Die Blues Brothers. Musik, Film, Legende

Ein Botschafter des Blues und Ikone der schwarzen Kultur Musik war die einzige Fluchtmöglichkeit für Riley 'B.B.' King (1925-2015), der in großer Armut im Staat Mississippi aufwuchs und schon mit zehn Jahren beide Eltern verloren hatte. Inspiriert durch die Bluesgrößen Blind Lemon Jefferson, T-Bone Walker und Bukka White lernte er das Gitarrespielen und schaffte es weg von den Baumwollfeldern nach Memphis. Durch sein melodiöses Solospiel und seine packende Gesangsdarbietung entwickelte er einen völlig neuen Vortragsstil, der für viele die Grundlage ihres eigenen Schaffens wurde - etwa Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton und Carlos Santana. Pulitzer-Preisträger Daniel de Visé interviewte für diesen Band die Mitglieder des engsten Kreises um B.B. King: Band- und Familienmitglieder, Freunde und Manager. So zeichnet er nicht nur dessen Erfolge nach, sondern zeigt auch die dunklen Seiten des Musikbusiness auf: rassistische Vorurteile, die krummen Touren von Plattenlabels wie Konzertveranstaltern und die Erfolge der weißen Ziehsöhne, die ihren Übervater schnell abhängten. So erzählt Daniel de Visé weit mehr als die Lebensgeschichte des größten Blues-Gitarristen aller Zeiten - sein Buch ist zugleich eine Geschichte der Bürgerrechtsbewegung, des Rassismus und der aufkeimenden Popkultur in den USA. 'Er ist ohne jeden Zweifel der wichtigste Künstler, den der Blues je hervorgebracht hat.' Eric Clapton 'Niemand arbeitete härter als B.B. King. Niemand inspirierte mehr aufstrebende junge Musiker. Niemand tat mehr dafür, das Evangelium des Blues zu verbreiten.' Barack Obama 'Daniel de Visés Buch über B.B. King ist großartiger Lesestoff.' Joan Armatrading

The story of the epic friendship between John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd, the golden era of improv, the early days of Saturday Night Live, and the making of a comedic film classic that helped shape our popular culture“They’re not going to catch us,” Dan Aykroyd, as Elwood Blues, tells his brother Jake, played by John Belushi. “We’re on a mission from God.” So opens the musical action comedy The Blues Brothers, which hit theaters on June 20, 1980. Their scripted mission was to save a local Chicago orphanage. But Aykroyd, who conceived and wrote much of the film, had a greater mission: to honor the then-seemingly forgotten tradition of rhythm and blues, some of whose greatest artists—Aretha Franklin, James Brown, John Lee Hooker, Cab Calloway, Ray Charles—made the film as unforgettable as its wild car chases. Much delayed and vastly over budget, beset by mercurial and oft drugged-out stars, The Blues Brothers opened to outraged reviews. However, in the 44 years since, it has been acknowledged a classic: it has been inducted into the National Film Registry for its cultural significance, even declared a “Catholic classic” by the Church itself, and re-aired thousands of times on television to huge worldwide audiences. It is, undeniably, one of the most significant films of the twentieth century.The story behind any classic is rich; the saga behind The Blues Brothers, as Daniel de Visé reveals, is epic, encompassing the colorful childhoods of Belushi and Aykroyd; the comedic revolution sparked by Harvard’s Lampoon and Chicago’s Second City; the birth and anecdote-rich, drug-filled early years of Saturday Night Live, where the Blues Brothers were born as an act amidst turmoil and rivalry; and, of course, the indelible behind-the-scenes narrative of how the film was made, scene by memorable scene. Based on original research and dozens of interviews probing the memories of principals from director John Landis and producer Bob Weiss to Aykroyd himself, The Blues Brothers illuminates an American masterpiece while vividly portraying the creative geniuses behind modern comedy.

'Highly entertaining' Empire<BR><BR>'A must read' Independent<BR><BR>'Remarkable' Judy Belushi Pisano<BR><BR>'This book is on a mission from God' DBC Pierre<BR><BR>The Blues Brothers hit cinemas on 20th June, 1980. Today, it 's recognised as one of the most significant films of the twentieth century. Its spotlighting of some of the world's most legendary rhythm and blues artists - Aretha Franklin, James Brown, Ray Charles, John Lee Hooker - made the film as unforgettable as its wild car chases. <BR><BR>In The Blues Brothers, Daniel de Visé shares the history of this timeless movie, encompassing the colourful childhoods of Belushi and Aykroyd; the comedic revolution sparked by The Harvard Lampoon; the birth and drug-filled early years of Saturday Night Live; and of course, the indelible behind-the-scenes narrative of how the film was made. <BR><BR>Based on original research and dozens of interviews probing the memories of principals from director John Landis and producer Bob Weiss to Aykroyd himself, The Blues Brothers illuminates in glorious technicolour, the making of an American masterpiece and the birth of modern comedy.<BR><BR>'Droll and rigorous . . . bracingly thorough' The Times<BR><BR>'[A] diverting celebration' Irish Times

THE BLUES BROTHERS is a story of friendship and film, race and revival, rhythm and blues. The 1980 movie stands as a landmark of American cinema and popular culture: A glorious meeting of the nation's white and black musical traditions, a moment of rebirth for the legends of African-American music, and the crowning achievement of three iconic talents in television and cinema, comedic actors John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd and director John Landis. The Blues Brothers marked a paradigm shift in the comedy and musical genres of cinema, a passing of the torch to a young and restless generation of writers and performers raised on television, and the arrival of Chicago as a cinematic setting. Dismissed by critics and shunned by theater owners upon its release, The Blues Brothers matured into a cinema classic. One of cinema's great comedies, The Blues Brothers also offered a groundbreaking vision for a modern, urban musical. The Blues Brothers endures, too, as a symbol of Hollywood excess, the heady, coke-fuelled peak of a doomed artistic partnership. THE BLUES BROTHERS chronicles the making of an iconic American film, and how the movie uses comedy to convey an important message about music, race and the American experience. Among other things, the book will reveal the true purpose of the mission that fueled the Blues Brothers enterprise: to revive the careers of America's greatest icons of rhythm and blues. This transcendent quest sets The Blues Brothers apart from the other fine comedy films of its era, securing a place for Aykroyd, Belushi and Landis in the turbulent history of race in America-in this case, as white Americans who leveraged their fame to raise the currency of great Black American musicians.