Song:Soul Man
Album:The Definitive Collection
What started out as a Saturday Night Live (SNL) sketch grew into a cottage industry with films, records and a full touring band. The Blues Brothers cover of Soul Man was a top 15 pop hit. They even created a history of Jake and Elwood Blues. The real history is that John Belushi grew up in Chicago and Dan Aykroyd grew up on Toronto. And both were on SNL. After SNL tapings, the cast and crew went to a club rented by Aykroyd to listen to music on the jukebox. And sometimes bands would play. It was here that Aykroyd introduced Belushi to blues and Aykroyd also wrote the script of the movie there. The characters first appeared on a 1976 SNL sketch wearing their bee costumes singing Slim Harpo's I'm A King Bee. They started playing New York clubs and turned it into The Blues Brothers. The whole thing was based on Aykroyd's days performing with the Toronto band Downchild Blues Band and they also borrowed from Sam & Dave. The dancing and hats was borrowed from John Lee Hooker. When The Blues Brothers decided to perform on SNL, music director Paul Shaffer added to his usual band with Stax legends Steve Cropper and Donald "Duck" Dunn along with guitar legend Matt "Guitar" Murphy. They performed on SNL Nov. 1978 and then they released the album Briefcase Full Of Blues recorded live in Los Angeles. The album was certified 2XPlatinum and the single Soul Man reached #14 on the Billboard Hot 100. Then of course they made The Blues Brothers movie which was a huge success. When he was accused of selling out to Hollywood, Cropper said he thought Belushi was as good as any other singer he had worked with. Of course the other thing is folks will seek out the original versions of Soul Man and the other classics. After the movie soundtrack, the album Made In America was released in 1981. And then of course Belushi died in 1982. This comp covers all three albums. Aykroyd has continued to revive The Blues Brothers with Jim Belushi and John Goodman for the film Blues Brothers and a 2004 stage musical. I don't like those much. I suggest you stick with the original Jake and Elwood Blues. Here are The Blues Brothers performing Soul Man on Saturday Night Live Nov. 1978. This video is on Youtube but this is much higher quality.
Our high school loved them and had them both painted on a mural inside the senior wing of the school. We loved their act and their music, it was the unofficial anthem of the Traverse City Class of 1980. I am glad they came out with their music and their act, the music introduced me to the blues for the first time in my life.
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