Earnest Lee-Pickford Hines (born 1938) is an American

soul In many religious and philosophical traditions, there is a belief that a soul is "the immaterial aspect or essence of a human being". Etymology The Modern English noun '' soul'' is derived from Old English ''sāwol, sāwel''. The earliest atte ...

musician. He was born in

Jackson, Mississippi Jackson, officially the City of Jackson, is the capital of and the most populous city in the U.S. state of Mississippi. The city is also one of two county seats of Hinds County, along with Raymond. The city had a population of 153,701 at t ...

Career

Hines moved to Baton Rouge,

Louisiana Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is borde ...

, in 1958, after leaving college to play for a gospel group and later forming his own singing group. Then as a guitar player, Hines played behind L. C. Cooke,

Johnnie Taylor Johnnie Harrison Taylor (May 5, 1934 – May 31, 2000) was an American recording artist and songwriter who performed a wide variety of genres, from blues, rhythm and blues, soul, and gospel to pop, doo-wop, and disco. In 2022, Taylor ...

Joe Valentine Joseph John Valentine (born December 24, 1979) is an American former professional baseball pitcher who played in Major League Baseball for the Cincinnati Reds. He is 6'2" tall, weighs 195 pounds and bats and throws right-handed. Early life ...

, Clyde McPhatter,

Lowell Fulson Lowell Fulson (March 31, 1921March 7, 1999) was an American blues guitarist and songwriter, in the West Coast blues tradition. He also recorded for contractual reasons as Lowell Fullsom and Lowell Fulsom. After T-Bone Walker, he was the most imp ...

and

Margie Hendrix Marjorie "Margie" Hendrix (sometimes Hendricks) (March 13, 1935 – July 14, 1973) was an American rhythm and blues singer and founding member of the Raelettes, who were the backing singers for Ray Charles, the father of her child, Charles Wa ...

, and played bass in

Slim Harpo Slim Harpo (born James Isaac Moore; January 11, 1924 – January 31, 1970) was an American blues Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spiri ...

's band. While living in Baton Rouge, Hines was invited by Roscoe Robinson to travel to

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

, where Hines cut four tracks, intended for

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

based Scepter/Wand Records, the label with which Roscoe Robinson had recently had a national hit with "That's Enough". However, the deal with Scepter/Wand did not come through, and consequently Hines bought the masters back and leased them to the Chicago-based record label USA Records, which released two singles by Hines in 1967 and 1968. In 1970, he was signed to

Stax Records Stax Records is an American record company, originally based in Memphis, Tennessee. Founded in 1957 as Satellite Records, the label changed its name to Stax Records in 1961. It also shared its operations with sister label Volt Records. Stax was ...

Al Bell Al Bell (born Alvertis Isbell; March 15, 1940) is an American record producer, songwriter, and record executive. He is best known as having been an executive and co-owner of Stax Records, based in Memphis, Tennessee, during the latter half of the ...

. His first single on the Stax label was his own composition "Help Me Put out the Flame", featuring Hines on guitar as well as lead vocals. Subsequent records were released on the Stax subsidiary We Produce: two singles, "Electrified Love" and "Our Generation", in 1971, and in 1972, the album ''Electrified''. The ''Electrified'' album has received cult following since the 1990s, and in 2010, it was made available again in CD format by the UK re-release company, Ace Records, on its BGP (Beat Goes Public) label. The

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 ...

review of ''Electrified'' stated: The song "Our Generation" has been covered by

John Legend John Roger Stephens (born December 28, 1978), known professionally as John Legend, is an American singer, songwriter, pianist, and record producer. He began his musical career by working behind the scenes, playing piano on Lauryn Hill's " Eve ...

and the Roots in 2010, and has been remixed by

DJ Nu-Mark Mark Potsic, better known by his stage name DJ Nu-Mark (born June 10, 1971), is an American hip hop producer and DJ. He is a member of Jurassic 5, as well as the owner of Hot Plate Records. He has collaborated with and produced for a variety of ar ...

and released in 2013 as by DJ Nu-Mark featuring Ernie Hines. Most notably, the chorus in "Our Generation" was sampled by hip-hop duo

Pete Rock & CL Smooth Pete Rock & CL Smooth were a hip hop duo from Mount Vernon, New York. They made their debut with their 1991 EP, '' All Souled Out'' and followed that with their 1992 LP '' Mecca and the Soul Brother''. Career 1991–1994: The Golden Age As a p ...

on their top-charting single " Straighten It Out," from their 1992 album, '' Mecca and the Soul Brother''. In the 2000s, Hines continued his recording career, releasing a gospel album, an EP and two singles on his own Baby Blue Records label, as well as a re-release of the early USA Records sides.

Discography

;Albums * ''Electrified'' (We Produce, 1972) * ''There Is A Way - Inspirational Songs of Faith Hope and Love'' (Baby Blue, 2004) ;Singles * "Thank You Baby (For A Love Beyond Compare)" / "We're Gonna Party" (USA, 1967) * "Sincerely Mine" / "Rain Rain Rain" (USA, 1968) * "Help Me Put Out The Flame (In My Heart)" / "A Better World (For Everyone)" (Stax, 1970) * "Electrified Love" / "Come On Y'all" (We Produce, 1971) * "Our Generation" / "What Would I Do" (We Produce, 1971) * "My Baby Wears the Lovin' Crown / Can You Put It to Music?" (Baby Blue, 2002) * "Everlasting Love (The Wedding Song)" (Baby Blue, 2011) * "Our Generation" (re-edit) / "Our Generation" (Cali mix) (credited to: DJ Nu-Mark Featuring Ernie Hines, Hot Plate, 2013) ;EPs * ''Kunta Kinte'' - Remembering ''Roots'' (2009) ("Not As Beautiful As You" / "Kunta Kinte (the Man)" / "Ain't It Beautiful" / "All That Glitters Is Not Gold" / "Let Your Love Flow") ;EP compilation *''The Singles (The Early Years)'' (2009) (Baby Blue) (A re-release of the four tracks released on USA in the 1960s)

References

External links

Colorful Music biography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hines, Ernie 1938 births Living people American soul singers Singers from Mississippi Stax Records artists Musicians from Jackson, Mississippi