Erskine Oglesby (January 20, 1937 – March 7, 2004) was an American

tenor saxophonist The tenor saxophone is a medium-sized member of the saxophone family, a group of instruments invented by Adolphe Sax in the 1840s. The tenor and the alto are the two most commonly used saxophones. The tenor is pitched in the key of B (while t ...

and blues singer. He was a native of

St. Louis St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...

and as a teenager he played in a local band with

Chuck Berry Charles Edward Anderson Berry (October 18, 1926 – March 18, 2017) was an American singer, songwriter and guitarist who pioneered rock and roll. Nicknamed the " Father of Rock and Roll", he refined and developed rhythm and blues into th ...

. He later played with

Little Milton James Milton Campbell Jr. (September 7, 1934 – August 4, 2005), better known as Little Milton, was an American blues singer and guitarist, best known for his number-one R&B single " We're Gonna Make It". His other hits include " Baby, I Love ...

Albert King Albert Nelson (April 25, 1923 – December 21, 1992), known by his stage name Albert King, was an American guitarist and singer who is often regarded as one of the greatest and most influential blues guitarists of all time. He is perhaps b ...

, and

Ike Turner Izear Luster "Ike" Turner Jr. (November 5, 1931 – December 12, 2007) was an American musician, bandleader, songwriter, record producer, and talent scout. An early pioneer of 1950s rock and roll, he is best known for his work in the 1960s and ...

Kings of Rhythm 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 underg ...

. Oglesby also recorded as a solo artist and released a few albums on Black & Tan Records.

Biography

Oglesby was born in the

neighborhood of

Mill Creek Valley Mill Creek Valley was a historic neighborhood located in the central corridor between 20th Street and Saint Louis University in St. Louis, Missouri. European settlement began in the 18th century with mills established along ''La Petite Rivière'', ...

on January 20, 1937. By the age of 14, he was playing in a local band with guitarist

. Oglesby attended

Vashon High School Vashon High School is a high school of the St. Louis Public Schools in St. Louis, Missouri. When it opened in 1927, it was the second high school for black students in St. Louis. History Designed by Rockwell M. Milligan, the school opened on Sep ...

in St. Louis. As a teenager, Oglesby joined the

Air Force An air force – in the broadest sense – is the national military branch that primarily conducts aerial warfare. More specifically, it is the branch of a nation's armed services that is responsible for aerial warfare as distinct from an ...

near the end of the

Korean War , date = {{Ubl, 25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953 (''de facto'')({{Age in years, months, weeks and days, month1=6, day1=25, year1=1950, month2=7, day2=27, year2=1953), 25 June 1950 – present (''de jure'')({{Age in years, months, weeks a ...

. After his service, he joined

Billy Gayles Billy Gayles (October 19, 1931 – April 8, 1993) was an American rhythm & blues drummer and vocalist. Gayles was a member of Ike Turner's Kings of Rhythm in the 1950s with whom he recorded for Flair Records and Federal Records as the lead voc ...

' band in 1958. Through Gayles, he met bandleader

and joined his

as a baritone player and vocalist. Oglesby left the band because he did not wish to tour. Through the years, Oglesby played

saxophone The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of Single-reed instrument, single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of brass. As with all single-reed instruments, sound is produced when a reed (mouthpi ...

on records by various R&B and blues artists such

Ike & Tina Turner Ike & Tina Turner were an American musical duo consisting of husband and wife Ike Turner and Tina Turner. From 1960 to 1976, they performed live as the Ike & Tina Turner Revue, supported by Ike Turner's band the Kings of Rhythm and backing voca ...

, and Benny Sharp. Not wanting to limit himself to only R&B and blues, Oglesby also played with local

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a m ...

acts including, Terry Williams and the Sound Merchants and the quartet Tres' Bien. While working as a musician, he also held day jobs as a dishwasher and street worker for the

YMCA YMCA, sometimes regionally called the Y, is a worldwide youth organization based in Geneva, Switzerland, with more than 64 million beneficiaries in 120 countries. It was founded on 6 June 1844 by George Williams (philanthropist), Georg ...

helping unemployed people find jobs. Oglesby earned a degree in social work and worked with

inner city The term ''inner city'' has been used, especially in the United States, as a euphemism for majority-minority lower-income residential districts that often refer to rundown neighborhoods, in a downtown or city centre area. Sociologists some ...

kids. In 1986 and 1987, Oglesby toured Europe with several original members of the Kings of Rhythm, including

Clayton Love Clayton D. Love Jr. (November 16, 1927 – February 28, 2010) was an American blues pianist, who led his own band, the Shufflers, in the early 1950s. He was later a vocalist in Ike Turner's band, the Kings of Rhythm. Biography Love was bor ...

, Stacy Johnson,

Oliver Sain Oliver Sain Jr. (March 1, 1932 – October 28, 2003) was an American saxophonist, songwriter, bandleader, drummer and record producer, who was an important figure in the development of rhythm and blues music, notably in St Louis, Missouri. ...

, and former Ikette

Robbie Montgomery Robbie Montgomery (born June 16, 1940) is an American singer and restaurateur. She is noted for being one of the original Ikettes in the Ike & Tina Turner Revue in the 1960s. After her tenure as an Ikette, she was a member of the Mirettes, and t ...

. They were known as the St. Louis Kings of Rhythm. Mayor Vincent Schoemehl officially appointed them as ambassadors for the City of St. Louis. They recorded a double album for

Timeless Records Timeless Records is a jazz record label based in the Netherlands. Timeless was founded in Wageningen in 1975 by Wim Wigt. It has specialized in bebop, though it also did a sub-series of releases of Dixieland and swing recordings. As of 2000, th ...

in the Netherlands. After the blues revival in the 1990s, Oglesby returned to playing music full-time and he released two albums on Black & Tan Records. Oglesby died on March 7, 2004.

Discography

Studio albums

* 2000: ''Blues Dancin (Black & Tan) * 2001: ''Honkin' & Shoutin (Black & Tan)

Album appearances

* 2004: ''Straight Blues 4U'' (Black & Tan) * 2005: ''Keeping Living Music Alive'' (Black & Tan) * 2007: ''Black & Tan Sampler, Vol. 2'' (Black & Tan)

Albums as a sideman

* 1987: St. Louis Kings Of Rhythm – ''Rhythm And Blues Showtime With St. Louis Kings Of Rhythm'' (

) * 2000:

Tommy Bankhead Tommy Bankhead (October 24, 1931 – December 16, 2000) was an American Delta blues guitarist and singer who played with Howlin' Wolf, Sonny Boy Williamson I, Elmore James (his cousin), Joe Willie Wilkins, Robert Nighthawk, and Joe Hill Louis. H ...

– ''Message To St. Louis'' ( Fedora Records)

References

External links

Erskine Oglesby Credits
on

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databa ...

Erskine Oglesby
on Find a Grave {{DEFAULTSORT:Oglesby, Erskine 1937 births 2004 deaths African-American jazz musicians African-American woodwind musicians African-American saxophonists American male saxophonists American jazz tenor saxophonists American rhythm and blues musicians American blues saxophonists American blues singers 20th-century American male musicians 20th-century American saxophonists 21st-century American saxophonists Musicians from St. Louis St. Louis blues musicians Ike & Tina Turner members Kings of Rhythm members United States Air Force personnel of the Korean War