Calloway, Ray Charles and John Lee Hooker, the story is set in and around Chicago, Illinois. It is a tale of redemption for the paroled convict Jake Blues and his brother Elwood as they decide to take on a "mission from God" and reform their blues band in order to raise funds to save the Roman Catholic orphanage where they grew up. Along the way, the brothers are targeted by a "mystery woman" (Carrie Fisher) and chased by the Illinois State Police, a country and western band and "Illinois Nazis". The film had a limited run when it was screened theatrically, but has since become popular through television, home video and late-night cinema screenings. It is the second-highest grossing film based on a "Saturday Night Live" sketch.

[edit] Blues Brothers 2000

Main article: Blues Brothers 2000

With Landis again directing, the sequel to The Blues Brothers was made in 1998. It fared considerably poorer than its predecessor with fans and critics, though it is more ambitious in terms of musical performances by the band and has a more extensive roster of guest artists than the first film. The story picks up 18 years later with Elwood being released from prison. He is once again prevailed upon to save some orphans, and with a 10-year-old boy named Buster Blues in tow, Elwood again sets about the task of reuniting his band. He recruits some new singers, Mighty Mack (John Goodman) and Cab (Joe Morton), a policeman who was Curtis' son. All the original band members are found, as well as some performers from the first film, including Aretha Franklin and James Brown. There are dozens of other guest performers, including Junior Wells, Lonnie Brooks, Eddie Floyd, Wilson Pickett, Sam Moore, Taj Mahal and Jonny Lang, as well as an all-star supergroup led by B.B. King called the Louisiana Gator Boys. On the run from the police, Russian mafia and a racist militia, the band eventually ends up in Louisiana, where they enter a battle of the bands overseen by a voodoo practitioner named Queen Moussette (Erykah Badu). During a song by the Blues Brothers (a Caribbean number called "Funky Nassau"), a character played by Paul Shaffer asks to cut in on keyboards, which Murph allows. This marks the first time in a film that the Blues Brothers play with their original keyboardist.

[edit] The Blues Brothers Bar

The Blues Brothers Bar was an illegal basement tavern operated on Wells Street In Chicago's Old Town in the 1970s and 1980s which was started by John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd. The Bar was down the street from The Second City theater. In the DVD commentary of the film Thief (a film shot in Chicago in 1981), James Caan mentions the bar. The bar was run by a college friend whom Belushi met at College of DuPage, the friend often operated as a bouncer. As the bar was unlicensed, alcohol was bought by the purchase of 'tickets' which were then traded to the bartender for the drinks.

[edit] In popular culture

There have been various takeoffs and parodies of the Blues Brothers, most notably in the Chicago area.

  • The entire contents of the 1981 Chipmunks/Nutty Squirrels collaboration album Shirley, Squirrely & Melvin sendup the musical sound of the Briefcase Full of Blues album.
  • During their drive to the Super Bowl in 1985, the Chicago Bears, members of the "Black and Blue Division" of the NFL, issued a poster of nine of their offensive linemen wearing sunglasses and black hats. The poster was titled, "The Black and Blues Brothers". The poster was an incredible success, and led to a series of similarly-themed television commercials which parodied scenes from the movie. The catch phrase of the commercials was, "We're on a mission", eliminating the "from God" portion of the original phrase.
  • The Chicago Cubs produced a TV ad similar to the movie scene in which the brothers arrive at a brownstone apartment seeking some former band members. When the landlady asks, "Are you the police?" they answer, "No, ma'am, we're Cubs fans". Then they launch into a parody of "Soul Man": "Comin' to ya... In the summertime... Cubs baseball... Here on Channel 9... I'm a Cubs fan... I'm a Cubs fan..."
  • A similar idea was used in a Budweiser ad campaign featuring Cubs broadcaster Harry Caray in the Blues Brothers costume, also known as the "Cubs Fan Bud Man" campaign.
  • During the Oakland Athletics' run of success from 1988 to 1992, sluggers Jose Canseco and Mark McGwire were tagged "the Bash Brothers" and appeared in Blues Brothers costumes for a promotional poster.
  • While the NBA's Chicago Bulls were making their championship runs in the 1990s, an act called "the Bulls Brothers" often performed at halftime, with the performers bearing striking resemblances to Belushi and the younger, thinner Aykroyd.
  • In the Nickelodeon show, Drake & Josh, there is one episode entitled "Blues Brothers", in which both Drake Parker and Josh Nichols sing their song in their talent show, "Soul Man".
  • The Blues Brothers make two -- albeit unnamed -- appearances in the Space Quest video game series. In the original CGA version features a scene in a cantina with two characters dancing and singing on stage. One character is tall and thin, the other short and fat, both dressed identical to the Blues Brothers. In the Space Quest IV sequel, the player is returned to the same cantina via a time travel pod. The exact same set is shown with the same characters dancing and singing the same tunes.

[edit] Trivia

  • In Chicago Midway Airport, The Blues Brothers are paid tribute to with a pair of life-sized replicas of Belushi and Aykroyd.

[edit] Discography

[edit] References

<references/>

[edit] External links

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