Dan Aykroyd sat down with veteran journalist Dan Rather to talk about his classic 1980 film The Blues Brothers and I reflected on what made the film such a huge success. He also talked about his friend Giovanni Belushi. Speaking about Belushi, he said:
“It was difficult to lose my partner at that time and also the way he died. ..it was a good warning to our community, that this could happen… it’s just that John played in that arena and it’s dangerous. But he was a wonderfully educated man. He knew everything about theater and read books and plays… I often think today that if he were alive he would probably be a director on Broadway, he would direct plays and work with the greatest people in the theater. I think that’s where he would have been headed.
When talking about the music used in the film, Aykroyd wanted to make sure the songs were respected. When asked if they were trying to culturally appropriate the songs they used, he said:
“I think it was right for us to intervene there. I don’t think that’s a valid point. Blues is for everyone. There are so many great blues artists who are not African American but honest enough to allow people to protect the culture from cultural appropriation. But you see, we did it with such a spirit of reverence and love for those artists.
Aykroyd and Belushi also wanted to ensure that artists were fairly compensated, saying:
Atlantic Records said well, if you’re doing all these covers, just offer the songwriters a percentage. …just give them $10,000. ….we will only keep the mechanical royalties… The original songwriters keep their royalties. we are not making any special arrangements. All the people who wrote the songs on the show, everyone, they got the full release because… we loved them, we respected them, yeah and we wouldn’t do anything bad to them.
You can watch the full video below. Aykroyd offers some interesting insights! Check it out!
by Joey Paur
Source: Geek Tyrant
Lloyd Grunewald is an author at “The Fashion Vibes”. He is a talented writer who focuses on bringing the latest entertainment-related news to his readers. With a deep understanding of the entertainment industry and a passion for writing, Lloyd delivers engaging articles that keep his readers informed and entertained.
