An Epic Friendship, the Rise of Improv and the Making of an American Film Classic
Review by Annabel
Full disclosure: I saw The Blues Brothers on the first day of its general release at Fulham Road ABC in October 1980. From the opening shots, as we pan in over an industrial landscape towards Joliet Correctional Center on the outskirts of Chicago and we see the back of John Belushi as Jake being marched to collect his worldly goods from Frank Oz as the property guard (“One unused prophylactic,” he pauses to use his pencil to pick up, “one soiled”.) then the intro to ‘She Caught the Katy’ comes in as we finally get to see Belushi’s face as the prison gates open, framing him in light with Elwood waiting to meet him – it’s a full six minutes into the film and I already knew I was going to love it. I still do.
But The Blues Brothers movie isn’t the main act in this book. As its subtitle suggests, its coverage is far wider, encompassing the whole early careers of its stars, John Belushi and Dan Ackroyd, climaxing in the movie, and winding down with their lives afterwards.
However, De Visé begins the book with the birth of the Blues Brothers – their first appearance on Saturday Night Live (SNL), April 1978.
Dan Ackroyd adjusted his thin black tie in the dressing-room mirror. He was a perfectionist, and his Elwood Blues persona was perfect: baggy black suit with narrow lapels, black trilby hat, Timex watch, crisp white shirt, and vintage black Ray-Bans. […]
Dan preferred anonymity. […] he trained all his manic energy on transforming into Elwood Blues: a recidivist character, raised in a Chicago orphanage, schooled in the blues, who concealed his pallid junkie frame within the raiments of straight society, hiding bloodshot eyes behind dark shades, a Hohner Special 20 harmonica tucked in a hip pocket like a revolver.
In the next room sat Elwood’s brother in blues, Jake, a role inhabited with reckless abandon by Dan’s best friend, writing partner, and SNL costar, John Belushi. At twenty-nine, John was four years older than Dan, four inches shorter, and several inches wider. Dan was Mr. Careful. John was Mr. Fuck It. In front of his own dressing-room mirror, John assembled his Jake Blues ensemble with sloppy imprecision. His collar didn’t quite fit. His hat was brown. […]
By then everyone watching the broadcast understood that the Blues Brothers act was deadly serious, at least to the black-suited front men. Never in their three years on the Saturday Night Live stage had John and Dan exuded such messianic passion. […] John, his face glistening with sweat, nodded nonchalantly to acknowledge the cheers. He knew what he and Dan had pulled off. Was it real? Was it a joke? The audience no longer cared.
Apologies for the long quotes – but there was no better way to open the book, I think you’ll agree. We now go back to see how Belushi and Ackroyd got to SNL, Ackroyd via Toronto’s nightclubs and a stint in the Second City comedy troupe in Toronto and Chicago. Belushi was born in Chicago to Albanian-American parents, he met Ackroyd at Second City and was the last to be recruited to the regular SNL cast for its first season which aired in 1975. Ackroyd and Belushi would both leave after four series to make the Blues Brothers movie.
Life in the SNL show was tense, especially with Chevy Chase in the mix – a bit like the rivalries between the various writing partnerships in the Pythons – getting your sketch into the show could be a challenge. Meanwhile, the Blues Brothers guested again on SNL, and went on to cut a hit live album, Briefcase Full of Blues, going on tour opening for bands like The Grateful Dead. Belushi had worked with John Landis on Animal House a year or so prior, and by now Ackroyd had a script for the film that was as thick as a phone book. Given the brick of a script Landis was still confident and set about ‘sculpting Dan’s phone book into something filmable.’
The chapter on how Landis and Ackroyd got all the blues and soul legends to join in on the film was fascinating. De Visé styles it as Dan’s ‘mission from God’.
Dan had written most of the parts not knowing who might play them. He wanted the film to “recognise these veteran, venerable artists,” heroes of the 1950s and ’60s, forgotten giants. Landis understood Dan’s mission on a cellular level.
Landis had approached Little Richard to play the singing preacher, but the Rev Richard Penniman politely declined, Jesus came first. Instead, they got James Brown! They approached B.B. King’s manager, who said B.B. was too busy – many years later he was devastated to learn he missed out. This fact led to De Visé writing this book – while finishing his previous book on B.B. King, he’d contacted Landis to ask why he wasn’t in the film…
They got permission from Mayor Byrne of Chicago, to film the final scenes in Daley Plaza in Chicago at dawn by promising $200k to the city orphanages – she was already a fan of SNL and didn’t need much persuading.
Everything was coming into place. As you might guess from seeing the film’s set pieces, the shooting wasn’t easy (including Aretha Franklin’s lack of lip-synching ability). All those car wrecks! The disused shopping mall which was restocked for the film! So many extras, etc. etc. etc.
Then came the reviews – most of the critics hated it, they didn’t get why all the blues and soul legends were part of it – except Siskel and Ebert. But word of mouth works, the public loved the music and they loved Jake and Elwood.
The band went out on tour again on the back of the movie, but John’s health wasn’t good, the drugs were taking their toll and I’m sure you know how it ended. Many moons ago I read Bob Woodward’s 1984 book – Wired: The Short Life and Fast Times of John Belushi, not knowing that Ackroyd and others had publicly denounced it shortly after its publication as a catalogue of drug-taking episodes without context or nuanced journalism. De Visé, however, gives a balanced and sensitive picture, acknowledging the support he had from Dan, and Belushi’s widow Judy throughout.
While the book does get bogged down a little in the earlier stages, it’s a must for fans of the film. Two sections of plates and comprehensive references complete the volume. I absolutely devoured it, and then put the film on again to relive it once more.
Annabel is a co-founder and editor of Shiny, and has watched The Blues Brothers at least annually ever since it became available on video.
Daniel De Visé, The Blues Brothers (White Rabbit, 2024). 978-1399621861, 386 pp., incl notes, index, hardback.
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True story… when they drive through Daley Plaza, it was a sequence they had to shoot in two takes. Because of this, they could use the same extras in the crowds that were there when they drove in as they did when they drove out. How do I know this? Because my father’s girlfriend at the time was one of the extras in the crowd! We actually spotted her in both bits!
How wonderful!