It always feels as if the live album was The Blues Brothers’ natural habitat (their debut album was a live offering after all). It was an environment where their songs (and characters) came to life and the crowd were always a key ingredient in the whole Blues Brothers experience; each fed off the other and made for an explosive combination. It’s a pairing that’s brought to the fore on their latest release; digging deep into the vaults of John Belushi and pulling out a (lucky) thirteen cuts, The Lost Recordings is a worthy addition to the band’s discography and illustrates why The Blues Brothers were such a hot ticket.
With (perhaps) the exception of Abba at Eurovision, 1974, no band has entered the stage with such panache as The Blues Brothers. With the announcer whipping up the crowd and Otis Redding’s funky bassline bouncing like the proverbial bomb, it feels as if an earthquake is beginning to rumble and when the brass section kicks in, things threaten to go off the Richter
Scale. Such is its life-affirming quality, it should really be prescribed on the NHS and could do more for depression than anything a doctor could dispense. It’s an effervescent opener that would find many bands at a peak, after which the only direction of travel would be down, yet with an array of classic tunes at their disposal, The Blues Brothers remain at the pinnacle, and with ‘Flip, Flop & Fly’ in their arsenal, how could they not? In fact, the single set means that someone is always going to be disappointed with the track selection, but The Lost Recordings does a good job at touching all bases and it flows like an actual gig with ‘Rubber Biscuit’ and ‘Shot Gun Blues’ each upping the ante and stoking the crowd into greater frenzy. In short, The Lost Recordings is the closest you can come to a Blues Brothers gig without actually being there.
The secret to The Blues Brothers success was undoubtedly their taking ownership of the songs they covered. The spectrum from which they drew their covers was extremely wide: blues (obviously), rock n’ roll, R&B, soul and jazz all fell under their spell, yet in what ever guise they appeared it was always easily identifiable as being The Blues Brothers. They had an elasticity that’d be the envy of many a band and means that ‘Soul Man’ and ‘B Movie Box Car Blues’ rub shoulders effortlessly. Credit must go to the band, this is the classic line-up, a versatile bunch who can turn their hand to any style, but it’s the brudders, Joliet Jake and Elwood who control the crowd like a pair of demented preachers and turn final track ‘Green Onions’ into a huge party, which is surely the only way to depart.
Released on blue vinyl and just in time to write to Santa, it’s time to have a blues (brothers) Christmas!
- The Lost Recordings is released via Z2 Records on 21st November 2025.
Track List:
Side A:
- Welcome
- Flip, Flop & Fly
- Hey Bartender
- Messin’ With The Kid
- (I Got Everything I Need) Almost
- Rubber Biscuit
- Shot Gun Blues
Side B:
- I Don’t Know
- Groove Me
- Excusez Moi Mon Cherie
- Soul Man
- B Movie Box Car Blues
- Green Onions
Many years ago I picked up a 74 Dodge Monaco and turned into a Bluesmobile replica and had a BLAST with it. Turned into us having an 8 piece horn band doing a very powerful and respectful tribute to The Blues Brothers. As I committed almost all of their “trivia” to heart and then I explored blues music more and more. When I heard some of the original artist’s versions of some of the songs that The Blues Brothers covered… I was HOOKED.
Unfortunately many people don’t respect the Blues Brothers and their impact on the genre. Just last week I heard someone say “They weren’t a real band, were they?”. I felt obligated to give them ten minute dissertation on Booker T. and the MG’s, Blood Sweat and Tears, and the Stax Volt session musicians. Threw a little Paul Schaeffer in there too.
Just this week I found another 1974 Dodge Monaco and it’s on its way to the paint shop and we WILL have another Bluesmobile soon! Will it resurrect “the band!” or will it just be a fun car show / parade entry. We’ll see!!!