The Blues Brothers

Whether hailed as an earnest homage or dismissed as satirical exaggeration, the Blues Brothers—Joliet Jake and his wordless sibling Elwood—ranked among the era’s most visible acts by the close of the 1970s. What began as a recurring bit on NBC’s long-running sketch series Saturday Night Live rapidly expanded into a full-scale enterprise that yielded chart successes, arena sell-outs, and a major motion picture. Dressed in retro black suits, slim neckties, fedoras, and signature wrap-around shades, the duo performed high-energy versions of vintage soul numbers rooted in the classic Stax-Volt approach. Although some purists objected, the act undeniably exposed a fresh audience to enduring soul and blues material while spotlighting several of the era’s most accomplished studio musicians.

The fabricated backstory supplied by “Don Kirshner”—in truth Saturday Night Live musical director Paul Shaffer—claimed that Marshall Checker of the storied Checkers label had discovered the pair in 1969 while they played Chicago’s South Side clubs, later transforming them from authentic blues practitioners into a marketable commodity. In fact, the characters originated in early 1976 when Saturday Night Live stars John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd adopted the aliases to energize audiences before broadcasts. Their network television introduction occurred while both performers still wore the bee costumes associated with another sketch, and they launched the set with Slim Harpo’s “I’m a King Bee.” Subsequent appearances on the program increased steadily as the concept gained traction.

The accompanying ensemble drew heavily on Memphis veterans, notably guitarist Steve Cropper and bassist Donald “Duck” Dunn, both of whom had contributed to the original Stax recordings of many songs in the repertoire; later lineups also incorporated blues guitarist Matt “Guitar” Murphy. While serving as openers for Steve Martin in Los Angeles in 1978, the Blues Brothers captured their first live album, Briefcase Full of Blues, which attained platinum status and spawned Top 40 covers of “Soul Man” and “Rubber Biscuit.” A 1980 tour supported both the sprawling feature film The Blues Brothers—featuring appearances by Cab Calloway, Aretha Franklin, and others—and the follow-up studio release Made in America, which produced additional hits “Gimme Some Lovin’” and “Who’s Making Love.”

The 1981 compilation The Best of the Blues Brothers further cemented their commercial standing until Belushi’s accidental drug overdose in Hollywood on March 5, 1982, effectively ended the original partnership. Nevertheless, the 1980 movie’s enduring cult status and continued syndication of the Saturday Night Live segments sustained interest; consequently, Cropper, Dunn, Murphy, and additional alumni reconstituted the Blues Brothers Band in 1988 for an international tour that frequently supported vocalist Eddie Floyd. That configuration issued the 1992 album Red White and Blues, which included a guest spot from Aykroyd in his Elwood persona. Concurrently, Aykroyd launched the House of Blues chain of venues, while he, actor John Goodman, and Belushi’s brother Jim occasionally performed together under the Blues Brothers banner. The enterprise received renewed attention with the 1998 release of the sequel Blues Brothers 2000.