On this day (April 22) in 1978, Dan Akroyd and John Belushi stepped into the roles of Elwood and “Joliet” Jake Blues, respectively, for the first time during an episode of Saturday Night Live. The Blues Brothers went on to be the first SNL characters to get a feature film adaptation. Additionally, they were the only characters from the show to have a No. 1 album or a string of top 40 hits.
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The duo started with Akroyd and Belushi’s shared love for music. Some sources credit Akroyd with introducing his SNL castmate to the blues. Their friendship and shared passion for music grew while hanging out at Akroyd’s Holland Tunnel Blues Bar, a private club Akroyd acquired shortly after Saturday Night Live took off. The bar would see them hone their skills and would later be where Akroyd and Ron Gwynne co-wrote the screenplay for The Blues Brothers.
In January 1976, Akroyd and Belushi took the stage as Howard Shore and His All-Bee Band, dressed in bee costumes to perform the song “I’m a King Bee.” While the duo didn’t look like the Blues Brothers, at the time, Akroyd played harmonica and Belushi took vocal duties. According to History, Belushi discovered the Blues Brothers’ look and a large portion of the repertoire while in Oregon filming Animal House. While there, he met and befriended future Roomful of Blues frontman Curtis Salgado.
Dan Akroyd Doesn’t Believe the Blues Brothers Would Succeed Today
After their debut on Saturday Night Live, the Blues Brothers went on tour with Steve Martin as his opening act. During the trek, they recorded their debut album Briefcase Full of Blues at the Universal Amphitheater on September 9, 1978. The album went Double Platinum and hit No. 1 on the Billboard 200. The next year, they released their first single, a cover of soul duo Sam & Dave’s “Soul Man,” and it went to No. 14 on the Billboard Hot 100. However, Dan Akroyd doesn’t believe they’d see that kind of success today.
In 2024, Akroyd spoke to AXS TV about his partnership with John Belushi. During the conversation, he explained why the Blues Brothers were so successful and why they wouldn’t find the same level of acclaim today. “I don’t think they’d make it today. We hit during a time when there was a gap in music. The disco movement was dying, it was over. It was done. Then, punk was coming. But right in between there, there was a gap. Nothing was happening,” he explained. “That gap in American music is what gave currency to the Blues Brothers. Today, there’s just so much going on,” he added.
Featured Image by Universal/Kobal/Shutterstock
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