MattA75's Full Review: The Blues Brothers by Original Soundtrack
What if I were to tell you that about 20 years ago, there was an act that could sing with more soul than Boyz II Men in their prime, outdance Britney Spears on her best day, and had more charisma than The Backstreet Boys could ever hope to have? You might want to know who it is, right? You probably already do, although there are sure to be some who disagree with my assessment of The Blues Brothers. But the simple fact is that Dan Aykroyd (Elwood) and John Belushi (Jake) took great rhythm and blues songs and made them their own. They also took some giants from the R&B world (back when R&B MEANT R&B), put them together with the "Blues Brothers Band," no slouches themselves, and these songs sounded like completely different works of art.
Personally, this movie is my all-time favorite. It incorporated music, comedy, and heart, along with a fabulous performance by Belushi, and it stood out like a sore thumb, but not in the normal bad way. =) But enough about the movie. We all know it was the music IN the movie that made it so great.
This soundtrack will disappoint some in that not all the great tracks are here. However, for those who can deal with the ten or eleven highlights contained here, you should be happy enough.
The opening She Caught the Katy is a simple blues song with a fabulous intro that builds into a head-bopping good time. Belushi sounds great on this track, his raspy and weathered vocal delivery make you think he'd been doing this stuff for years. This is followed by the Peter Gunn Theme, which just has one of the best basslines ever in the history of music. The horn section isn't too shabby either. This song just oozes cool. You just want to throw on your black sunglasses, black hat, black suit, black tie and jump in your black car and go driving around.
It's not until the third track though, Gimme Some Lovin, that the charisma Aykroyd and Belushi had as performers truly comes through in spades. As with most of the songs that features the Blues Brothers singing, the song has an extra strong musical backbone with some sort of meaty hook you can bite right into. However, one shouldn't dismiss Aykroyd and Belushi as amateurs, as they clearly know what to do and how to do it.
Ray Charles lends his strong voice to Shake a Tail Feather. Belushi sounds gleeful singing next to Charles, and this song WILL make you shake a tail feather. It's upbeat, fun, and delightfully retro.
The best Blues Brothers song on the album is the wonderfully bouncy Everybody Needs Somebody to Love, which begins with a short Aykroyd speech, from whence my title quote is taken. The rambunctious chorus chant of "I need you, you, you!" is the most infectious thing I think I've ever heard in my entire musical life.
The Godfather of Soul himself, James Brown leads a lackluster gospel song titled The Old Landmark. Me not being much of a church goer, it's probably no surprise it doesn't do anything for me. However, I should say that this isn't bad at all in the movie, but on it's own, with no visuals...nothing.
Royalty continues to reign as the Queen of Soul, Aretha Franklin contributes Think, a classic woman empowerment anthem that would have been perfect for the Chicks Rock! Write Off held on this site last week. Her voice sounds like an angel from heaven coming down, especially when she hits the higher register of notes.
The theme from the classic TV show Rawhide is next, and this is a nice change of pace. A more country inspired tune, complete with Belushi using the bullwhip and Aykroyd's deep voice is perfect for this song. It's a good song to sing along to, but it's also nice for the old fogies to reminisce to.
The late, great Cab Calloway does Minnie the Moocher, a song I've loved from the time I first heard it when I was five or six years old over my grandma's house. I always thought this was a great bluesy song that featured some badass trumpet work, not to mention a great audience sing-along in the middle.
The soundtrack closes with two rave ups, Sweet Home Chicago and Jailhouse Rock. Sweet Home Chicago is another R&B anthem that should have you up and dancing. The close to 8 minute jam is worth the price of admission alone, as you'll be clapping, bouncing, and having a grand old time to this one.
Jailhouse Rock doesn't work quite as well as I think they would've liked, but they give it a decent effort anyways.
If you loved the movie, this is a perfect companion piece. Visions of Jake and Elwood dancing through the aisles will float into your mind as you listen to the wonderful and infectious R&B tunes contained herein.
The Blues Brothers Band is:
Steve Cropper-guitar
Donald Duck Dunn-bass
Murphy Dunne-keys
Willie Hall-drums
Tom Malone-sax
"Blue" Lou Marini-sax
Matt "Guitar Murphy-you do the math
Alan Rubin-trumpet
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