41 years ago April 22 - The Blues Brothers debuted on SNL by Kaye Spencer #prairierosepubs #BluesBrothers #SNL

Forty one years ago...

April 22-1978 - The soon-to-become legendary band the Blues Brothers debuted on Saturday Night Live.

Blues Brothers publicity picture
Full citation below

The frontmen for the Blues Brothers, Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi, made television history that night, and Paul Shaffer introduced them to the worldwide television audience with this fabricated story*:

It was Marshall Checker, of the legendary Checker brothers, who first discovered them in the gritty blues clubs of Chicago's South Side in 1969 and handed them their big break nine years later with an introduction to music-industry heavyweight and host of televisions' Rock Concert, Don Kirshner.

It didn't matter that this musical duo was a "not-quite-real, not-quite fake" creation of the comedic masterminds Aykrod and Belushi. They'd hit upon a novel idea, and they ran with it.

The Blues Brothers performed two songs on that SNL episode - Hey, Bartender and Soul Man. This video is a performance of Hey, Bartender, but not from the SNL debut.

Here are a few trivia tidbits about the Blues Brothers**:

• They were an American R&B, blues, and soul revivalist band with heavy influences from rock and jazz, and the band was created as part of musical sketch on SNL.
• Belushi played 'Joliet' Jake Blues
• Akyrod played the harmonica player/vocalist Elwood Blues
• Well-known and respected musicians have rotated in and out of the band (full list HERE)
• 1978 - released their debut album Briefcase Full of Blues AND (along with New Riders of the Purple Sage) opened for the Grateful Dead at a an Francico concert
• 1980 - the movie, The Blue Brothers
• 1982 - after Belushi's death, the Blues Brothers continued to perform with a variety of musicians in and out of the band
• 1988 - world tour
• 1998 - sequel to the original movie -- Blues Brothers 2000
• A documentary of the evolution of the band is included in some DVD editions of the first Blues Brothers film (Stories Behind the Making of the Blues Brothers.
• 1982 - After John Belushi's death, his brother, Jim, took on the role of "Zee Blues" and performed periodically with the band, and he was also a part of the album Blues Brothers & Friends: Live from House of Blues.
• Actor John Goodman also did a stint as band member "Mighty Mack" McTeer as a vocalist
• 2018 - Dan Akroyd hosted a radio show as Elwood Blues on the weekly House of Blues Radio House
• Between 1992 and 2017 - band recorded 19 albums ( 2 studio; 4 live; 2 soundtrack; 11 compliation)
• 1979 - their song "Soul Man" reached Number 14 on US charts
• Their soundtrack album from their movie, "Gimme Some Lovin'", was a Top 40 hit, and the band toured to promote the film.
• Belushi's wife (Judith Jacklin and his friend Tino Insana) wrote a book titled Blues Brothers: Private - offered back story for the original movie

 My favorite bit of trivia is this story:

To promote Blues Brothers 2000 (1998), Dan Aykroyd, James Belushi, and John Goodman performed at the halftime of Super Bowl XXXI, along with ZZ Top and James Brown. The performance was preceded with a faux news report stating the Blues Brothers had escaped custody and were on their way to the Louisiana Superdome.

So fabulous. ;-)

To wrap up this brief stroll down Blues Brothers memory lane, here is my favorite song/scene from the original Blues Brothers movie - Rawhide/Stand by Your Man. (and, of course, every neighborhood bar has a bull whip hanging on the wall where the band can access it *wink*)

Until next time,
Kaye Spencer

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References, Resources, and Further Reading
*“The Blues Brothers Make Their World Premiere on Saturday Night Live.” History.com, A&E Television Networks, 16 Nov. 2009, www.history.com/this-day-in-history/the-blues-brothers-make-their-world-premiere-on-saturday-night-live.

**“The Blues Brothers.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 14 Apr. 2019, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Blues_Brothers.

***Blues Brothers. Digital Image. Publicity picture featured on the cover of the 45-tour disk, "Sweet Home Chicago". 1980. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:BluesBrothers.jpg. Reproduced under United States fair use copyright law. 02 September 2009.