It isn't exactly difficult to scoff at
the Blues Brothers
-- beginning your musical career as a sketch on
Saturday Night Live
is not the best way to develop artistic credibility, and while
Elwood Blues
wasn't too shabby a harp player, his brother,
Joliet Jake
, sang only marginally better than that guy who used to impersonate
Joe Cocker
on late-night television. But no one ever bought a
Blues Brothers
album expecting a life-changing musical experience -- these guys were there to put on a show, and putting on a great show is just what they did. It helped that
Dan Aykroyd
and
John Belushi
obviously loved the music, and they knew how to put together a killer band (any fan with the vision to hire
Steve Cropper
,
Donald "Duck" Dunn
Steve Jordan
, and
Matt "Guitar" Murphy"
to cover classic
blues
R&B
deserves credit for good taste, if nothing else).
The Definitive Collection
pulls together highlights from the band's debut live album,
Briefcase Full of Blues
, as well as cuts from the soundtrack to
The Blues Brothers
movie (including contributions from
Ray Charles
Aretha Franklin
) and the second, rather less-remembered live set
Made in America
. Anyone who buys this without owning a decent
Otis Redding
or
Sam & Dave
set first ought to be ashamed of themselves, but as a one-stop overview of the work of two dedicated
fans having a great time playing the songs they love, you could hardly do better than
. Play it loud and dance a lot --
John
would have wanted it that way. ~ Mark Deming