The Blues Brothers
| The Blues Brothers | |
|---|---|
| General information | |
| founding | 1978 |
| resolution | 1982 |
| Last occupation | |
| "Joliet" Jake Blues ( John Belushi ) († 1982) | |
Vocals, harmonica
|
Elwood Blues ( Dan Aykroyd ) |
| Paul "Shiv" Shaffer | |
piano |
Murphy "Murph" Dunne |
| Willie "too big" Hall | |
| Matt "Guitar" Murphy († 2018) | |
| Steve "The Colonel" Cropper | |
| Donald "Duck" Dunn († 2012) | |
| Tom "Bones" Malone | |
| Lou "Blue Lou" Marini | |
saxophone |
Tom "Triple Scale" Scott |
| Alan "Mr. Fabulous "Rubin († 2011) | |
The Blues Brothers was a rhythm and blues band led by two actors and comedians John Belushi (as singer "Joliet" Jake Blues) and Dan Aykroyd (as singer and harmonica player Elwood Blues). Belushi and Aykroyd were both members of the original cast on NBC's Saturday Night Live show . They first appeared there in 1977 as "Blues Brothers". They had so much success and fun with their concept that they also appeared outside of this show and shot the film of the same name . This later achieved cult status and triggered a wave of enthusiasm for blues music. Despite their name, most of the songs by the Blues Brothers were soul and R&B classics.
Music genre
The two "brothers" put together a band formation that represented a concentration of the best studio musicians. The band members have previously played for greats like Frank Zappa , Booker T. & the MG's , Paul McCartney & Wings , Miles Davis and many others. Their music style was fresh and raw and, played live, stood out from the music that was predominantly voice-oriented and produced with electronic instruments in the 1970s and 1980s. Although the Blues Brothers are known as a rhythm and blues band, many of their songs are based on elements of soul and rock. Often blues pieces were covered as rock songs .
The "brothers" Jake and Elwood preferred different styles of music privately: Aykroyd the gentle Delta Blues (also known as "Country Blues"), Belushi Heavy Metal .
(Aykroyd later during an interview [1996]: I always thought John was into the blues ... he was from a suburb of Chicago, after all. I thought he goes into town regularly to hear the blues. When we started with the band, he had absolutely no idea about the blues! )
The band can be divided into three parts: the four-man brass section, the traditional rock section (piano, drums, guitars, bass), consisting of five musicians, and the two singing brothers. With this line-up, the Blues Brothers defined their very own style: the winds played a precise, clear New York jazz sound, the rock section played in the direction of soul and blues from Chicago and Memphis . The music of the Blues Brothers Band was a unique fusion of these directions.
history
Foundation of the band
The origin of the Blues Brothers can be found in a Saturday Night Live sketch from 1976. In this, the two appeared dressed in bee costumes in the " Howard Shore and his All-Bee Band". Belushi sang and Aykroyd played the harmonica to the Slim Harpo song I'm a King Bee .
The January 4, 1979 issue of Register-Guard (a daily newspaper in Eugene, Oregon) reveals Belushi's original interest in blues music: Belushi was filming I Believe, I'll Kick a Horse . In October 1977 he heard a concert by the then 25-year-old blues singer and harmonica player Curtis Salgado in a local hotel . After the show, Belushi and Salgado talked about the blues for hours. Belushi found Salgado's music extremely contagious and fascinating:
- "I was kind of sick of rock and roll and I hated disco, so I needed some place to go. I hadn't heard much blues before. It felt good. "
- (Roughly) “I was kind of tired of rock and roll and I hated disco, so I needed something different. I hadn't heard too much blues before. It feels good."
Salgado then lent him some blues albums, including by Floyd Dixon , Charles Brown , Johnny Guitar Watson . Belushi was absolutely fascinated by the music. Belushi performed live with Salgado and occasionally sang the Floyd Dixon song Hey, Bartender with him . Salgado gave him the text for the song I Don't Know , which is peppered with ambiguous puns:
- I said Woman, you going to walk a mile for a Camel
- Or are you going to make like Mr. Chesterfield and satisfy me?
- She said that all depends on what your packing
- Regular or kingsize
- Then she pulled out my Jim Beam , and to her surprise
- It was every bit as hard as my Canadian Club .
- (Rough and free, all puns only as an aid):
- I said, hey, you go miles for a camel
- or do you make me happy like Mr. Chesterfield?
- She said it depends what you have with you:
- normal or extra long
- Then she pulled out my Jim Beam and to her surprise
- it was as tough as my Canadian Club .
Belushi brought this concept to the Saturday Night Live Show. Together with Aykroyd and his own band, he first appeared in 1977 as the Blues Brothers. In addition to the ambiguous texts from Salgado, the two also copied his trademarks, consisting of sunglasses and a soul patch . The rest of the presentation was probably a record of John Lee Hooker copied.
Belushi often mentioned Salgado by name when the Blues Brothers performed. The first album was also dedicated to him. Belushi later also sent Salgado a photo of the two with the text: Without you, we'd still be just TV actors.
success
What was originally only intended as a gag quickly developed a life of its own. As a live band, the Blues Brothers made their first appearance outside of the Saturday Night Live Show in early 1978 in neighboring Canada. The Blues Brothers appeared alongside the New Riders of the Purple Sage as the opening act for Grateful Dead in their final show in Winterland (San Francisco) on New Year's Eve 1978.
The first album
Their first album, Briefcase Full of Blues , was recorded by the Blues Brothers Band in 1978 when they opened up for comedian Steve Martin at the Universal Amphitheater in Los Angeles. In addition to the USA, the album also achieved gold status in Great Britain. Her interpretations of the songs Soul Man by Sam & Dave and Rubber Biscuit by The Chips reached the top 40 of the charts.
The movies
The 1980 film Blues Brothers (director: John Landis ) (US: platinum; UK: double platinum) made a decisive contribution to the band's popularity and quickly became a cult film . Due to the early death of John Belushi in 1982, a sequel was a long time coming. In 1998 an attempt was made (in vain) to build on the success of the previous film with Blues Brothers 2000 .
Later activities
The third album by the Blues Brothers, Made In America (achieved gold status in UK), was - like Briefcase Full Of Blues - a live album on which the top 40 hit Who's Making Love can be heard. It was recorded during the so-called Tour to Ruin 1980 following the film. On this tour Cab Calloway and Aretha Franklin also appeared as guest stars. The sales of Made in America , however, were far below expectations. It was also to be the last album with the original line-up of the Blues Brothers.
In 1981 the band released the album Best Of The Blues Brothers , which, in addition to well-known songs, contained a previously unreleased song from their last tour called Expressway to your heart and unreleased live versions of Rubber Biscuit and Everybody Needs Somebody to Love from the same tour. The only new song on this last tour with John Belushi, Come on up , was never officially released. But he can be found on Bootleg Live in LA
On March 5, 1982, Belushi died in Hollywood at the age of 33 from an overdose of heroin and cocaine ( speedball ), which temporarily meant the end of the Blues Brothers. Aykroyd then fell into depression for a long time and declared the Blues Brothers over, but was still active in the blues scene.
In 1988 Cropper, Dunn, Murphy and other new members formed a newly formed The Blues Brothers Band for a world tour. That same year they appeared with Dan Aykroyd at Atlantic Records' 60th anniversary with Wilson Pickett and Sam Moore as The Elwood Blues Revue . Under the same name, they also recorded some songs for the soundtrack of the film Great Outdoors - Vacation for three with Aykroyd and John Candy . In 1989 the band released the live album Live in Montreux without Aykroyd , which was recorded at the Montreux Jazz Festival with singers Larry Thurston and Eddie Floyd . They released a new album in 1992 called Red, White and Blues , which includes a guest appearance by Elwood Blues.
From the mid 90s the band performed again together with Dan Aykroyd. As a replacement for the late John Belushi, his brother Jim was brought into the band as Zee Blues and John Goodman as Mighty Mack Blues . This was followed by appearances at the opening of the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta and the 1997 Super Bowl with James Brown and ZZ Top . All of this culminated in a second film called the Blues Brothers 2000 .
From then on the band appeared with changing singers ( Larry Thurston , Tommy "Pipes" McDonnell , Rob Paparazzi and Eddie Floyd ) in Europe and Aykroyd, Goodman and Jim Belushi only accompanied by Jim Belushi's band, the Sacred Hearts, in the USA . In 2001 John Goodman left the band.
Aykroyd can be heard as Elwood Blues on the House of Blues Radio Hour . He is also part owner of the House of Blues franchise , an international chain of concert halls. There is also a luxury hotel of the same name right next to the House of Blues in Chicago.
Dan Aykroyd and Judy Belushi (John Belushi's widow) are the owners of the rights to the name "Blues Brothers" and also sell licenses to various cover bands that perform regularly, including the Universal Studios Florida theme park in Orlando.
Trumpeter Alan Rubin died of lung cancer on June 8, 2011 at the age of 68 . On May 13, 2012, bassist Donald Dunn died in his sleep at the age of 70 after giving a concert in Japan the day before. On June 15, 2018, guitarist Matt "Guitar" Murphy died.
Discography
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Original albums
The Blues Brothers Band with John Belushi as "Joliet" Jake Blues and Dan Aykroyd as Elwood Blues
- 1978: Briefcase Full of Blues
- 1980: The Blues Brothers (Music from the Soundtrack)
- 1980: Made in America
The Elwood Blues Revue
The Blues Brothers Band with Wilson Pickett , Sam Moore and Dan Aykroyd as Elwood Blues
- 1988: "The Great Outdoors" soundtrack
Blues Brothers Band
The Blues Brothers Band with Larry Thurston , Eddie Floyd and partly Dan Aykroyd as Elwood Blues
- 1989: The Blues Brothers Band Live in Montreux
- 1992: Red, White, & Blues
The new Blues Brothers
The Blues Brothers Band with Dan Aykroyd as Elwood Blues, Jim Belushi as Jake's blood brother Brother Zee Blues and John Goodman as "Mighty" Mack Blues
- 1996: Blues Brothers and Friends (Live from Chicago's HOB)
- 1998: Blues Brothers 2000 Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
Bootleg albums
The Blues Brothers Band with John Belushi as "Joliet" Jake Blues and Dan Aykroyd as Elwood Blues
- 1979: Live at Winterland Ballroom
- 1979: Live at the 1979 Radio & Records Convention
- 1980: Live in LA (John Belushi's last concert)
The Blues Brothers Band with Larry Thurston and Eddie Floyd
- 1988: Otis, Onions & the Blues
- 1992: Blues for You!
The Blues Brothers Band with Dan Aykroyd , Jim Belushi and John Goodman
- 1996: On Parol and in Concert - live at VH1
- 1999: Live at Las Vegas's House of Blues
The Blues Brothers Band with Rob Paparazzi and Eddie Floyd
- 2004: Live in San Javier
Compilations
- 1981: Best of the Blues Brothers
- 1983: Dancing with the Blues Brothers
- 1989: Everybody Needs the Blues Brothers
- 1992: The Blues Brothers Definitive Collection
- 1998: The Blues Brothers Complete
- 2003: The Essential Blues Brothers
Related
- 1987: John Belushi: "Animal House Soundtrack"
- 1998: Jim Belushi & the Sacred Hearts: 36-22-36
- 2001: Matt "Guitar" Murphy & the Blues Brothers Horns: Lucky Charm
- 2003: Dan Aykroyd & Jim Belushi: Have Love Will Travel
- 2006: Jim Belushi & the Sacred Hearts: According to Jim
Visual media
Videos
- The Blues Brothers (1980)
- Best of The Blues Brothers (old SNL appearances and concert recordings from the 70s) (1993)
- Blues Brothers Band "Ohne Filter WDR" (1992)
- The Return of the Blues Brothers (dt. The great blues Party ) (1995)
- Live at the Super Bowl (1996)
- On Parol and in Concert - live at VH1 (1996)
DVDs
- The Blues Brothers (1980)
- Best of The Blues Brothers (old SNL appearances and concert recordings from the 70s) (2003)
- Blues Brothers 2000 (1998)
Computer games and merchandise
- The company Titus Interactive produced several Blues Brothers platform games, including two for Amiga / PC , one game for the Nintendo Entertainment System in 1991 and one for the N64 in 2000 .
Related
- Toronto Rocks (live concert with Dan Aykroyd, Jim Belushi and the Rolling Stones) (2004) - DVD
Web links
- The Blues Brothers at Discogs (English)
- The Birth of the Blues (Brothers) , an article from the Eugene Register-Guard , January 1979