Growing up in Illinois, a band geek, and with parents who love of the original SNL cast, I knew the Blues Brothers. I don’t think there was a way you could NOT know the Blues Brothers if you were in band and lived in Illinois, the same way you couldn’t know about Ferris Bueller.
Speaking of Ferris, Chez Quis from Ferris is not Chez Paul from The Blues Brothers. Sorry. And while you cannot dine at Chez Paul, you can dine at Chez Quis- if you go the West Coast.
Remember when they’re being chased by the cops through the mall? They actually destroyed that mall, and it sits as a ghost mall still today. In fact, it’s infamous for being tracked for its deterioration- people are stopping to see how badly it’s rotting away, and how it’s being turned back to its original form, much like people take pictures of abandoned theme parks.
The mall was empty when they shot it, and the merchants moved in just for the movie.
They have EVERYTHING in this mall.
But really, it’s the music and the cast that’s the most wonderful thing about it…
Aretha Franklin dancing and singing in the restaurant? *sigh*
So much wonderful that she came back to follow up in Blues Brothers 2000:
And James Brown as the preacher who has Jake see the light:
John Candy leading the cops everywhere trying to track the brothers down, including the bogus address of Wrigley Field…
And Carrie Fisher as Jake’s jilted girlfriend…
But it was the BAND, man, that made everything.
Here’s a fun trivia fact:
Their first performance, even before they became The Blues Brothers, was The King Bee.