Reggie Ferguson

An American drummer, percussionist, and washboard player. He began his career during the 1950s performing within the Latin music scene. In the 1960s while playing a show with Jimmy Castor at New York City's Trudy Heller’s, Reggie was invited to join Johnny Hallyday, for a series of shows as the opening act to with the Beatles at the Olympia Theater in Paris, France and European tour. By 1964, Reggie was the full time house drummer for the New York City's Apollo Theater, collaborating with many artists, while continuing to serve as a tour musician. In 1967, after performing together at the Apollo, Otis Redding asked Reggie to join his band. They were scheduled to meet in Atlanta, Georgia, but Otis died before that meeting. Reggie Ferguson initially retired in the 1980s, but later reinvented himself as a washboard-percussionist going by the pseudonym Ali Rahman.