It started as a musical comedy sketch on TV's "Saturday Night Live."
In a January 1976 broadcast of SNL, Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi performed as Howard Bee and his All-Bee Band. Over the next several months, as the skit evolved, Aykroyd and Belushi became Elwood and Jake Blues. The act was based on a fictional back story about a blues duo, but it proved so popular that Aykroyd and Belushi made the Blues Brothers a permanent band.
Next came an album, "Briefcase Full of Blues," and in 1980, a movie, "The Blues Brothers."
Belushi died in 1982, but the act has gone on and on, and now tours as The Official Blues Brothers Revue . The show will open the Riverside Live ! concert season Oct. 12 at Mayo Civic Center.
The current duo features Wayne Catania as Jake and Kieren Lafferty as Elwood. They're backed by the eight-piece Intercontinental R&B Revue Band, and they wear the same black suits, white shirts, skinny black ties and black fedoras that have been the Blues Brothers' costume since the beginning.
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Aykroyd has said the Blues Brothers act was inspired by Toronto's Downchild Blues Band, founded in 1969 by brothers Donnie and Richard "Hook" Walsh. Jake was modeled on Hook Walsh, with Elwood modeled on Donnie Walsh. The music is a timeless mix of blues, R&B and rock 'n' roll.
Modern audiences often arrive dressed like the Blues Brothers. The show opens with Jake and Elwood taking their Bluesmobile to the gig, and stopping for a drink along the way. Then, they take the stage to perform songs such as "She Caught the Katy," "Sweet Home Chicago," "Shotgun Blues," "Flip, Flop, Fly," "I Can't Turn You Loose," and of course, their signature tunes "Soul Man" and "Shout."
