SILLYSONGBOOK.com--The Blues Brothers

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SILLYSONGBOOK.com--The Blues Brothers

THE BLUES BROTHERS STARTED OUT AS A MUSICAL VENTURE BY SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE CAST MEMBERS JOHN BELUSHI AND DAN ACKROYD IN 1977. DRESSED UP IN BLACK SUITS WITH NARROW TIES, WHITE SHIRTS, FEDORA HATS AND RAYBAN SUNGLASSES, BELUSHI BELTED OUT OLD R&B SONGS WHILE ACKROYD PLAYED THE HARMONICA. THEY ALSO ASSEMBLED A STRONG GROUP OF MUSICIANS FOR THEIR BACK-UP BAND. BELUSHI AND ACKROYD FIRST PLAYED ONSTAGE TOGETHER IN 1975 DURING THE FIRST SEASON OF SNL. DRESSED UP AS KILLER BEES, BELUSHI SANG "I'M A KING BEE" WHILE ACKROYD PLAYED THE HARMONICA. OUT OF THIS SKIT, THE NUCLEUS OF THE BLUES BROTHERS WAS BORN.

IN 1977, THE TWO ADOPTED THE STAGE CHARACTERS OF JOLIET JAKE BLUES (BELUSHI), AND ELWOOD BLUES (ACKROYD) AND PUT TOGETHER A BAND WITH THE EMPHASIS ON OLD R&B/SOUL CLASSICS FROM THE 1950s AND 1960s. THE BAND INCLUDED SUCH NOTABLE MUSICIANS AS STEVE CROPPER AND DUCK DUNN FROM BOOKER T. & THE MGS, SESSION DRUMMER STEVE JORDAN, TOM SCOTT FROM THE L.A. EXPRESS AND PAUL SHAFFER, WHO WOULD LATER BECOME THE BANDLEADER ON THE DAVID LETTERMAN SHOW. THE BLUES BROTHERS MADE THEIR FIRST APPEARANCE ON SNL IN THE FALL OF 1977. BY 1978, THE BLUES BROTHERS' APPEARANCES ON SNL HAD DRAWN ENOUGH INTEREST THAT THE BAND WERE OFFERED A CONTRACT WITH ATLANTIC RECORDS. THEIR FIRST ALBUM, "BRIEFCASE FULL OF BLUES", EVENTUALLY SOLD ENOUGH COPIES TO GO PLATINUM ON THE STRENGTH OF THE HIT SINGLES "SOUL MAN" (#14) AND "RUBBER BISCUIT" (#37) IN 1978. A SUCCESSFUL TOUR BY THE BLUES BROTHERS BAND FOLLOWED LATER THAT YEAR.

BY 1980, BOTH BELUSHI AND ACKROYD HAD LEFT SNL AND WERE WORKING IN MOVIES. ACKROYD CO-WROTE A SCRIPT FOR A BLUES BROTHERS MOVIE WITH DIRECTOR JOHN LANDIS. "THE BLUES BROTHERS" FILM FINALLY HIT THE THEATRES IN JUNE 1980, GROSSING OVER $32 MILLION DOLLARS IN IT'S FIRST TWO MONTHS OF RELEASE. THE FILM WAS A WILDLY SUCCESSFUL MIX OF COMEDY, ACTION AND MUSICAL NUMBERS, COMPLETE WITH A CAR CHASE IN A MALL AND A DIZZYING PILE-UP OF CHICAGO POLICE CARS IN THE SIDE-SPLITTING CAR CHASE AT THE END OF THE FILM. NOTABLE CELEBS SUCH AS JOE WALSH OF THE EAGLES, FILM DIRECTOR STEVEN SPIELBERG, AND MANY OTHERS MADE CAMEO APPEARANCES IN THE FILM AS WELL. THE SOUNDTRACK ALBUM OF THE FILM SOLD CONSIDERABLY WELL FEATURING THEIR VERSION OF THE CLASSIC "GIMME SOME LOVIN'" (#18). THE BLUES BROTHERS BAND ALSO WENT ON TOUR THAT SUMMER PLAYING AT SELECTED VENUES. THEIR THIRD ALBUM, "MADE IN AMERICA", WAS RELEASED IN LATE 1980 FEATURING THE MODERATE HIT, "WHO'S MAKING LOVE" (#39). BY LATE 1981, BELUSHI AND ACKROYD FELT THE BLUES BROTHERS ACT HAD RUN IT'S COURSE AND DECIDED TO SHELVE IT. TO FULFILL THEIR CONTRACT WITH ATLANTIC RECORDS, THEY RELEASED THEIR FOURTH ALBUM, "BEST OF THE BLUES BROTHERS" IN LATE 1981 FEATURING ONE NEW TRACK, "EXPRESSWAY TO YOUR HEART". ANY FUTURE OF THE ORIGINAL BLUES BROTHERS CAME TO AN ADRUPT HALT ON MARCH 5TH, 1982, WHEN JOHN BELUSHI WAS FOUND DEAD IN HOLLYWOOD, CALIFORNIA AS THE RESULT OF AN ACCIDENTIAL DRUG OVERDOSE.

THAT SEEMED TO BE THE END OF THE BLUES BROTHERS UNTILL THE 1990's WHEN ACKROYD REVIVED THE BAND JOINED ONSTAGE BY JIM BELUSHI AND JOHN GOODMAN AS NEW MEMBERS OF THE BLUES BROTHERS. A MOVIE SEQUEL, "BLUES BROTHERS 2000", HIT THE THEATERS IN LATE 1997. ALTHOUGH JIM BELUSHI WASN'T ABLE TO PARTICIPATE IN IT, THE MOVIE FEATURED ACKROYD AS ELWOOD BLUES AND GOODMAN AS "MIGHTY MATT" BLUES. JOE MORTON STARRED AS CURTIS THE JANITOR'S ILLEGITIMATE SON AND J. EVAN BONIFANT ROUNDED OUT THE CAST AS A YOUNG ORPHAN THAT ELWOOD BEFRIENDS AND DEVELOPS INTO A YOUNG BLUES BROTHER. EVEN THOUGH THE FILM SEEMED TO BE A SCENE FOR SCENE RETREAD OF THE FIRST FILM, IT DID HAVE IT'S MOMENTS AND AT LEAST ONE GOOD POLICE CAR PILE-UP. THAT SAME YEAR, THE FIRST "BLUES BROTHERS" FILM WAS RE-RELEASED ON VHS AND DVD FEATURING 15 MINUTES OF ADDITIONAL FOOTAGE NOT USED IN THE ORIGINAL 1980 RELEASE AS WELL AS A DOCUMENTARY ON THE MAKING OF THE ORIGINAL FILM. THE BLUES BROTHERS ARE REMEMBERED NOT JUST FOR MAKING US LAUGH, BUT ALSO FOR BRINGING R&B AND SOUL MUSIC BACK TO THE AIRWAVES AT A TIME WHEN DISCO AND PUNK ROCK DOMINATED THE MUSIC SCENE. IN 2001, SOME 24 YEARS AFTER THE BLUES BROTHERS' ORIGINAL DEBUT, THEIR FANS ARE STILL ENJOYING THE MUSIC AND ANTICS OF JAKE AND ELWOOD, THE TWO DISCIPLES OF SOUL "ON A MISSION FROM GOD".