‘The Blues Brothers,’ and its memorable scene with Aretha Franklin, is 45 years old this weekend

They were on mission of God.

When Dan Aykroyd, John Belushi and the director John Landis decided that they would adapt the popular Blues Brothers characters of Saturday Night Live In a feature film, there was an auction war even before a script. The late evening show was already a established cultural marvel, the movie Landis-Belushi Animal house was a feeling, and the album of Blues Brothers Mallet full of blues was an unexpected phenomenon, reaching n ° 1 Display panelAlbum graphics and double platinum.

Wisely – oh, so wisely – the creators admitted that they should call certain ringers if this film (anyway) was going to work. As such, the finished product is a parade of musical legends, not only actors who wear funny combinations and do a passable work singing R&B successes.

Ray Charles, John Lee Hooker (with Pinetop Perkins), Cab Calloway and James Brown all obtain memorable musical moments, but Zenith is reached when the soul queen, Aretha Franklin, takes the front of the scene for the highlight of this film, as well as all the films, as well as life as a sensitive creature on the planet.

To put the clip very briefly: Jake and Elwood Blues (Belushi and Aykroyd) must collect funds to save the orphanage where they were raised. They decide, in classic Hollywood fashion, to make a show and, as such, to “put the group”. A large part of the first piece of the film is dedicated to regrouping with their former camaraderie – most of whom were the real musicians of the successful album as an actor, notably Steve Cropper and Donald “Duck” Dunn de Booker T. and the MG, “Blue Lou” Marini “,” Bones “Malone, and several personalities beloved by collectors of Hardcore disk.

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When they hunt Matt “Guitar” Murphy (who in real life recorded with everyone, from Etta James to Buddy Guy to Chuck Berry in Otis Rush), he works as a short -term cook in a restaurant. Just before he hit the road with the guys, his wife told him “he would better think about it”. His wife is played by the one and only Franklin, who also has to face the bizarre order of Blues Brothers. Observe:

Assuming you just looked at the clip above, you can now say that you have seen the biggest musical sequence in history. If you do not agree, you are wrong. (Anyone who does not agree to send an email to iamwrong@aol.com.) From the moment when the melody gets into play, it is a train to the run, and it is before the ladies at the counter join, the fillings of the sax, or the “haaaaaaay!” At 3:40.

“Think” was written by Franklin and Ted White (Franklin’s husband then), and was initially recorded in 1968. It was produced by Jerry Wexler in Atlantic Records, and went to n ° 7 Display panel ‘S GART HOT 100 (and n ° 1 on the R&B graph). It was not as important as “respect” or “(you make me feel) as a natural woman” or “chain of fools”, but it was always a fairly substantial success. Here’s how the original sounded:

One thing you will notice on the 1980 version is that it is much faster. Does that do better? It’s up to you to decide, but one thing is certain: it’s very fun to see Franklin Ceinter this song as a character who sasse her husband … with Belushi and Aykroyd in clumsy outfits in the background.

The album of the soundtrack of The Blues brothers Hit the n ° 11 on the charts and also went double platinum. In addition to the song, Franklin also played the piano on the recording of “think”. (Paul Shaffer was involved in part of the instrumentation; maybe it was special sauce.)

If watching the scene of The Blues brothers Do you have itchy for more than Franklin on the film, you are lucky in a way that previous generations were not. In 2018, images of a two -night performance in a church in Los Angeles, which had been sitting on a shelf since 1972, was finally referred and published to the public as a documentary amazing Grace. The reasons for the delay were both legal and technical, but the result is one of the most fabulous concert films of all time. And not only because there are photos of Mick Jagger and Charlie Watts who seem absolutely cleared to be in the presence of Aretha Franklin. (Who. Could blame them.)