''Made in America'' is the third album by

The Blues Brothers The Blues Brothers are an American blues and soul revivalist band founded in 1978 by comedians Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi as part of a musical sketch on ''Saturday Night Live''. Belushi and Aykroyd fronted the band, in character, respecti ...

. The second live album by the band, it was released in December 1980 as a followup to their hit film released that year, ''

''. To support the film, the band embarked on a 22 dates tour in North America, culminating with seven dates at the Universal Amphitheater in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

. Keyboardist and musical director

Paul Shaffer Paul Allen Wood Shaffer (born November 28, 1949) is a Canadian singer, composer, actor, author, comedian, and multi-instrumentalist who served as David Letterman's musical director, band leader, and sidekick on the entire run of both ''Late Ni ...

, sax player Tom Scott and drummer Steve Jordan, who were absent in the film and the soundtrack due to scheduling conflicts, reprised their roles as full-fledged band members. Drummer Willie Hall was let go but the band decided to retain

Murphy Dunne George "Murphy" Dunne (born June 22, 1942) is an American actor and musician. He played "Murph", the keyboardist for the Blues Brothers, in the 1980 film ''The Blues Brothers'', a role he reprised in the sequel, ''Blues Brothers 2000''. Biograph ...

, who had replaced Shaffer in the film, as additional keyboards player. Session man Jeff Mironov was brought in to provide additional guitar for the record. Like the Blues Brothers previous albums, ''Made in America'' showcases a selection of blues and rhythm and blues standards. "Joliet" Jake Blues (

John Belushi John Adam Belushi (January 24, 1949 – March 5, 1982) was an American comedian, actor, and musician, best known for being one of the seven original cast members of the NBC sketch comedy show ''Saturday Night Live'' (''SNL''). Throughout his c ...

) was particularly keen on singing Randy Newman’s "Guilty", a song who had a deep biographical meaning to him. In the album "Guilty" leads into a rendition of the theme from the TV series ''

Perry Mason Perry Mason is a fictional character, an American criminal defense lawyer who is the main character in works of detective fiction written by Erle Stanley Gardner. Perry Mason features in 82 novels and 4 short stories, all of which involve a c ...

'' and

Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller Lyricist Jerome Leiber (April 25, 1933 – August 22, 2011) and composer Michael Stoller (born March 13, 1933) were American songwriting and record producing partners. They found success as the writers of such crossover hit songs as " Hound Dog" ( ...

's " Riot in Cell Block No. 9", establishing a narrative of guilt, trial and sentence. "

Green Onions "Green Onions" is an instrumental composition recorded in 1962 by Booker T. & the M.G.'s. Described as "one of the most popular instrumental rock and soul songs ever" and as one of "the most popular R&B instrumentals of its era", the tune is a ...

" marked the first occasion two of the band members (Steve Cropper and Duck Dunn) performed their own material, the song being a standard by Booker T. & the M.G.'s. Released in December 1980, ''Made in America'' was the Blues Brothers' third consecutive album to enter the '' Billboard'' top 50, peaking at No. 49. "

Who's Making Love "Who's Making Love" is a song written by Stax Records staffers Homer Banks, Bettye Crutcher, Don Davis and Raymond Jackson and recorded by singer Johnnie Taylor in 1968. Released on the Stax label in the late summer of 1968, it became Taylor' ...

", released as a single, cracked the Top 40 at No. 39. A second single, "Going Back to Miami", would peak at No. 108. ''Made in America'' was the band's last album in its original incarnation. Following Belushi's death in 1982, the group disbanded for a few years until reforming in 1988 with

Leon Pendarvis Leroy Leon Pendarvis (born 1945) is an American session musician. He plays keyboards and is a background vocalist. He is also an occasional guitarist. The artists he has worked with over the years include Bonnie Raitt on her ''Streetlights'' album ...

replacing Shaffer and

Danny Gottlieb Daniel Richard Gottlieb (born April 18, 1953) is an American drummer. He was a founding member of the Pat Metheny Group and was co-founder of Elements with Mark Egan. Biography Gottlieb was born in New York City on April 18, 1953. He took less ...

replacing Jordan. (Scott had left the band at the end of the tour following a salary dispute.)

Track listing

#" Soul Finger"/"

Funky Broadway "Funky Broadway" is an early funk-style song written by Arlester "Dyke" Christian. In 1966, he recorded it with his band, Dyke & the Blazers. The small, Phoenix, Arizona-based, Artco Records first issued it as a two-part single; when it was unabl ...

" ( James Alexander, Ronnie Caldwell, Ben Cauley, Carl Cunningham, Phalon Jones, Jimmy King; Arlester "Dyke" Christian) – 2:05 #"

" (

Homer Banks Homer Banks (August 2, 1941 – April 3, 2003) was an African American songwriter, singer and record producer. Although best known by many for his songwriting for Stax Records in the 1960s and 1970s, some of his own releases from the 1960s are co ...

Bettye Crutcher Bettye Jean Crutcher (September 16, 1939 – October 20, 2022) was an American songwriter. She was a staff writer for Stax Records.Peter Barker"Bettye Crutcher, Stax Records contributor and pioneering songwriter, dies at 83" ''Tennessee News'', ...

, Don Davis, Raymond Jackson) – 3:33 #"

Do You Love Me "Do You Love Me" is a rhythm and blues song recorded by the Contours in 1962. Written and produced by Motown Records owner Berry Gordy Jr., it appeared twice on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart, reaching numbers three in 1962 and eleven in 198 ...

"/" Mother Popcorn (You Got to Have a Mother for Me)" ( James Brown, Alfred Ellis, Berry Gordy, Jr.) – 2:55 #"Guilty" ( Randy Newman) – 3:41 #"

Theme" ( Fred Steiner) – 2:04 #" Riot in Cell Block No. 9" ( Jerry Leiber, Mike Stoller) – 3:32 #"

" ( Steve Cropper, Al Jackson Jr.,

Booker T. Jones Booker Taliaferro Jones Jr. (born November 12, 1944) is an American musician, songwriter, record producer and arranger, best known as the frontman of the band Booker T. & the M.G.'s. He has also worked in the studios with many well-known art ...

, Lewis Steinberg) – 5:45 #"I Ain't Got You" ( Calvin Carter) – 2:44 #"From the Bottom" (

Sonny Boy Williamson II Alex or Aleck Miller (originally Ford, possibly December 5, 1912 – May 24, 1965), known later in his career as Sonny Boy Williamson, was an American blues harmonica player, singer and songwriter. He was an early and influential blues harp st ...

) – 3:25 #"Going Back to Miami" ( Wayne Cochran) – 4:01 Produced by Bob Tischler & Paul Shaffer

Personnel

* Elwood Blues –

vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or withou ...

, harmonica * "Joliet" Jake Blues – vocals * Steve "The Colonel" Cropper –

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected strin ...

* Donald "Duck" Dunn –

bass guitar The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and ...

* Murphy "Murph" Dunne – keyboards, electric piano,

Wurlitzer The Rudolph Wurlitzer Company, usually referred to as simply Wurlitzer, is an American company started in Cincinnati in 1853 by German immigrant (Franz) Rudolph Wurlitzer. The company initially imported stringed, woodwind and brass instruments ...

* Steve "Getdwa" Jordan – drums,

backing vocals A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are ...

* Tom "Bones" Malone –

tenor A tenor is a type of classical male singing voice whose vocal range lies between the countertenor and baritone voice types. It is the highest male chest voice type. The tenor's vocal range extends up to C5. The low extreme for tenors is wide ...

and baritone saxophone,

trombone The trombone (german: Posaune, Italian, French: ''trombone'') is a musical instrument in the brass family. As with all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player's vibrating lips cause the air column inside the instrument to vibrate ...

trumpet The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitched one octave below the standard ...

, horn arrangements * Lou "Blue Lou" Marini – tenor and alto saxophone *

Matt "Guitar" Murphy Matthew Tyler Murphy (December 29, 1929 – June 15, 2018), known as Matt "Guitar" Murphy, was an American blues guitarist. He was associated with Memphis Slim, The Blues Brothers and Howlin' Wolf. Early life Murphy was born in Sunflower, Missi ...

–

lead guitar Lead guitar (also known as solo guitar) is a musical part for a guitar in which the guitarist plays melody lines, instrumental fill passages, guitar solos, and occasionally, some riffs and chords within a song structure. The lead is the featu ...

Alan Rubin Alan Rubin (February 11, 1943 – June 8, 2011), also known as Mr. Fabulous, was an American musician. He played trumpet, flugelhorn, and piccolo trumpet. Early life and education Rubin was born in Brooklyn. He began attending Juilliard S ...

– trumpet, backing vocals (Rubin's previous nickname "Mr. Fabulous" has been dropped) * Tom "Jazzman" Scott – tenor and alto saxophone, horn arrangements (Scott's nickname has been changed from "Triple Scale") * Paul "The Shiv" Shaffer – keyboards,

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keybo ...

, Hammond organ, Wurlitzer, backing vocals, musical director, co-producer *Jeff Mironov – additional guitar

Tour personnel

*Morris Lyda – Production manager *Bill Robbins – Assistant manager *Leroy Kerr – Stage Manager *Edd Kolakowski – Steinway piano and keyboards technician *Rich Mayne – Drum tech and equipment manager *Richard "Smokey" Wendell – Security *

Bill "Superfoot" Wallace William Louis Wallace (born December 1, 1945) is an American karateka and former professional kickboxer. He is known for his adept use of high-speed leg kicks, earning him the nickname "Superfoot." He was the Professional Karate Association (PK ...

– Physical stress therapist *John Blasutta – House sound engineer *Tom Littrell – Lighting designer *Johnny Roberts – Monitor engineer

Certifications

References

External links

Album information at Blues Brothers Central
{{Authority control The Blues Brothers albums 1980 live albums Atlantic Records live albums