Vinyl of the Week - 2 October, 2022

Briefcase Full Of Blues, Blues Brothers

DISPLAYABLE vinyl of the week. How good is it when you discover something you didn’t know about, even though it’s been right under your nose for years?! When my better half found this album, I immediately assumed it was the soundtrack to the iconic 1980 film. But when I put it on I soon realised that was not the case, which took me down a bit of a rabbit hole… Many of you probably know that the Blue Brothers began with a Saturday Night Live sketch in early ‘76. This sketch led to regular jams at Aykroyd’s bar with some of the SNL musicians, eventually forming a band that went on to deliver some legendary live performances. Briefcase Full of Blues is a recording of one of those shows when they opened for Steve Martin in ‘78.

It was the bar where Aykroyd introduced Belushi to Blues and he quickly developed a similar obsession. It was also where Aykroyd fleshed out the fictional backstory of Jake and Elroy which evolved into the screenplay for the movie that went on to be the cult classic it is today. Tragically, Belushi died of an accidental overdose in 1982 so the original lineup only produced three albums - the movie soundtrack and two live albums. But what a legacy. No-one would argue that the soundtrack isn’t epic and this collection of covers is truly exceptional. Make it your mission to check it out - DS