When Oliver Sain headed from Chicago to St. Louis in 1959 at the request of his buddy Little Milton Campbell, he was only supposed to be in the city for a weekend, filling in for Campbell's ailing saxophonist. But Sain never left. Instead, he adopted St. Louis as his new home.
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Some of St. Louis' music legends - Miles Davis, Chuck Berry, Ike Turner - are widely heralded. Sain's contributions won't draw comparable attention nationally, but he was no less of a musical gem. He wasn't a star in the traditional sense - recognized on the street by the wider public - but he contributed many sparkling moments under the spotlight, and his talents were large and varied. Many knew Sain was a sizzler with a saxophone, as his Thursday-night gig at BB's demonstrated weekly. But he was equally adept as a keyboardist, a bandleader, producer, arranger and writer.
Many might remember Sain for songs such as "Bus Stop," "Party Hearty," "Soul of a Man," "Feel Like Dancing" and "Booty Bumpin" - the latter a song whose title sounds as if it might have been recorded today. In fact, Sain's work remained relevant to contemporary artists. Puff Daddy (now P. Diddy), for example, sampled his "On the Hill" on the cut "Young G's" from the 1997 CD "No Way Out" (a use that Sain has said paid him handsomely).
http://tinyurl.com/t935 Oliver Sain has died at the age of 71.
The great Delta Bluesman are dying out. I suggest getting to
Chicago, St. Louis, Memphis or New Orleans before they are all
gone. I see quite a few European tourists at St. Louis shows,
who've come specifically for the Blues scene here. I don't run into very many US tourists.