Blues Brothers - Briefcase Full of Blues

"Good Evening, Ladies and Gentlemen and welcome to the Universal Amphitheater. Well, here it is the late 1970's going on 1985. Y'know so much of the music we here today is pre-programmed electronic disco, we never get a chance to hear master blues men practicing their craft anymore. By the year 2006, the music known today as the blues will exist only in the classical records department of your local public library. So tonight, Ladies and Gentlemen, while we still can, let us welcome from Rock Island, Illinois, the blues men of Joliet Jake and Elwood Blues - The Blues Brothers." - Elwood Blues

As a kid I remember seeing them on SNL and they were amazing. I was a tad perplexed as I thought there would be a punchline ... this wasn't a joke. This was reverence and it may have been wrapped in a performance piece, but this was serious stuff and it was delivered like a love letter. From what I've read it was Dan Aykroyd who was the music aficionado, and introduced John Belushi to the blues. John was a quick study.

I saw the show that launched them. April 22, 1978. Steve Martin was the guest host. Steve returned the favour when he was in residency at the Universal Amphitheater in Los Angeles in September of 1978. The Blues Brothers brought with them a full on blues revue. 

John transformed into Joliet Jake Blues and he handled lead vocals, and boy he was good. Really good. Elwood Blues, Dan Aykroyd's alter ego played a mean harp. It's important to note that they were all in on their aliases and their real names only appear in Special Thanks section of the liner notes. The band who brought the songs to life were (or just look at the picture if it's readable):

• Steve "The Colonel" Cropper - guitar
• Matt "Guitar" Murphy - guitar
• Donald "Duck" Gunn - bass guitar
• Steve "Getwa" Jordan - drums
• Lou "Blue Lou" Marini - tenor sax
• Tom "Triple Scale" Scott - tenor sax
• Tom "Bones" Malone - tenor sax, baritone sax, trombone and trumpet
• Paul "The Shiv" Shaffer - hammond organ, wurlitzer electric piano and acoustic piano

I remember seeing the record, and reading the back cover to see who played in the band. At the time I didn't recognize many of the names, but I never forgot them. Over time I'd see there names pop up all over the place. Paul who was part of the SNL band at the time before becoming David Letterman's musical director. Paul apparently missed out on being in the movie because John fired him for working with Gilda Radner. She was making a record of her own and John didn't like to share. All would be forgiven later and he'd return, and it would be glossed over as a scheduling conflict. 

Regardless, it must have been a hell of a show. Buy tickets to see Steve Martin and you get treated to a legendary blues show that was recorded and released as Briefcase Full of Blues, an album that would go double platinum and in the process become one of the best selling blues album of all time. That's a hell of a love letter.

The songs here are so good, and heck even the faux Jamaican accents on "Groove Me" isn't as irritating as you'd think. I'm not culling "Groove Me" as a highlight, that honour is reserved for The Downchild Blues Band's "Almost" as well as Elwood's lone lead vocal on "Rubber Biscuit" which just kills. I'll also single out "Soul Man" and "Flip, Flop & Fly" but dang it, the whole album is so good.

The Blues Brothers were ambassadors for the blues and they introduced the blues to a whole new generation. Thankfully the 2006 prediction did not come to pass, although maybe it did as the music industry as a whole had more or less imploded earlier than 2006.

While The Blues Brothers are probably best remembered for the movie, they were the real deal even if only for a moment.