ST. CROIX — Dan Aykroyd recently collaborated with St. Croix musicians to record a Virgin Islands tribute song called “Good Morning, Good Afternoon, Good Night” that features the comic icon’s legendary “Blues Brothers” character, Elwood Blues.
Aykroyd returned to the studio as Elwood Blues after more than two decades to record the song, which also features Garrett Dutton, better known as G. Love.
The two famous performers teamed up with residents Kevin Motta, who also sings on the track, and Jeff Tareila, who wrote the music and produced the song in his studios in New Jersey and St. Croix. Other local musicians who play on the track include Kurt Schindler on guitar, Abbie Leung-Massicot on steel pans and a choir organized by Leslie Highfield-Carter. The drummer on the song is Chuck Treece, a member of various bands, including G. Love and Special Sauce. The collaborating artists for “Good Morning, Good Afternoon, Good Night” are known as VI Peeps.
“This was a very big collaboration, and we felt like we wanted to just have a neutral name and really have focus on the song, so there could be other VI Peeps collaborations in the future, which we hope,” Tareila said, noting the song is available on multiple streaming platforms, and has been steadily playing on local radio stations.
The music for the song provided the inspiration for Aykroyd, G. Love and Motta to write their lyrics for the parts they sing. Tareila also wrote some of the words. Aykroyd, while describing his contribution, spoke about “a cry from the continent to the islands for some relief in bad weather.”
“My character cries out and gets welcomed by the man named Motta, who is really, it’s Kevin the vocalist, but the man named Motta is all Crucians who welcome people here to the island and want to share the best of it, and we’re so privileged to be able to be welcomed,” Aykroyd said today from the WTJX studio. “And the song, I think, is a love song of the Virgin Islands. It’s also a tourist promotion. It’s also recognition that the VI has music.”
Tareila, a resident of 11 years originally from Frenchtown, New Jersey, said the song is all about “celebration and community.”
“Virgin Islanders need to gather together, we need to stand up for one another, we need to celebrate each other, and this song has that feeling about it,” he said. “We want the world to know about the Virgin Islands, and we want to show them how amazing this place is, and that’s what we did through music.”
The song started out as a demo featuring Motta, Tareila said. After hearing some verses and the chorus, Aykroyd said he invited himself to sing on it. He said the rhythm of the song drew him in.
“The whole rhythm and thrust of the song was what I responded to first, and I thought to myself, this would fit kind of the Elwood crying out from Chicago and the cold and the snow to come here,” he said.
Tareila said he was working in his New Jersey studio, Pussycat Club, on another song with Treece, adding that Treece requested to play drums on “Good Morning, Good Afternoon, Good Night.” Tareila said Treece then played the song for G. Love, who had previously spent time in St. Thomas and St. John. After getting a call from G. Love asking to sing on the song, Tareila said he made a spot for him.
“It kind of really snowballed through a few different incarnations to what it is now,” he said.
The collaboration marked the return to the studio for Aykroyd’s “Blues Brothers” persona after more than two decades, following the soundtrack for “Blues Brothers 2000.”
“It feels great,” Aykroyd said about getting Elwood Blues back in the studio for a VI tribute song. “I was so happy to be welcomed by this community of musicians here as an equal.”
While Aykroyd’s alter ego is known for singing classic blues and soul songs, his Elwood Blues character has evolved throughout the years to cultivate a singing style that embraces hip-hop as he raps on the track.
“This is my first experience at kind of a hip-hop rap,” he said, adding that Tareila and Motta helped him get the rhythm. “I had to learn it a little bit. Even though I wrote it, I sort of had to learn how to deliver it within the cadence and the phrasing and the rhythm of the total track.”
Tareila said Aykroyd’s performance on the track turned the song around.
“It went from a verse, chorus type song with traditional singing to a real storyline,” he said, reiterating that Motta represents the island and Elwood Blues comes to the Virgin Islands to be welcomed. “It’s an analogy of people coming here and being welcomed — everyone being welcomed.”
Aykroyd, who spoke on “Analyze This with Neville James” today about discovering St. Croix in the early 1980s while filming the end scene of “Trading Places” with Eddie Murphy at Davis Bay, said he purchased a house on island after returning to St. Croix after four decades for a winter getaway during the coronavirus pandemic. He said he would like to spend as much time on island when he isn’t working, traveling or staying on his farm in his native Canada.
“I came back during the Covid year and looked around and thought, you know, it’s got beautiful beaches, the people are warm and welcoming,” he said, further discussing the good gas prices, great grocery stores and great cuisine. “I think it’s the best of the Caribbean, it really is, you know, you got it all here.”
Aykroyd said what he loves about the Virgin Islands are the gestures of respect that everyone has, noting how common it is to be greeted in public. He said there is a warmth in the territory that he hasn’t found in many of the other parts of the Caribbean he has visited.
“There’s a particular emotion here that is dominant, and it’s just that gesture of respect,” he said, adding that the Virgin Islands is the first place he has seen that gesture of respect as a dominant personality trait after traveling throughout the region. “That’s why we are singing on this song, because we were celebrating that aspect of the island’s culture.”
As he hangs out on island, visits the beaches, and eats in restaurants, Aykroyd encouraged folks to greet him.
“I’m happy when people walk up and say hello to me,” he said.
When it comes to performing in concert on island, Aykroyd said he’s hopeful to bring down his band, Blues Brothers Review, to perform in Frederiksted when construction concludes on the Paul E. Joseph Stadium. He said his band also introduces guest artists. He envisioned holding a blues festival with local musicians. He said his band plays vintage tunes that aren’t played on the radio today, noting he likes the old rhythm and blues songs.
“To hear our band is really refreshing, and people walk away happy,” he said. “Every time there’s a Blues Brothers concert, you can see they’re smiling all the way through it because there’s motion and there’s skilled musicians playing there, and great material. The African American songbook; you’re not going to beat that.”
