Dan Aykroyd Makes Show About Funny Music Friends on Audible

July 23rd, 2024

Dan Aykroyd is a famous actor and he loves the blues, a kind of music. Many years ago, in 1973, he met John Belushi and they became very good friends. Together, they started to perform as the Blues Brothers. They dressed in black suits and sunglasses and sang blues songs. They were on a TV show called "SNL", made a music album, and even made a funny movie where they had to save their home. Sadly, John Belushi died, but Dan didn't stop. He kept the Blues Brothers alive with John's brother, Jim, and made more music and a nightclub called House of Blues. Now, Dan Aykroyd has made a special audio story about his memories with the Blues Brothers. He talks about the fun times, the music, and how they got to work with famous people like Aretha Franklin, James Brown, and Ray Charles. Even though the Blues Brothers were two white men singing black music, they really loved and respected it. They even helped make these older blues musicians popular again. Dan and Jim still perform as the Blues Brothers and are happy that people still enjoy their music. Dan thinks that the Blues Brothers will keep going for a long time because they are all about the real music and songs. He feels proud of keeping the music alive and sharing it with everyone.

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💭 Discussion Questions

. What kind of music does Dan Aykroyd love?

. Who did Dan Aykroyd start the Blues Brothers with?

. What did Dan Aykroyd create to remember the Blues Brothers?

📖 Vocabulary

🌐 Cultural context

This article is from the United States where blues is a traditional genre of music. Dan Aykroyd is a comedian and actor. "SNL" stands for Saturday Night Live, which is a popular American television comedy show. The Blues Brothers is a cultural phenomenon combining music and humor.

🧠 Further reading

The Blues Brothers (film)

"The Blues Brothers" is a funny movie with music and action. It was made in 1980. It has two main characters, Jake and Elwood, who are like brothers. They were on a TV show called "Saturday Night Live" before the movie. Jake and Elwood are trying to save the home where they grew up, which is an orphanage. They need to find $5,000 to help save it. They plan to get the money by bringing their band back together and playing music. The movie is set in Chicago. Some very famous singers, like James Brown and Aretha Franklin, are in the film. They sing and dance. There are also parts with car chases and funny moments. Jake and Elwood have a lot of problems on their adventure. A lady wants to hurt them, some mean groups are after them, and the police chase them everywhere. The movie was made by Universal Studios. They wanted to make the movie because Jake's actor was very popular. But making the movie cost a lot of money. This was because the script was very big and they had to fix it. Also, Jake's actor had some trouble that made the movie take longer to make. When the movie was first shown in theaters, not many places played it. But, it still became a very special movie for many people.

Piedmont blues

Piedmont blues is a way of playing the guitar. It is special because of how the fingers are used. The thumb keeps a steady rhythm, and the other fingers play different notes that sound very nice together. This kind of blues music is like very lively piano music. This guitar style started in the southern part of the United States. Many years ago, people played the guitar and banjo in a way that was similar to Piedmont blues. Some musicians who were very good at this helped to make it popular. They used older ways of playing music but made them new with blues music. The Piedmont blues got its name from a place called the Piedmont plateau. This is a big area on the East Coast of the United States. Many musicians who play Piedmont blues come from states in this area. Also, some players come from cities in the Northeast. A man named Nick Spitzer talks about Piedmont blues. He studies culture and makes a music show. He says Piedmont blues comes from a part of the East Coast with small farms and towns. There, the ways of life and music of different people mix together.

History of stand-up comedy

Stand-up comedy is a kind of funny show that started a long time ago. It comes from different types of shows where people told jokes or funny stories on stage. These early comedians talked to people without using things like hats or fake noses to make them laugh. This made them different from other performances at that time. In the United States, comedy grew from shows in the 1800s where performers made jokes and did silly things to entertain people. There were many kinds of shows, including ones with music, dances, and funny acts. Some of these shows were held in big gardens where people could walk around and see different entertainments. In places like Britain and Ireland, comedians would stand and tell jokes while someone else changed the stage for the next act. But in other countries, like India, Spain, Brazil, Mexico, and Germany, people started doing these kinds of comedy shows much later, around the end of the 1900s and beginning of the 2000s. These shows are now very popular and make lots of people laugh.