The direct connection between ‘The Blues Brothers’ and The Rolling Stones: “Aren’t they lucky to have him?”
It goes without saying which genre of music The Blues Brothers was inspired by, but the classic musical comedy has ended up forging a direct connection to one of the greatest rock bands in history.
The first movie ever based on a Saturday Night Live sketch may well be the best, with John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd’s Jake and Elwood Blues embarking on a mission from god that sees them rub shoulders with a string of iconic musicians and notable guest stars, not to mention the hundreds of vehicles that get wrecked along the way.
Few SNL skits have ever displayed a longevity that’s even remotely comparable to The Blues Brothers, and it’s a legacy that remains ongoing. Jake and Elwood won over viewers on the small screen, toured the country as a live band, and conquered the box office before taking their place as two certified cult heroes.
There was also a sequel, but it’s best not to talk about Blues Brothers 2000 and pretend it never existed. Still, despite the cavalcade of talent who popped up at various points in the film, a litany of legends that spanned Ray Charles, Cab Calloway, Aretha Franklin, James Brown, Carrie Fisher, and John Candy, it was an unassuming musician who ended up drawing a straight line between Jake and Elwood and The Rolling Stones.
Steve Jordan first encountered Belushi and Aykroyd when he played drums for the Saturday Night Live band in the late 1970s, and after the Blues Brothers made the leap to the stage and the recording studio, he hit the road with them and wielded sticks on their albums Briefcase Full of Blues and Made in America.
Even though he wasn’t part of the cast in the movie, Jordan was still a key part of the act and played drums on The Blues Brothers soundtrack. Once everybody went their separate ways, he continued performing with a number of major artists, including a certain Keith Richards.
He played percussion on The Stones’ 1986 release Dirty Work and was enlisted by Keef to play on fellow Blues Brother alum Aretha Franklin’s cover of ‘Jumpin’ Jack Flash’ for the soundtrack of the widely panned Whoopi Goldberg spy comedy of the same name, which was released the very same year.
More than three decades later, Jordan became a permanent fixture of The Stones after he was hand-picked by Charlie Watts as his replacement on the band’s 2021 tour of the United States, and he was upgraded to full-time membership when Watts passed away.
Aykroyd couldn’t be more thrilled as he rhetorically asked Rolling Stone. “Well, aren’t they lucky to have him?” The actor and musician called Jordan “one of the greatest athletic percussionists in the world,” saying, “We were really honoured and privileged to have Steve Jordan as a Blues Brother.”
From Jake and Elwood to Mick and Keith, it’s been an interesting journey for Jordan, who’s evolved from an SNL session musician into the tub-thumper for one of the most iconic bands of all time.
