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| Track list: 1. She Caught The Katy 2. Peter Gunn Theme 3. Gimme Some Lovin' 4. Shake A Tail Feather 5. Everybody Needs Somebody To Love 6. The Old Landmark 7. Think 8. Theme From Rawride 9. Minnie The Moocher 10. Sweet Home Chicago Running time: 40 minutes Released: 1980 |
Classic soundtrack time. The Blues Brothers was one of my favourite movies growing up, the anarchic chases and other silliness was undoubtedly one draw, but it's impossible to escape the power of the music in shaping the film. I haven't watched it in years, and the aforementioned silliness would probably make it hard for me to sit through it now (though I do, of course, have the DVD), but the love of the music is still strong. So strong, in fact, that I am making time for a second listen today.
The staccato riff that forms the opening to She Caught the Katy immediately transports me back, sets the mood. I think I have a Taj Mahal version of this song around somewhere but its this recording that is the one I remember and refer to. The Blues Brothers may have stemmed from a comedy skit but the love for their source material is clear, and their rendition of the Peter Gunn Theme is movie gold. This is one place where my youthful love of the saxophone is still alive and kicking, whilst that riff... well its so iconic that I can almost forgive the incessant nature of it, not once breaking stride in the duration of the piece until the climax. It must be dead dull to play but it is the rock around which the rest can build.
Then we hit Gimme Some Lovin'... these tunes are all standards now, what can I really say? I've mentioned before that the best song from the movie is not actually on this OST (I also strangely said that the Peter Gunn Theme was the best on the disc; huh), but it's hard to say that it's missing given the energy put into the songs that are represented here. I'm not as fond of GSL as I once was, it feels a little bland now, but by contrast I'm far more engaged with Ray Charles' Shake a Tail Feather. The organ keys just brought a beam to my face, and the picture of a poor neighbourhood gathering in the street to dance along to my mind's eye. I think it's the rhythm that really grabs me now though, high tempo, peppy and reinforced by the horns.
Everbody... starts with the intro from the film, which probably sets this version apart from any other recording of the song, It gives the track a clear nostalgia pull even beyond the music itself. The transition into the chorus is just magic, whilst the base pattern is merely so-so, that switch elevates the number. I generally find celebs taking on music to be a bit... eh (though I have at least one example beyond The Blues Brothers to contend with going forward), but here they are backed by professionals who made their living off tunes like these and the enthusiasm is the selling point.
I wrote earlier about Joni Mitchell's Blue that I own it because I felt I ought to. I now run into the converse of that; I don't have any James Brown aside from The Old Landmark despite his iconic status as I was growing up (I wonder if it has faded some since; he does not seem as immediately relevant to the 21st century somehow... which is probably a shame). Brown is followed by Aretha - another of the stars here that I almost feel I should have invested more in. Think always used to be my favourite track from the film - it came on the back of the "four fried chickens and a coke, and some white bread, toasted" line (since parodied - as indeed the whole film was - by Pratchett in Soul Music, the main reason young me loved that book so much), as much as the performance I suspect that sold me. The power of this number though... it takes me back to my childhood in a nice fleeting sense.
It saddens me that whilst the Rawhide theme made it on to the OST, the version of Stand By Your Man did not. Visually the Rawhide theme works better, Jake cracking the bullwhip and all, but on record its pretty dull. I never saw the show, was never a fan of westerns, and can't relate to the tune in any way beyond the scene from The Blues Brothers; it falls flat. That can't be said for Cab Calloway's number though... from the big wailing horn in the intro to the flapping lips and fast paced scat and the recorded audience participation (well, engineered somehow I suspect but still). I remember knowing this song before the film somehow - my dad must have had it on tape or something, or perhaps more likely my memory is compounding the fact I know it exists separately with hearing Calloway recordings since. In any case, it is a nice rendition of the song.
Sweet Home Chicago was the other number that tussled for "favourite" status with Think. I just loved the long lead out that plays over the brothers' escape, but that sort of thing has lost its magic for me now and actually the song is rather rigid and formulaic. It seems to lack some of the energy and enthusiasm that keeps the earlier recordings vital, though the image of Ackroyd and Belushi "dancing" down the catwalk and back is a hard one to keep out, and it does raise a smile. Hah! The tune actually gets far more interesting in the lead out even now. Not enough to be a favourite, but it gets noticeably better after the vocal ends and the musicians take up the challenge of filling space. I'd take She Caught the Katy over this as the best of the Blues Brothers tracks on the soundtrack though - there is just something about that intro that nails an atmosphere that the rest of the disc does just enough to hold up, but not quite enough to match.
The final track always felt a bit tacked on. Jailhouse Rock performed by prisoners. Hur hur. I just have no engagement with the track. It's not bad, per se but just frenetic for frenetic's sake and it is not a tune that I have other versions of or any investment in. Actually I think it is quite bad. Cacophonous. A blaring end I could do without, and that is with it ending a note before I expect the big jangly chord finish.
Nostalgia - sometimes it should be left alone. Sometimes indulging ain't so bad. This falls on the second side despite my strong suspicions that the film itself falls on the first.
The staccato riff that forms the opening to She Caught the Katy immediately transports me back, sets the mood. I think I have a Taj Mahal version of this song around somewhere but its this recording that is the one I remember and refer to. The Blues Brothers may have stemmed from a comedy skit but the love for their source material is clear, and their rendition of the Peter Gunn Theme is movie gold. This is one place where my youthful love of the saxophone is still alive and kicking, whilst that riff... well its so iconic that I can almost forgive the incessant nature of it, not once breaking stride in the duration of the piece until the climax. It must be dead dull to play but it is the rock around which the rest can build.
Then we hit Gimme Some Lovin'... these tunes are all standards now, what can I really say? I've mentioned before that the best song from the movie is not actually on this OST (I also strangely said that the Peter Gunn Theme was the best on the disc; huh), but it's hard to say that it's missing given the energy put into the songs that are represented here. I'm not as fond of GSL as I once was, it feels a little bland now, but by contrast I'm far more engaged with Ray Charles' Shake a Tail Feather. The organ keys just brought a beam to my face, and the picture of a poor neighbourhood gathering in the street to dance along to my mind's eye. I think it's the rhythm that really grabs me now though, high tempo, peppy and reinforced by the horns.
Everbody... starts with the intro from the film, which probably sets this version apart from any other recording of the song, It gives the track a clear nostalgia pull even beyond the music itself. The transition into the chorus is just magic, whilst the base pattern is merely so-so, that switch elevates the number. I generally find celebs taking on music to be a bit... eh (though I have at least one example beyond The Blues Brothers to contend with going forward), but here they are backed by professionals who made their living off tunes like these and the enthusiasm is the selling point.
I wrote earlier about Joni Mitchell's Blue that I own it because I felt I ought to. I now run into the converse of that; I don't have any James Brown aside from The Old Landmark despite his iconic status as I was growing up (I wonder if it has faded some since; he does not seem as immediately relevant to the 21st century somehow... which is probably a shame). Brown is followed by Aretha - another of the stars here that I almost feel I should have invested more in. Think always used to be my favourite track from the film - it came on the back of the "four fried chickens and a coke, and some white bread, toasted" line (since parodied - as indeed the whole film was - by Pratchett in Soul Music, the main reason young me loved that book so much), as much as the performance I suspect that sold me. The power of this number though... it takes me back to my childhood in a nice fleeting sense.
It saddens me that whilst the Rawhide theme made it on to the OST, the version of Stand By Your Man did not. Visually the Rawhide theme works better, Jake cracking the bullwhip and all, but on record its pretty dull. I never saw the show, was never a fan of westerns, and can't relate to the tune in any way beyond the scene from The Blues Brothers; it falls flat. That can't be said for Cab Calloway's number though... from the big wailing horn in the intro to the flapping lips and fast paced scat and the recorded audience participation (well, engineered somehow I suspect but still). I remember knowing this song before the film somehow - my dad must have had it on tape or something, or perhaps more likely my memory is compounding the fact I know it exists separately with hearing Calloway recordings since. In any case, it is a nice rendition of the song.
Sweet Home Chicago was the other number that tussled for "favourite" status with Think. I just loved the long lead out that plays over the brothers' escape, but that sort of thing has lost its magic for me now and actually the song is rather rigid and formulaic. It seems to lack some of the energy and enthusiasm that keeps the earlier recordings vital, though the image of Ackroyd and Belushi "dancing" down the catwalk and back is a hard one to keep out, and it does raise a smile. Hah! The tune actually gets far more interesting in the lead out even now. Not enough to be a favourite, but it gets noticeably better after the vocal ends and the musicians take up the challenge of filling space. I'd take She Caught the Katy over this as the best of the Blues Brothers tracks on the soundtrack though - there is just something about that intro that nails an atmosphere that the rest of the disc does just enough to hold up, but not quite enough to match.
The final track always felt a bit tacked on. Jailhouse Rock performed by prisoners. Hur hur. I just have no engagement with the track. It's not bad, per se but just frenetic for frenetic's sake and it is not a tune that I have other versions of or any investment in. Actually I think it is quite bad. Cacophonous. A blaring end I could do without, and that is with it ending a note before I expect the big jangly chord finish.
Nostalgia - sometimes it should be left alone. Sometimes indulging ain't so bad. This falls on the second side despite my strong suspicions that the film itself falls on the first.
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