FROM WIKIPEDIA COMMONS

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, respectively, as lead vocalist ‘Joliet‘ Jake Blues and harmonica player/vocalist Elwood Blues, donning black suits with matching fedoras and sunglasses. The band was composed of well-known musicians, and debuted as the musical guest in a 1978 episode of Saturday Night Live, opening the show performing “Hey Bartender“, and later “Soul Man“.

In 1978, the band released their debut album, Briefcase Full of Blues, and opened for the Grateful Dead at the closing of Winterland Arena in San Francisco. They gained further fame after spawning a Hollywood comedy film in 1980, The Blues Brothers.

After Belushi’s death in 1982, the Blues Brothers continued to perform with a rotation of guest singers and other band members. The band reformed in 1988 for a world tour and again in 1998 for a sequel film, Blues Brothers 2000.

BAND FORMATION

With the help of pianist-arranger Paul Shaffer, Belushi and Aykroyd started assembling a collection of studio talents to form their own band. These included SNL band members saxophonist “Blue” Lou Marini and trombonist-saxophonist Tom Malone, who had previously played in Blood, Sweat & Tears. At Shaffer’s suggestion, guitarist Steve Cropper and bassist Donald “Duck” Dunn, the powerhouse combo from Booker T. & the M.G.’s and subsequently almost every hit out of Memphis’ Stax Records during the 1960s, were signed as well.

Belushi wanted a powerful trumpet player and a hot blues guitarist, so Juilliard-trained trumpeter Alan Rubin was brought in, as was guitarist Matt “Guitar” Murphy, who had performed with many blues legends.

For the brothers’ look, Belushi borrowed John Lee Hooker‘s trademark Ray-Ban Wayfarer sunglasses and soul patch.

Their style was fresh and in many ways, different from prevailing musical trends: A very raw and “live” sound compared to the increasing use of sound synthesis and vocal-dominated music of the late 1970s and 1980s.

TODAY’S ALMANAC

Earth Day

Earth Day is April 22 of every year. Back on April 22, 1970, 20 million Americans—10% of the U.S. population at the time—protested to bring attention to the very concerning environmental issues of the day, including oil spills, dangerous smog levels, and rivers that were so polluted that they literally caught fire. Today, Earth Day is one of the biggest civic and community event in the world and is celebrated through action to protect and restore the planet, from joining a park cleanup to joining a climate or carbon initiative to taking part in the world’s largest citizen science initiative. See more about Earth Day activities.

Question of the Day

In a math book talking about the Fibonacci sequence, it said that often the sequence works with certain things in nature. There was a picture of a pinecone in the book. Do pinecones have anything to do with the Fibonacci sequence?

Fibonacci numbers are a series of numbers where each, after the second term, is the sum of the preceding two numbers (e.g., 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, etc.). In the study of botany, these numbers have proved useful in describing the positioning of leaves around plant stems, the spiral patterns in sunflower heads, and the scales of pinecones, to name but a few.

Advice of the Day

Frequent mistings under the leaves of houseplants will discourage spider mites.

Home Hint of the Day

In praise of the drywall screw: It taps its own holes, neatly countersinks its own head, is made for power driving with a Phillips head in a drill, and its needle-sharp point even drills and taps right through thin metal.

Word of the Day

Shipshape

Arranged in a manner befitting a ship; hence, trim; tidy; orderly.

Puzzle of the Day

What do you get from a nervous cow?

A milkshake.

Born

• Queen Isabella I of Spain – 1451
• Reverend Eleazar Wheelock (founded Dartmouth College) – 1711
• Julius Sterling Morton (Arbor Day founder) – 1832
• J. Robert Oppenheimer (physicist) – 1904
• Aaron Spelling (American television producer ) – 1923
• Charlotte Rae (actress) – 1926
• Glen Campbell (country musician) – 1936
• Jack Nicholson (actor) – 1937
• Peter Frampton (musician) – 1950
• Ryan Stiles (comedian & actor) – 1959

Died

• Ansel Adams (photographer) – 1984
• Richard M. Nixon (37th U.S. president) – 1994
• Erma Bombeck (humorist) – 1996
• Pat Tillman (Former NFL player, was killed while serving as an Army Rangers soldier in Afghanistan. Tillman walked away from a $3.6 million contract with the Arizona Cardinals to join the military after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks in the U.S.) – 2004

Events

• U.S. Proclamation of Neutrality issued– 1793
• Sirius became first ship to complete trek across Atlantic solely by steam– 1838
• First White House Easter Egg Roll– 1878
• Every student in Nebraska City, Nebraska planted at least one tree in honor of the first official Arbor Day, which was founded by Julius Sterling Morton– 1885
• Oklahoma land rush began– 1899
• Symphony Society of N.Y. began first European tour by U.S. orchestra– 1920
• Ray Keech drove 207,552 mph in the White Triplex car– 1928
• Jacques Cousteau granted patent for diving apparatus– 1952
• Lester Pearson inaugurated as prime minister of Canada– 1963
• Doctors in Houston, Texas, performed the first substantial human eye transplant– 1969
• The first Earth Day was celebrated in the United States– 1970
• The Blues Brothers made their first appearance on Saturday Night Live– 1978
• In Washington, D.C., the Albert Einstein memorial was unveiled on the grounds of the National Academy of Sciences– 1979
• The Holocaust Memorial Museum was dedicated in Washington, D.C.– 1993
• Red Sox players Manny Ramirez, J. D. Drew, Mike Lowell, and Jason Varitek hit 4 consecutive home runs. This was a first in Red Sox history– 2007

Weather

• It rained geese in Elgin, Manitoba, after 52 flying geese were struck by lightning.– 1932
• Sixteen inches of snow fell in Sheridan, Wyoming– 1958
• The Red River crested at 54.35 feet in Grand Forks, North Dakota– 1997

COURTESY www.almanac.com