Dan Aykroyd and John Landis: how we made The Blues Brothers

[tiktok]

For all the guff that "The Blues Brothers" gets from purists and Curtis Salgado, as a ten-year old kid when it came out, it was completely my introduction to something mysterious and exciting called "The Blues". The following years had many recognition moments in record store bins as I found records by the blues artists in the movie and I marveled at how they'd gotten so many "legends" to appear in this funny car chase movie with singing. Also:

"It acts as cultural preservation. We made sure the writers of the material kept their publishing rights. John and I took performers’ rights only. Every one of those songs we recorded remunerated the original artists 100% due to album sales. It was an ethical decision and the songwriters today and their estates have benefited from it."

https://www.theguardian.com/film/20...do038vVrcmQ_KPE6LamBRUtWHbhpf-k5-L0vAHYmlOHfU

 

[GulfportBound]

Their hearts and ethics were in the right place but the movie still sucks.

And I've been sick and tired of all the so-called blues people in my town and elsewhere hitting bandstands in ersatz-Blues Brothers suits and hats for a very long time. They're at least as obnoxious as the Stevie Ray Vaughanabes in their ****** mariachi hats and costumes.

 

[supergenius365]

As a kid growing up in Chicago suburbs and a child of parents from the South Side, I love watching the movie for the locations and the memories of actually living there. Nazis marching in Skokie was a very real thing when I was a kid. My grandparents used to go to the Maxwell Street Market.
Greatest movie ever? No, but the Blues Brothers did a lot of good bringing attention to artists who deserved recognition and probably got a lot of people to delve into blues music who wouldn’t have done so otherwise.

 

[tapeworm]

Their hearts and ethics were in the right place but the movie still sucks.

And I've been sick and tired of all the so-called blues people in my town and elsewhere hitting bandstands in ersatz-Blues Brothers suits and hats for a very long time. They're at least as obnoxious as the Stevie Ray Vaughanabes in their ****** mariachi hats and costumes.

I agree with this in full.

 

[Powderfinger]

I enjoyed their shtick when it came out but the odd thing was most of the music they played wasn’t really Blues. In fact on their big album in 1978 and their soundtrack album almost none of it is blues. Still, it was a funny bit and they introduced a lot of young people to some great artists and music.

 

[Artemis Fowl]

Just no pleasing some people. Dis'ing the Blues Brothers movie?! Pathetic and sad. I swear some of you guys wouldn't know fun if it wrapped itself around your waist and started to wiggle. Carry on I guess...maybe try to find some grammatical errors or something else to complain about.

 

[Simto]

Love that movie and very cool to hear about the publishing rights.

 

[Dave M]

Since it didn't take 10 posts to devolve this thread into HC .....

 

[John Quinn]

For all the guff that "The Blues Brothers" gets from purists and Curtis Salgado, as a ten-year old kid when it came out, it was completely my introduction to something mysterious and exciting called "The Blues". The following years had many recognition moments in record store bins as I found records by the blues artists in the movie and I marveled at how they'd gotten so many "legends" to appear in this funny car chase movie with singing.

Some facts to keep in mind regarding the Blues Brothers schtick; The Blues Brothers originated at the Dan Aykroyd-owned Holland Tunnel Blues Bar. Akroyd and Belushi would get up and play occasionally - Aykroyd was a fairly serious harmonica player - and Belushi was a serious comic who loved mimicking singers (it's where the Joe Cocker emulation was born). As one might think a whole lot of booze and drugs were flowing during these sessions. Aykroyd and another writer - Ron Gwynne - came up with the concept. I don't remember any of my friends taking the band very seriously - I think they were playing around in the off season. I do remember the movie was the 'it' movie when it came out - at least among the hipster types. I saw it in the Theaters - didn't understand the fuss - an to be honest I still don't. It was a fun movie to see one time - but really - a blues band? We'd all been there done that - minus the black suits, sunglasses and hats.

 

[NorCal_Val]

Love it.

 

[GulfportBound]

Dis'ing the Blues Brothers movie?! Pathetic and sad.

"Pathetic and sad" is a perfect way to describe that movie and its alleged humour.

 

[Gallus]

For all the guff that "The Blues Brothers" gets from purists and Curtis Salgado, as a ten-year old kid when it came out, it was completely my introduction to something mysterious and exciting called "The Blues". The following years had many recognition moments in record store bins as I found records by the blues artists in the movie and I marveled at how they'd gotten so many "legends" to appear in this funny car chase movie with singing. Also:

"It acts as cultural preservation. We made sure the writers of the material kept their publishing rights. John and I took performers’ rights only. Every one of those songs we recorded remunerated the original artists 100% due to album sales. It was an ethical decision and the songwriters today and their estates have benefited from it."

https://www.theguardian.com/film/20...do038vVrcmQ_KPE6LamBRUtWHbhpf-k5-L0vAHYmlOHfU

Same here. Loved the movie from the get go and still do. Musically, it spelled out the names to look for in the record shop... which, by that time, certainly in regional Australia, didn't come up all that often.

 

[viper]

Love this movie and it is eminently quotable. Like others have mentioned, it turned me on to a lot of these blues/soul artists and I have massive respect how they left publishing rights to the original artists. The car crashes are over the top but overall it's a ton of fun and when it comes on TV I'll always stop to watch, if even for a few minutes.

 

[fuzz guy]

I think it's a funny and entertaining movie.

 

[Laurence]

Funny chase scene

 

[gonzoknife]

I love the movie and always will. If it's ever on somewhere I have to watch it. Is it the funniest movie? No. Is it the best movie? No. But there's something endearing about it.

 

[Aloha Mark]

The movie succeeded in broadening the appreciation of the Blues, so, no harm, no foul. Indirectly, it may have lined up funding for other productions such as Martin Scorsese's The Blues, and Ken Burns' Jazz.
Music is not the dominion of first adopters who frequented blues clubs, and purchased early Chess or Vanguard albums. It needed to flourish and grow like wild flowers, and eventually permeate popular culture and youtube. In that way, the blues will never die.

 

[Tony Done]

I play country blues blues and folk, and I'm old enough to have seen some of the authentic prewar guys live in the 60s revival. but that is still one of my favourite films, regardless. It is just good fun with good music, thought I do agree with post #2 about the suits and (fedora) hats.

 

[cragginshred]

As a young guitarist I was fully underwhelmed by the 'music' in the movie. Although, to this day I quote lines from the movie
'You don't look like the good ole boys'
'Whats the chicken wire for'?
'Head em up, drive em out,..Rawhide'.... That's all I got at the moment!

Yeah dumb movie with some funny parts with crappy flavor of the 'Blues'.

 

[Gms]

The music in this movie is more connected to the progression and development of the blues in America than a lot of what we see today with the blues label.