The Best of the Blues Brothers Soundtrack
The Best of the Blues Brothers Soundtrack is a compilation album of songs by The Blues Brothers. It was released in 1978 by Atlantic Records.
Introduction
The soundtrack to the 1980 film The Blues Brothers was released on June 20, 1980, by Atlantic Records. It peaked at #1 on the Billboard 200 and #3 on the R&B chart and has been certified platinum by the RIAA.
The album features songs performed by the Blues Brothers Band, which includes actors John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd as well as many noted musicians. The band had previously appeared on Saturday Night Live and released a successful 1978 debut album, Briefcase Full of Blues.
Notable tracks on the soundtrack include “Soul Man”, “Rubber Biscuit”, and “Gimme Some Lovin'”. The album also features covers of classic blues and soul songs such as “Peter Gunn Theme”, “She Caught the Katy”, and “Think”.
The Movie
The Blues Brothers is a 1980 American musical comedy film directed by John Landis. It stars John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd as “Joliet” Jake and Elwood Blues, characters developed from “The Blues Brothers” recurring musical sketch on the NBC variety series Saturday Night Live. The film’s screenplay was written by Aykroyd and Landis. It features musical numbers by rhythm and blues (R&B), soul, and pop artists of the late 1970s, including Ray Charles, Cab Calloway, James Brown, Aretha Franklin, and John Lee Hooker.
Released on June 20, 1980 by Universal Pictures, the film received mixed reviews from critics but was a commercial success. It grossed $115 million in the United States against a budget of $27 million.[4] It has become a cult classic thanks in large part to its soundtrack album, The Blues Brothers: Original Soundtrack Recording, which reached number one on the Billboard 200 chart.[5] The film is also notable for being one of the most expensive comedies made at that time; it cost nearly $30 million to produce.[6][7]
The Music
The soundtrack to the 1980 film The Blues Brothers was released on June 20, 1980, by Atlantic Records. It was certified platinum in 1989 and remains the best-selling blues album of all time, as well as the sixth best-selling soundtrack album of all time. The album features songs performed by actors Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi in character as members of the fictional blues band. Many of the tracks had been previously released on other albums, including some that had been hits for their original artists. These included “She Caught the Katy” and “Minnie the Moocher” by Taj Mahal, “I Can’t Turn You Loose” by Otis Redding and “Sweet Home Chicago” by The Blues Brothers Band featuring Ray Charles.
Most of the songs were recorded live with a five-piece band during filming at various stages and locations, including the Queensbury Hotel in Glens Falls, New York; Flo & Eddie’s nightclub in Los Angeles; and Universal Studios Stage 12. Two tracks – “Peter Gunn Theme” and “Rawhide” – were studio recordings made specifically for the film’s score, which was composed by Elmer Bernstein.
The album reached number one on Billboard’s Black Albums chart for four weeks and peaked at number three on the Billboard 200. In 2003, it was ranked number 142 on Rolling Stone magazine’s list of the 500 greatest albums of all time. In 2000, Q placed it at number 38 in its list of the 100 Greatest British Albums Ever; in 2012, Slant Magazine ranked it number 67 on its list of Best Albums of the 1980s.
The Songs
The Blues Brothers is a 1980 American musical comedy film directed by John Landis. The film stars John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd as “Joliet” Jake and Elwood Blues, characters developed from “The Blues Brothers” recurring musical sketch on the NBC variety series Saturday Night Live. It features musical numbers by rhythm and blues (R&B), soul, and pop performers of the 1950s and 1960s. The screenplay is credited to Aykroyd and landis.
The film is set in and around Chicago, Illinois, where it was filmed. It features minor cameos from upward of 30 well-known entertainers of the time including Ray Charles, Cab Calloway, James Brown, Aretha Franklin, Carrie Fisher, Henry Gibson, John Lee Hooker, Steven Spielberg, Helen Mirren and Chaka Khan. The story is a tale of redemption for paroled convict Jake and his brother Elwood as they set out on “a mission from God” to save the Catholic orphanage in which they grew up. To do so, they must reunite their former band to record a benefit concert at the Cook County Prison. Along the way they are targeted by a mystery woman named Mrs. Carlson (Kathleen Freeman), Illinois Nazis led by Commander James Cunningham (Frank Oz) and various police forces who want to put an end to their musical antics.
The Blues Brothers satirizes many elements of African American culture, including race relations in the United States during the late 1970s—between blacks and whites as well as between men and women—and psychoanalysis
The Legacy
The Blues Brothers is a 1980 American musical comedy film directed by John Landis. It stars John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd as “Joliet” Jake and Elwood Blues, characters developed from “The Blues Brothers” musical sketch on the NBC variety television series Saturday Night Live. The film’s soundtrack features several songs by rhythm and blues (R&B), soul, and blues artists, including Ray Charles, Cab Calloway, Aretha Franklin, James Brown. It is considered one of the greatest movie soundtracks of all time.
