The Blues Brothers are an American rhythm and blues band founded in 1978 by comedians Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi as part of a musical sketch on Saturday Night Live. Belushi and Aykroyd, respectively in character as lead vocalist "Joliet" Jake Blues and harpist/vocalist Elwood Blues, fronted the band, which was composed of well-known and respected musicians. The band made its debut as the musical guest on the April 22, 1978, episode of Saturday Night Live.
The Blues
Brothers became cult icons of a generation. No one had any idea that
this movie would become the theme song of a nation of cult worshipers.
John Adam Belushi (January 24, 1949 – March 5, 1982) was an Emmy Award-winning American actor, comedian and singer, most notable for his work on Saturday Night Live, National Lampoon's Animal House and The Blues Brothers.
Belushi's first big break as a comedian occurred in 1971, when he joined The Second City comedy troupe in Chicago, Illinois. Thanks to his uncanny caricature of singer Joe Cocker's intense and jerky stage presence, he participated in National Lampoon's Lemmings stage show in 1972 (which also featured future Saturday Night Live performers Chevy Chase, Gilda Radner, Bill Murray and Christopher Guest).
From 1973 to 1975 the National Lampoon aired The Radio Hour, a half-hour comedy program syndicated across the country on approximately 600 stations. When original director Michael O'Donoghue quit in 1974, Belushi took over the reins until the show was canceled. Other players on the show included future SNL regulars Gilda Radner, Bill Murray, Brian Doyle-Murray and Chevy Chase. Belushi married Judy Jacklin, an associate producer of The Radio Hour. A number of comic segments first performed on The Radio Hour would be translated into SNL sketches in the show's early seasons.
Belushi achieved national fame for his work on Saturday Night Live, which he joined as an original cast member in 1975.
Between seasons of the show, he made one of his best-known movies, Animal House.
Known for his drug usage, which eventually cost him his life, Belushi was found dead on March 5, 1982, at age 33, in a hotel room at the Chateau Marmont on Sunset Boulevard in Los Angeles, California. The cause of death was a speedball, an injection of cocaine and heroin. On the night of his death, he was accompanied by friends Robin Williams and Robert De Niro (at the height of their own drug exploits)[1], who later left the premises, leaving Belushi in the company of Cathy Smith. His death was investigated by forensic pathologist Dr. Ryan Norris among others, and while the findings were disputed, it was officially ruled a drug-related accident.
John Belushi is interred in Abel's Hill Cemetery on Martha's Vineyard Chilmark, Massachusetts. His tombstone reads "I may be gone, but rock n roll lives on."
The Grateful Dead song "West L.A. Fadeaway" is about Belushi's death. Belushi was a good friend to the band, especially Jerry Garcia. He even performed with them on occasion in the late 1970s.
If you are to young to know the Blues Brothers you need to check the web, and your local video store. This is part of American History you
will want to learn about.
Live on Jake and Elwood. We can and will not ever forget you! Who said life is fair.
Anyway, now with time on my hands I decided to write a long overdue letter to the IRS: Let me know what you think.
Dear Sirs at the IRS,
I am in recite of the letter where you stated that if I did not pay the $24.76 underpayment on last years tax filing that you were in a position to cause me a lot of trouble.
Well, before you send out the men in black, you should be aware of the following:
Last week my wife informed me that she has been having an affair with two of our neighbors and that she is leaving and her attorney will be in contact with me to let me know how little I will be keeping after the divorce.
In preparation for this event, I took my two sons fishing in order to let them know what was going on. In the middle of the lake, my oldest son informs me he is gay and is having a sex change operation in 3 weeks. My youngest son was laughing so hard that he fell out of the boat and drowned.
On top of that my bosses wife has informed me that I will have sex with her, or she is going to tell her husband that I did anyway and he is a very jealous man who spent 4 years in prison for aggravated assault on a man who said "good morning, how are you today" to his wife.
And you think you are in a position to "cause me trouble."
I HOPE YOURS WAS AS HAPPY AS MINE. How much of this can you relate to? Brother Dave was a riot..a lunatic..that must have been why I related to him so well.
This is a tragic tale that has a happy ending. It involves my Great, Great, Great
Grandfather and a tribe of South Dakota indians known as the Shucktawa's.
The Shucktawa's (Shuck - Ta- Wa's) became known in history as the
Fugowwi Tribe. (Fu - Gow - Wee). My G. G. G. Grandfather was the chief
of this nomadic tribe for 43 years.
There home was the flat lands, and mesas
and hills of South Dakota for years until moved to the reservation in
Arizona.
The tribe was prosperous and healthy and my Grandfather was a good and
fair chief of his people. Until the last 10 years of my Grandfathers life.
At age 67 he developed health problems and was starting to lose his memory.
He was a proud man and could not or would not face the reality of his
declining health and seek help.
His memory loss developed into Alzheimer's
and progressively got worse.
For the last ten years of his life, he would each morning make the tribe
pack all there belongings and move to a different and new campsite
along the familiar hills of South Dakota.
Then at sunrise of the new day
he would come out of his tee-pee and look around at land he had traveled
all his life and utter the following comment: "WHERE THE FUGOWWI".
He got so bad they had to move him into a place for people with alzheimer's.
But they said he died happy, everyday going up to everyone else in the
place and asking: "whothefugaya".
There is a story about him in his younger days when he would jump on his poney and ride to other indian incampments go up to every squaw and raise his hand and say "SOME".
One day in a village, the tribal medican man saw him and called him over and told him "we don't greet our kind by saying some..we say HOW".
To which my grandfather said "Hell no...Me know how, me want some".
Many Blogstream members are there
already! Quotes from members: "It's like blog lite!" -- "I like the instant
gratification!" -- "Stop spectating, get in the game!"
If you have not joined in, you are really missing out!
