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A Lot Of People In This Movie Have Passed Away

posted 11 years ago by jefgg
5 replies | jump to latest

The movie is dedicated to John Belushi, Cab Calloway and John Candy, cast members from the original film who had died prior to the sequel being made.

Many of the musicians who perform in Blues Brothers 2000 have passed away since including James Brown, Clarence Clemons, Bo Diddley, Isaac Hayes, Wilson Pickett, Billy Preston, Lou Rawls, Koko Taylor, Grover Washington, Jr. and Junior Wells as well as, from the Blues Brothers band, Donald "Duck" Dunn and Alan "Mr. Fabulous" Rubin plus actors Kathleen Freeman and Jeff Morris, who were featured in both films.

Perhaps the most tragic death from BB2K was bass player Bobby Sheehan from the band Blues Traveler. He died of an accidental overdose of heroin, cocaine and Valium in 1999. He was only 31 years old. I had the pleasure of meeting him once at a concert at the Garden State Arts Center in Holmdel, NJ. He seemed to truly enjoy meeting and speaking with fans.

A couple of careers declined after BB2K. I don't think Johnny Lang's career took off afterward as some expected. And I think Erykah Badu's career declined after the movie. It is almost as if there was a curse. I guess a better explanation would be that entertainment careers can be very fickle.

[–] MarloweSyn 11 years ago

A lot of great musicians from this movie died. I didn't know Duck Dunn died. That's too bad.

As far as the career decline of Lang. I think part of the reason for Lang's popularity never skyrocketed might have something to do with him changing it up and focusing more on a career as a gospel singer. Which is probably less commercially viable to the general public. JL never really churned out a high volume of music to keep himself in the public ear either. IMO losing vastly underrated keyboardist/songwriter Bruce McCabe after he had to step aside because of brain cancer(survivor) didn't help I'm sure. Seriously if you can get you hands on a copy of McCabe's pre-Lang band The Hoopsnakes, grab it. Great music.

Pretty much your closing sentence says it all about how fickle the entertainment business can be.

*- Weddings are like funerals. Only you can smell your own flowers.
~Nick O'Malley

[–] jefgg 11 years ago

Thanks for the reply. You are obviously knowledgeable about music. I don't know much about gospel music. Did Johnny Lang really do gospel music or was it more like Christian rock? Were there any other gospel musicians in the movie? I think most were considered rock and/or blues. And Travis Tritt is a country artist.

[–] MarloweSyn 11 years ago

It is easy to sound knowledgeable when both Bruce and Jonny are local boys(Minnesota). Well technically Jonny is from the Fargo area. Thanks tho.
It's still Jonny so it is a gospel with a blues flavor. It's good, but lacks the energy of his earlier work. He became a born again in the mid 2000's after getting clean from drugs and alcohol. So I guess technically he was still deemed a blues artist at the time of BB2K. It's a pretty fine line between blues and gospel, so I'm sure a few of the artists in the movie dipped their toes in the genre. Like you, I'm not terribly knowledgeable of the gospel scene. I'm sure I missed a lot of cameos, as it was on IFC last night and I really only had it on as background sound while goofing on the interweb.

*- Weddings are like funerals. Only you can smell your own flowers.
~Nick O'Malley

[–] jefgg 11 years ago

I hope this doesn't get too far off topic. You must be familiar with Shannon Curfman. I couldn't believe it when she left her music career to attend college. But I respect her for making that decision. She released three albums after she finished school. And now she is playing with Kid Rock's band. That must be a high paying gig. Shannon Curfman should have been in "Blues Brothers 2000". I wonder who decided which musicians to pursue for the film.

[–] MarloweSyn 11 years ago

Who cares if it goes off topic. You started the thread and it is pretty much just you and I talking. So it's all good. I got her debut album years back, and then didn't really hear anything from her for years. She is another excellent musician, but getting that college degree was probably not a bad idea. Now now a part of Kid Rock's group. She's doing something right. I don't know if she was really on the radar when BB2K was filmed. I think that was before Big Guitars came out.

*- Weddings are like funerals. Only you can smell your own flowers.
~Nick O'Malley