Rays Music Exchange Shorts
Description: Ray's Music Exchange, the fictional Chicago pawn shop from *The Blues Brothers* (1980), played a pivotal role in the band's revival. The exterior was filmed at a real pawn shop in Bronzeville (300 E. 47th St.), while the interior scenes were shot on a soundstage. Its iconic mural honoring Black musicians remained for 40 years before being lost to a fire in 2020. A beloved piece of movie history, it continues to capture the spirit of the film and Chicago's musical legacy.
Description: Ray's Music Exchange is a fictional Chicago pawn shop that specialized in musical instruments in the 1980 film, The Blues Brothers. It's where the guys go to procure new instruments and equipment as they get the band back together, and end up in a performance of “Shake A Tail Feather” that spills into the streets filled with dancers. The actual location of the store was a pawn shop located in the Bronzeville neighborhood at 300 E. 47th St., though the interior shots were all done on a soundstage. The mural on the side of Ray's celebrating black musicians remained for 40 years until vandals set fire to the building in 2020.
Description: A weathered tribute to an old-school South Side music shop, where guitars, keys, records and amplifiers keep the blues alive. Designed with distressed sign-painter lettering, vintage instrument artwork and a worn mid-century screen-print finish for musicians, blues lovers and fans of classic Chicago music culture.
Description: The Blues Brothers is a 1980 American musical comedy film directed by John Landis. It stars John Belushi as 'Joliet' Jake Blues and Dan Aykroyd as his brother Elwood, characters developed from the recurring musical sketch "The Blues Brothers" on NBC variety series Saturday Night Live. The film is set in and around Chicago, Illinois, where it was filmed, and the screenplay was written by Aykroyd and Landis. It features musical numbers by rhythm and blues (R&B), soul, and blues singers James Brown, Cab Calloway, Aretha Franklin, Ray Charles, Chaka Khan, and John Lee Hooker. It features non-musical supporting performances by Carrie Fisher, Henry Gibson, Charles Napier and John Candy.
