As always, the further we go back in Hollywood history, the more that fact and legend become intertwined. It's hard to say where the truth really lies.
April 22, 1978
The Blues Brothers make
their world premiere on Saturday Night Live.
The characters and the band that Belushi
and Aykroyd unveiled that night took more than two years to evolve. The first
incarnation came during SNL's first season, in a January 17, 1976,
appearance singing "I'm a King Bee" as "Howard Shore and his
All-Bee Band." There were no dark suits, skinny ties or Ray-Bans at that
point, but the appearance did feature Aykroyd on the harmonica and Belushi on
vocals belting out a blues classic very much in the style of the future Elwood
and "Joliet" Jake Blues, albeit while wearing bee costumes.
The Blues
Brothers' look—and much of their repertoire—would come together after Belushi's
trip to Eugene, Oregon, during the hiatus between SNL
seasons two and three to film Animal House. It was there that
Belushi, a committed rock-and-roll fan, met a 25-year-old bluesman named Curtis
Salgado, future harmonica player for Robert Cray, frontman for Roomful of Blues
and a major figure on the burgeoning Pacific Northwest blues scene of the 1970s. Belushi became a regular visitor to the Eugene
Hotel to catch Salgado's act during the filming of Animal House, and it
was from that act and from Salgado himself that he picked up a passion for the
blues as well as the inspiration for the Blues Brothers' sound and look .
Back
in New York for the third season of SNL,
Belushi and Aykroyd honed their concept for the Blues Brothers Band and
recruited an incredible roster of backing instrumentalists drawn from among the
finest blues and R&B session musicians in the country. Even if their debut
performance on this night in 1978 hadn't been a huge hit, the band was far too
good to break up after a single gig. Indeed, the closing portion of Paul
Shaffer's introduction that night—"Today they are no longer an authentic
blues act, but have managed to become a viable commercial product"—ended
up being borne out in real life, with the Blues Brothers earning three top-40
hits ("Soul Man," "Rubber Biscuit" and "Gimme Some
Lovin'"), a #1 pop album (Briefcase Full of Blues) and a piece of
screen immortality via their 1980 film, The Blues Brothers.
To quote the Bicentennial Minute, "And that's the way it was".
Stay Tuned
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