Friday, August 14, 2009

Friday Funny - Blues Brothers

Dan Aykroyd as Elwood Blues

I have heard some of the critics say that this movie is really not about the blues at all. I think that Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi both loved blues music and it showed in the work that they did on Sartuday Night Live and in the original movie.

Then there is the matter of the musicians, in the movie. John Lee Hooker is my favorite in the movie. The band, which had among others, Steve Cropper, Matt "Guitar" Murphy, Donald "Duck" Dunn, and Lou Marini, was a real band of real musicians that played a tight, sharp, and clean set. In the movie there were musical performances by the band and guests Aretha Franklin, Ray Charles, Cab Calloway, and James Brown which are classic and priceless. Even though they are not strictly blues performances. But they reflect where the music was at when the movie was made.

A very good interview was done on Terry Gross' NPR show, Dan Aykroyd, Still Full of the 'Blues'.

There are many highlight in the movie that still make me laugh to this day;

1. The seemingly endless, escalating series of car crashes. (I loved this, some don't)
2. "We've got both kinds of music: country AND western"
3. "We're on a mission from God"
4. When Ray Charles (God rest his soul) orders during the diner scene "four fried chickens and a Coke."
5. The scene with Carry Fisher, makes me laugh to this day.


2 comments:

D.S. Williamson said...

Why on earth would anyone listen to the citics? Some of the best movies I've ever seen the critics were saying to save your money. On the other hand, some that they recommended, I though were not worth the time I spent watching them. I agree with you about The Blues Brothers.

vsaturnino said...

Good Grief - I dig the Zeppelin reference as the blog title "The Lemon Song" is a song by English rock band Led Zeppelin, featured on their 1969 album Led Zeppelin II. It was recorded at Mystic Studios in Hollywood when the band was on their second concert tour of the United States.

"The Lemon Song" is laced with sexual innuendo, and features some of Led Zeppelin's most blues-influenced playing. It was recorded virtually live in the studio, and no electronic devices were used to create the echo on Robert Plant's vocal. It was made solely by Plant's voice and the acoustics in Mystic Studios, which was a 16 x 16 foot room with wooden walls.

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I need to point out that Ray Charles did not order four fried chickens.

It was Jake when Aretha says "hey, there are two honkeys out there looking like hasidic diamond merchant that want, four slices of toast, 4 whole chickens and a coke, no ice".


Keep up good fun (FYI - I found your blog google for the line!!!!)