The Blues Brothers (characters)

The Blues Brothers is a sketch from Saturday Night Live, later adapted into a movie of the same name. John Belushi referred to the sketch as a tribute to African-American music, featuring many Soul and Blues artists in its cast, as well as character actors and very famous "Guest Stars".

Main Characters

Joliet Jake Blues

Portrayed by John Belushi.

Joliet Jake is the lead singer in The Blues Brothers Show Band and Revue. A scrappy, slightly vindictive psychopath/sociopath man-child with a heart of gold, Jake is certainly not the type of guy you want your daughter to marry. But he'd probably ditch her at the altar anyway. Jake's favorite things in life are beer, fried chickens, and R&B, Soul, Funk, and Early Rock & Roll. He sings from the heart and never looks back.

Trivia

• John Belushi based Jake's personality on Canadian blues singer Richard "Hock" Walsh of the Downchild Blues Band.

• Much of the interplay between Jake and Elwood was based upon Aykroyd and Belushi's real relationship, in particular on a cross-country trip they took in the late 1970s.

• Jake was born Jacob E. Papageorge, to Artesia Papageorge, a woman imprisoned for killing her husband.

• He has his name tattooed across the knuckles of his left hand.

Elwood Blues

Portrayed by Dan Aykroyd.

Elwood has a similar personality to Jake, except he is softer-spoken, more self-consciously verbose, and slightly smarter (or at least more cognizant of reality). A master blues harp player, Elwood also is different from Jake in that he has held two jobs: at the taser factory and the butane plant. Elwood is also a genius driver, but Jake often chastises him for his overenthusiasm, calling him "Motorhead" and "Hot-rodder".

Trivia

• Aykroyd based Elwood's personality upon Don "Mr. Downchild" Walsh of the Downchild Blues Band.

• Elwood was found abandoned as an infant in Elwood (a Chicago suburb) by Officer Mike Delaney, and thus was christened Elwood Delaney.

• He has his name tattooed across the knuckles of both hands.

• In 1980, Elwood had over 200 traffic violations to his name, and his license was suspended. However, this is a moot point, because the license actually expired three years earlier.

The Band

The band stopped performing after the death of John Belushi, but reformed in 1988 and continues with new vocalists.

Original/film lineup

• Steve "the Colonel" Cropper, rhythm guitar and vocals
• Donald "Duck" Dunn, bass guitar
• Paul Shaffer, keyboards (did not appear in the film)
• Murphy "Murph" Dunne, keyboards (film only, never appeared on SNL)
• Willie "Too Big" Hall, drums and percussion
• Tom "Bones" Malone, trombone, tenor saxophone and vocals
• "Blue Lou" Marini, alto saxophone and tenor saxophone and vocals
• Matt "Guitar" Murphy, lead guitar
• Alan "Mr. Fabulous" Rubin, trumpet, percussion and vocals
• Tom "Triple-Scale" Scott, saxophone (did not appear in movie)

Modern lineup

• Steve "the Colonel" Cropper, rhythm guitar and vocals
• "Blue Lou" Marini, saxophone and vocals
• Leon "The Lion" Pendarvis, keyboards
• Rob "The Honeydripper" Paparozzi, vocals/harmonica
• Bobby "Sweet Soul" Harden, vocals
• Tommy "Pipes" McDonnell, vocals
• "Smokin' John" Tropea, guitar
• "Eric the Red" Udel, bass guitar
• Steve "Catfish" Howard, trumpet
• Larry "Trombonius Maximus" Farrell, trombone
• Lee "Funkeytime" Finkelstein, drums