Reception

Chicago, Illinois, August 1975. Mom attends an anniversary party.

Some dance in the modern style.

Chicago, Illinois, August 1975. Guests at an anniversary party hit the dance floor. I believe this event took place at "JC's."

This was a time when women often wore wigs and floor-length dresses to parties.

Related by Marriage: Blues "Broliai"

By the time "The Blues Brothers" premiered in June 1980, the principal characters, Jake and Elwood (played by John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd)—and especially their music—were already well known to many Americans and a lot of Chicagoans. Jake and Elwood had released their double-platinum album, Briefcase Full of Blues, in November 1978. The LP featured two hit singles, "Soul Man" and "Rubber Biscuit," that Belushi and Aykroyd had performed on Saturday Night Live. The music was a tribute to the Chicago blues tradition.
 

Chicago played an integral role in the Blues Brothers' story. The film reopened the door to on-site production in the city in a way that hadn't occurred since the early 1920s. At a key moment in planning the movie, Universal Studies sent John Belushi—a native of suburban Wheaton—to obtain unprecedented permission to film in the Loop from newly elected mayor, Jane Byrne.

 

There were over thirty Chicago and suburban locations in the final cut of "The Blues Brothers," including a a scene in Marquette Park.

 

Mr. Irene's Lithuanian dance band enjoyed the Blues Brothers music. The fellows—dressed in Blues-Brothers-inspired garb—performed at a 1979 Mardi Gras dance gig at the Lithuanian Youth Center.

 

The band received its most enthusiastic audience response ever when it played a rendition of "Soul Man" to close the first dance set.

 

 

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Gage Park, Chicago, Lithuanian Youth Center, February, 1979. Mr. Irene plays the guitar with the band, covering the Blues Brothers for a dance sponsored by a Lithuanian cultural group.

UPDATE: Welcome "Official Blues Brother Website" readers. Thanks for the link!