When an iconic 1980s movie can find a place for the theme song to “Rawhide,” then you’ve got something special up your sleeve.
Remember “The Blues Brothers” with John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd? Well, their 1980s movie features their version of “Rawhide.”
While it doesn’t fit into the blues and soul numbers Joliet Jake and Elwood Blues usually performed, “Rawhide” held a special place in their act.
Of course, the song itself was the theme song for “Rawhide,” the TV series starring Eric Fleming, who died in 1966, and Clint Eastwood. Legendary singer Frankie Laine belted out the tune first, making it a staple in his career.
‘Rawhide’ Helps Save ‘The Blues Brothers’ On Stage
In “The Blues Brothers” movie, Jake and Elwood find themselves and their band booked in a pretty tough bar. They start singing their version of Solomon Burke’s “Everybody Needs Somebody (To Love),” but the cowboys in there were not in the mood. At the bar, a chicken-wire mesh covering protected the musicians from the beer-bottle-throwing crazies.
Yes, those cats started throwing bottles and a piece of one gets through and almost hits Jake. It was at that point they stop playing, then decide to change their song set. They were only concerned with one thing: getting out of that bar alive.
What could they perform that would calm down the lunatics and make them happy? Of course, “Rawhide.”
Take a look at John Belushi, who died in 1982, and Dan Aykroyd, along with their band, perform “Rawhide” in the 1980 film “The Blues Brothers.”
Clint Eastwood’s Career Got Boost By Iconic Series
Eastwood made a name for himself on “Rawhide” by playing Rowdy Yates. If you listen closely to the clip above, then you’ll hear Elwood refer to Rowdy when telling the band to play “Rawhide.”
The TV show would continue to be an important milestone for Eastwood.
According to Wide Open Country, Eastwood wore his Rowdy Yates boots in the 1992 Oscar-winning film “Unforgiven.” More than 30 years later, those boots still were kicking and even still made for walking.
Even in his movie career, whether it’s playing “Dirty” Harry Callahan in the “Dirty Harry” series of films or “A Fistful of Dollars,” Clint Eastwood can fondly look back on his days in “Rawhide.”
It looks like Eastwood got lucky, punk.
