Briefcase Full Of Blues
Briefcase Full of Blues is the debut album by The Blues Brothers, originally released in 1978. The Blues Brothers, more formally called The Blues Brothers’ Show Band and Revue, began as an affectionate comedic tribute to R&B music featuring comedy actors Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi, as part of a musical sketch on Saturday Night Live. Belushi (lead vocalist “Joliet Jake” Blues) and Aykroyd (harmonica player/backing vocalist Elwood Blues) fronted a band which was composed of well-known and respected session musicians. Soon after three SNL performances, the band began to take on a life beyond television, releasing an album, Briefcase Full of Blues, and then having the Hollywood film The Blues Brothers created around it’s characters in 1980. The track listing of Briefcase Full of Blues boasts infectious covers of songs by Otis Redding, Junior Wells, King Floyd, Sam & Dave and Big Joe Turner, amongst others. Backing up Jake & Elwood are Stax heroes Donald – Duck- Dunn and Steve Cropper, Paul Shaffer and other seasoned session men. The album reached #1 on the Billboard 200 and went double Platinum. Two singles were released, “Rubber Biscuit”, which reached number 37 on the Billboard Hot 100 and “Soul Man”, which reached number 14.
Track listing
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Original Artist | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | “Opening: I Can’t Turn You Loose“ | Otis Redding | Otis Redding (1965) | 1:50 |
| 2. | “Hey Bartender“ | Dossie Terry | Floyd Dixon (1955) | 3:01 |
| 3. | “Messin’ With The Kid“ | Mel London | Junior Wells (1960) | 3:35 |
| 4. | “(I Got Everything I Need) Almost” | Don Walsh | Downchild Blues Band (1973) | 2:50 |
| 5. | “Rubber Biscuit“ | The Chips (1956) | 2:57 | |
| 6. | “Shot Gun Blues” | Don Walsh | Downchild Blues Band (1973) | 5:23 |
| 7. | “Groove Me“ | King Floyd | King Floyd (1970) | 3:46 |
| 8. | “I Don’t Know“ | Willie Mabon | Willie Mabon and His Combo (1952) | 4:14 |
| 9. | “Soul Man“ | Sam & Dave (1967) | 3:28 | |
| 10. | “‘B’ Movie Box Car Blues” | Delbert McClinton | Delbert & Glen (1972) | 4:08 |
| 11. | “Flip, Flop and Fly“ | Big Joe Turner (1955) | 3:38 | |
| 12. | “Closing: I Can’t Turn You Loose” | Otis Redding | Otis Redding | 0:51 |
Personnel
Partial credits from Richard Buskin and the album’s liner notes.
- “Joliet” Jake Blues (John Belushi) – lead vocals
- Elwood Blues (Dan Aykroyd) – backing vocals, harmonica, lead vocals on “Rubber Biscuit”
- Paul “The Shiv” Shaffer – backing vocals, Hammond organ, Wurlitzer electric piano, acoustic piano, musical director
- Steve “The Colonel” Cropper – guitar
- Matt “Guitar” Murphy – guitar
- Donald “Duck” Dunn – bass guitar
- Steve “Getdwa” Jordan – backing vocals, drums
- Lou “Blue Lou” Marini – tenor and alto saxophones, backing vocals
- Alan “Mr. Fabulous” Rubin – trumpet, backing vocals
- Tom “Triple Scale” Scott – tenor and alto saxophones, backing vocals
- Tom “Bones” Malone – tenor and baritone saxophones, trombone, trumpet, backing vocals, horn arrangements
- Production and technical staff
- Bob Tischler – producer, mix engineer
- Belinda Tischler – “assistant to the producer”
- Laila Nabulsi – production coordinator
- Warren Dewey – engineer
- Jay Krugman – assistant engineer
- Frank Sheiback, Bruce Spillman – crew
- David Alexander – album photography
- Judith Jacklin – “design and photo coloring”
- Venues
- “Recorded live at the Universal Amphitheater, L.A.”
- “Record Plant, L.A.” – remote recording, mixing location