''King of Hearts'' was the first CD album for blues, soul singer King Ernest. He had been away from the music scene for some time and the album marked his return to music. It was also a blues award nominee.

Background

After retiring at 55, he recorded the album which was released on

Evidence Evidence for a proposition is what supports this proposition. It is usually understood as an indication that the supported proposition is true. What role evidence plays and how it is conceived varies from field to field. In epistemology, evidenc ...

26084 in 1997. The album includes covers of "Black Bag Blues" which is a

Lester Butler Lester Butler (November 12, 1959May 9, 1998) was an American blues harmonica player and singer. He achieved fame as the singer and harmonica player for the Los Angeles, California, blues rock band, the Red Devils Biography Butler was born in ...

song and "Better Days" which was written by

Mick Jagger Sir Michael Philip Jagger (born 26 July 1943) is an English singer and songwriter who has achieved international fame as the lead vocalist and one of the founder members of the rock band the Rolling Stones. His ongoing songwriting partnershi ...

and

Jimmy Rip Jimmy Rippetoe (born 1956), better known by his stage name Jimmy Rip, is an American guitarist, songwriter and record producer, who is known for his work with Jerry Lee Lewis, Mick Jagger, Debbie Harry, Paul Collins & The Beat, Michael Monroe ...

, which is an

Otis Redding Otis Ray Redding Jr. (September 9, 1941 – December 10, 1967) was an American singer and songwriter. He is considered one of the greatest singers in the history of American popular music and a seminal artist in soul music and rhythm and blues. ...

styled ballad. Charlie Musselwhite's "Long As I Have You" and Hound Dog Taylor's "Sadie" are also covered. Other compositions are by Ernest Baker,

Andy Kaulkin Anti- is an American record label founded in 1999 as a sister label to Epitaph Records. While Epitaph's focus has mostly been on punk rock, Anti-'s roster includes gospel ( Mavis Staples), country (Merle Haggard), hip hop (Sage Francis, The C ...

and Randy Chortkoff. Lester Butler, Jimmy Rip, and East Hampton guitarist, Zach Zunis are among the musicians that played on the album. In a review of the album, Nicky Baxter of ''

Metroactive ''Metro'' is a free weekly newspaper published by the San Jose, California, based Metro Newspapers. Also known as ''Metro Silicon Valley'', as well as ''Metroactive'' online, the paper serves the greater Silicon Valley area. In addition to print ...

'' noted the ease that King Ernest had in going from blues to soul and back again. The only low point was some obtrusive piano pounding. It was nominated in for a W. C. Handy Award in 1998. There were two categories. One was in Soul/Blues Album of the Year category and the other was in the Comeback Blues Album of the Year category. Bakers follow-up album was in 2000 with '' Blues Got Soul''.Blues Bytes, November 2000
''WHAT'S NEW'' --- Steve Hinrichsen
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Album details

References

{{Authority control 1997 albums King Ernest Baker albums Evidence Music albums