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 were lead vocalist 'Joliet' Jake Blues and harmonica player and vocalist Elwood Blues, respectively, donning black suits with matching trilby hats 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 "Soul Man".
The Kings of Rhythm are an American music group formed in the late 1940s in Clarksdale, Mississippi and led by Ike Turner through to his death in 2007. Turner would retain the name of the band throughout his career, although the group has undergone considerable line-up changes over time.
Lighthouse is a Canadian rock band formed in 1968 in Toronto, Ontario, whose repertoire included elements of rock music, jazz, classical music, and swing and featured horns, string instruments, and vibraphone. They won Juno Awards for Best Canadian Group of the Year in 1972, 1973, and 1974.
The Memphis Horns were an American horn section, made famous by their many appearances on Stax Records. The duo consisted of Wayne Jackson on trumpet and Andrew Love on tenor saxophone. An "offshoot of the Mar-Keys", they continued to work together for over 30 years. They lent their sound to 83 gold and platinum awards and over one-hundred high charting records, including Otis Redding's "Sitting On The Dock of the Bay", Al Green's "Let's Stay Together", and Elvis Presley's "Suspicious Minds".
Robert Murray Gordon McConnell, was a Canadian jazz trombonist, composer, and arranger. McConnell is best known for establishing and leading the big band The Boss Brass, which he directed from 1967 to 1999.
Edward Isaac Bickert, was a Canadian guitarist who played mainstream jazz and swing music. Bickert worked professionally from the mid-1950s to 2000, mainly in the Toronto area. His international reputation grew steadily from the mid-1970s onward as he recorded albums both as a bandleader and as a backing musician for Paul Desmond, Rosemary Clooney, and other artists, with whom he toured in North America, Europe and Japan.
Mike McKenna is a professional Canadian rock / blues guitarist noted primarily for his electric slide playing.
Dr. Music was a Toronto jazz group founded in 1969 by producer, arranger and performer Doug Riley. The band recorded three albums and toured across Canada. The personnel of the band changed throughout its history, with Riley remaining at the core of the group.
The Downchild Blues Band is a Canadian blues band, described by one reviewer as "the premier blues band in Canada". The band is still commonly known as the Downchild Blues Band, though the actual band name was shortened to "Downchild" in the early 1980s. The Blues Brothers band was heavily influenced by Downchild Blues Band.
Michael Fonfara was a Canadian keyboard player who was most notable for his work as a member of The Electric Flag and Rhinoceros in the 1960s, Rough Trade and Lou Reed's backing band in the 1970s and The Downchild Blues Band, from 1990 to the present. He studied classical piano at The Royal Conservatory of Music. He is a multiple Maple Blues Award winner as Piano/Keyboardist of the year and a Juno Award winner with the Downchild Blues Band. His distinguished musical career was so honoured by the Maple Blues Awards as early as 2000 and a Juno Award in 2014.
William Taylor Bryans was a Canadian percussionist, songwriter, music producer and DJ, known as one of the founders of The Parachute Club, among other accomplishments in music. As a producer, he worked on projects for artists as diverse as Dutch Mason, Raffi, Lillian Allen and the Downchild Blues Band. He was born in Montreal, but spent most of his adult life in Toronto, and was particularly supportive of world music as both a promoter and publicist, focusing on bringing Caribbean, Cuban and Latin American music to a wider audience.
Whiskey Howl was a Toronto-based Canadian blues band, most popular between 1969 and 1972. The band is notable as being one of the early Canadian bands promoting and developing blues music in Canada.
John Douglas Witmer was a Canadian blues singer, songwriter and harmonica player, most notable as the lead vocalist for the band Whiskey Howl and the Downchild Blues Band.
Richard "Hock" Walsh was one of the first professional blues singers in Canada. He is particularly notable as the co-founder of the Downchild Blues Band and was the original singer of that band's best-known songs.
Tony Flaim was among the early professional blues singers in Canada, most notable as the lead singer for the Downchild Blues Band on six of that band's albums. Flaim was associated with Downchild for extended periods over fifteen years.
The Cameo Blues Band is a Toronto-based blues band, originally formed in 1978. It is particularly notable for its association with several of Canada's leading blues singers, including Richard "Hock" Walsh, Tony Flaim and Chuck Jackson, all of whom were also associated with the Downchild Blues Band.
"King Heroin" is an anti-drug song by James Brown, David Matthews, Manny Rosen and Charles Bobbit. Brown recorded this poem set to music at a studio in New York with session musicians in January 1972 and released it as a single in March. It was his fifth single for Polydor Records and reached number six on the U.S. Hot Soul Singles chart and number 40 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the spring. The song was included on Brown's 1972 album There It Is.
Fathead is a multiple Juno Award and Maple Blues award-winning Canadian blues band, founded by Al Lerman and originally formed with members Mike Fitzpatrick, Ted Leonard, John Mays and Bob Tunnoch.
Patrick Leonard Carey is a Canadian baritone and tenor saxophonist, clarinetist, vocalist and is best known for his longstanding association with the Downchild Blues Band.
A Tribute to Canadian Songwriters is a concept album by American singer-songwriter and guitarist Billie Hughes of cover recordings of songs by prominent Canadian songwriters from the London, Ontario and Toronto music scene of the ‘70s. It was released in 1981 on vinyl and re-issued in 2006.
