From the Chicago Blues Festival to the Blues Brothers
- Chicago Movie Tours
- a few seconds ago
- 2 min read
A rainy weekend of live music led to a memorable performance by Taj Mahal—and the story behind one of The Blues Brothers' best songs.
The Chicago Blues Festival is the world's largest free blues festival, a Chicago tradition that has drawn music lovers since 1984. This year's festival took place June 4–7, 2026, with performances spread across Millennium Park and other venues, including the recently remodeled Ramova Theatre.
More than 500,000 blues fans gathered to celebrate the music, enjoying performances by some of the genre's most revered artists and rising stars.
The festival opened with a panel discussion marking "20 Years of the Mississippi Blues Trail"—a program I wish I'd attended, especially since my husband (a Mississippi native) and I recently traveled part of the trail ourselves.
👇 Here's my photo of one Blues Trail plaque at the University of Mississippi (aka. Ole Miss), whose Blues Archive serves students, faculty, and researchers worldwide.
June is typically Chicago's wettest month of the year, and that statistic proved true during part of this year's festival.
But a little rain didn't stop Chicagoans from singin' the blues. Umbrellas filled Millennium Park as thousands of fans gathered to hear the music anyway.
The festival closed with a performance by Taj Mahal and the Phantom Blues Band. At age 84, Taj Mahal shuffled onto the stage at Millennium Park's Pritzker Pavilion and spent the evening seated, alternating between guitar and harmonica.
While I didn't recognize many of the songs in his set (my husband knew most of them), I perked up when the musician introduced a tune I knew well.
Picking up his harmonica, Taj Mahal told the crowd:
"If y'all are privy to the Blues Brothers movie, when they got out of Joliet Prison, this [next song] was what they were playing. Belushi and Aykroyd called me up on the telephone and said, 'Hey, Taj, can we use this song?'
I said, 'Yeah.'
They said, 'We just love "She Caught the Katy (and Left Me a Mule to Ride).'"
As Taj explained, "She Caught the Katy" plays over the opening credits of The Blues Brothers as Belushi's character, Jake, walks out of prison.
The song also returns later in the film when Jake and his brother, Elwood (Aykroyd) jump the Bluesmobile across the 95th Street Bridge near Calumet Fisheries.
Written by Taj Mahal and James Rachell, "She Caught the Katy (and Left Me a Mule to Ride)" first appeared on Taj Mahal's 1968 album The Natch'l Blues. The "Katy" in the title refers to the Missouri–Kansas–Texas Railroad.
Hearing the song performed live by the man who wrote it—and hearing him recount its connection to The Blues Brothers—was a fun Chicago moment.
Click here to watch my short video of Taj Mahal performing "She Caught the Katy." If you have a few extra hours to spare, you can also watch 5.5 hours of the Chicago Blues Festival on YouTube.