50 Fun Facts About The Blues Brothers

Who directed the 1980 film The Blues Brothers?

He had directed Belushi in Animal House and co-wrote the screenplay with Aykroyd; he also cameos as a state trooper in the mall chase.

Jake and Elwood set out on 'a mission from God' to save what?

The Catholic orphanage needs $5,000 in property taxes; Sister Mary Stigmata, 'the Penguin', delivers the bad news.

How much money do the brothers need to raise to pay the orphanage's tax bill?

A record executive's $10,000 advance at the Palace Hotel Ballroom concert finally covers it, plus their bar tab IOU.

Jake is paroled at the start of the film from which Illinois prison, whose name is also his nickname?

He has served three years of a five-year sentence for armed robbery; the scenes were shot at the real Joliet Correctional Center.

The Bluesmobile is what make and model of car?

It is a decommissioned Mount Prospect police car with a 440 Magnum engine; Elwood traded the old Cadillac for a microphone.

Elwood demonstrates the Bluesmobile's capabilities right after picking Jake up by doing what?

The car later 'jumps' the Illinois Nazis and finally falls to pieces outside the Daley Center after a mechanic spent months rigging it.

Which soul legend plays the Reverend Cleophus, whose sermon gives Jake his epiphany?

The scene is set at the Triple Rock Baptist Church and Chaka Khan is the choir soloist; Brown re-recorded 'The Old Landmark' live on a soundstage.

Cab Calloway plays the orphanage janitor and the brothers' father figure. What is his character called?

The name honours Curtis Salgado, an Oregon blues singer who inspired Belushi while he was filming Animal House.

Which signature song does Cab Calloway perform to stall the crowd at the Palace Hotel Ballroom?

Calloway wanted a disco arrangement; Landis insisted on the original big-band version.

Aretha Franklin, as the wife of guitarist Matt Murphy, sings which song to stop him rejoining the band?

The couple run a soul food restaurant on Maxwell Street; Franklin needed several takes because she was unused to lip-syncing.

Ray Charles plays Ray, the owner of what kind of business, and performs 'Shake a Tail Feather' there?

The blind shopkeeper proves the effectiveness of his instruments, and of his aim.

Who plays the 'Mystery Woman' trying to kill Jake with rocket launchers, bombs and an M16?

She is Jake's ex-fiancee, jilted at the altar; Fisher was Aykroyd's girlfriend at the time.

The famous car chase through a shopping centre was filmed at which real, shuttered location?

Toys 'R' Us and Jewel are visible inside; the customer asking for a Miss Piggy doll is the stunt coordinator.

Where does Elwood run the neo-Nazi demonstrators off a bridge?

The Illinois Nazis, led by Henry Gibson's Head Nazi, swear revenge and chase the brothers to the end.

The band plays Bob's Country Bunker, a honky-tonk in Kokomo, Indiana, by impersonating which booked act?

The real band, fronted by Charles Napier's Tucker McElroy in a Winnebago, joins the pursuit for the rest of the film.

Which TV Western theme does Elwood sing lead on to win over the crowd at Bob's Country Bunker?

It is Aykroyd's only lead vocal on the soundtrack; the band also plays 'Stand By Your Man' from behind chicken wire.

The climactic concert venue, the Palace Hotel Ballroom, was really what at the time of filming?

It later became the South Shore Cultural Center, named for the Chicago neighbourhood where it stands.

Which famous director cameos as the Cook County clerk who takes the brothers' tax payment?

The brothers are arrested by a small army the moment they get their receipt.

Muppet performer Frank Oz plays which small role at the very start of the film?

The possessions include one unused prophylactic and one soiled; Oz turns up again in Blues Brothers 2000.

Before he was Pee-wee Herman, which future star appears as a snooty waiter at the fancy French restaurant?

His single line is 'We have a Dom Pérignon '71 at $120.'

Which model appears as the 'chic lady' in a Jaguar whom Elwood propositions at a gas station?

Elwood promises to meet her later and stands her up; Joe Walsh of the Eagles is the first prisoner to jump on a table in the finale.

Who plays Jake's parole officer, Burton Mercer, who rides along with the police?

Candy's parole officer tags along with the state troopers for the entire chase and ends up in the mob outside the Assessor's office.

What home address on Elwood's driver's licence sends the Nazis to a famous ballpark?

It is the address of Wrigley Field, whose entrance sign 'Save lives, Drive safely, Prevent fires' gets a brief cameo.

For the big chase scenes the production bought roughly how many police cars, at $400 apiece?

Most were wrecked, and at release the film held the world record for the most cars destroyed in one movie.

The Illinois Nazis' Ford Pinto was really dropped from a helicopter from about what height?

The FAA had to issue a Special Airworthiness Certificate; the freeway-ramp shot before it was filmed in Milwaukee, not Chicago.

How long was Dan Aykroyd's first-draft screenplay, and how did he deliver it?

He had never written or even read a screenplay; Landis rewrote it before shooting began without a final budget.

The film's final budget came to about $27.5M. Roughly how far over the original was that?

It still grossed over $115 million worldwide despite getting less than half the usual bookings, and entered the National Film Registry in 2020.

The Blues Brothers first appeared on Saturday Night Live in January 1976 in what unlikely outfits?

'Howard Shore and his All-Bee Band' played Slim Harpo's 'I'm a King Bee' with Belushi singing and Aykroyd on harmonica.

The act made its proper debut as SNL musical guest on April 22, 1978, on an episode hosted by whom?

They then opened for Martin at the Universal Amphitheatre that September, where their first album was recorded live.

The band's 1978 live debut album, which went to number one on the Billboard chart, was titled what?

It went double platinum and spun off 'Soul Man', a number 14 hit, and 'Rubber Biscuit'.

Elwood carried his harmonica on stage in a briefcase attached to him how?

The uniform of black suits, pencil ties, trilbies and Ray-Ban Wayfarers was borrowed in part from John Lee Hooker.

Steve Cropper and Donald 'Duck' Dunn joined the Blues Brothers Band from which instrumental group?

They were the engine of the Stax sound; Cropper plays the guitar intro on the original Sam & Dave 'Soul Man'.

Which SNL bandleader played piano in the original act but was replaced in the film by Murphy Dunne?

Dunne's father was President of the Cook County Board; Shaffer still arranged the backing vocals on 'Everybody Needs Somebody to Love'.

The Blues Brothers sealed their bond by cutting their fingers with a guitar string said to have belonged to whom?

The liner notes to Briefcase Full of Blues also say they learned the blues from the orphanage janitor.

Jake's character was modelled partly on the lead singer of which Canadian blues band?

Three of the band's songs appear on the Blues Brothers' debut album; Aykroyd based Elwood in part on the band's Donnie Walsh.

Belushi borrowed the Wayfarers and soul patch from which bluesman, who also appears in the film?

Hooker plays Street Slim, singing 'Boom Boom' on Maxwell Street outside the soul food restaurant.

Where was the film's soundtrack mostly recorded?

'Gimme Some Lovin'' was the exception, cut at the Record Plant in Los Angeles; the film mix and the album mix differ noticeably.

The final song, performed for the inmates in prison, is which Elvis Presley hit?

The soundtrack credits the vocals to 'The Crew' of the film alongside Ray Charles, James Brown and Aretha Franklin.

The 1998 sequel Blues Brothers 2000 paired Aykroyd with which actor as new frontman 'Mighty Mack' McTeer?

Joe Morton played Curtis's son Cabel, a state police commander who joins the band; the film bombed with about $32 million on a $30 million budget.

In Blues Brothers 2000 the band loses a Battle of the Bands to a supergroup of blues legends called what?

The contest is staged by Queen Mousette, a supposedly 130-year-old voodoo priestess played by Erykah Badu.

The Blues Brothers was added to the US National Film Registry in which year?

The Library of Congress selects films it deems 'culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant'.

Which Chicago mayor cooperated with The Blues Brothers, credited with putting the city on the filmmaking map?

Breakaway panes replaced the Daley Center lobby glass for the Bluesmobile, and the finale outside used 200 National Guardsmen, 100 police, 15 horses and three tanks.

Whose idea was the name 'The Blues Brothers'?

Shore, then SNL's musical director, went on to score The Lord of the Rings; Aykroyd built the backstory with story consultant Ron Gwynne.

Which film kept The Blues Brothers off the top of the box office in its opening week in June 1980?

It opened in 594 theatres and finished second, going on to gross over $115 million worldwide and rank tenth domestically for the year.

What world record did The Blues Brothers hold at the time of its release?

A mechanic spent months rigging the Bluesmobile to fall apart on arrival at the Richard J. Daley Center.

Which song is performed live in the film's Maxwell Street market scene?

Big Walter Horton and Pinetop Perkins also appear among the real bluesmen on the street.

At which Melbourne cinema did the film evolve into a regular audience-participation show?

Landis phoned the cinema at its 10th-anniversary screening and later gave regulars cameos in Blues Brothers 2000.

Which Japanese manga and anime franchise was inspired by the film?

Studio Hibari and Aniplex packed the show with references to the film, showing how far its cult following spread.

How did John Belushi seriously injure his knee just before the final concert sequence was shot?

Lew Wasserman got the city's top orthopaedic surgeon to anaesthetise the knee so Belushi could still sing, dance and cartwheel.

Horn players Lou Marini, Tom Malone and Alan Rubin had all previously played in which band?

Alongside Stax architects Steve Cropper and Donald Dunn, the horns made the Blues Brothers Band a genuine all-star outfit.