Ernie Hines recorded his only album ‘Electrified’ for the Stax subsidiary We Produce in 1972. It includes his excellent Modern Soul /2 stepper ‘Electrified Love’ produced by Carl Hampton, a highly collectable 45 from the previous year. The mid tempo ‘Your Love (Is all I need) has a lovely lazy groove produced by Lester Snell. Fred Briggs (Coldwater Stone) produced the funky southern soul groove ‘Sugar Plum’ and the mid tempo ballad ‘A Better World (For Everyone)’. There are good covers of Sam Cooke’s classic ‘A Change Is Gonna Come’ and label mates The Temprees ‘Explain it To Her Mama’ with a completely different arrangement and tempo. The album’s standout cut though is the funky ‘Our Generation’ , a great hard driving track sampled by Pete Rock on ‘Let’s Straighten It Out’ . Strong album throughout with arrangement from Dale Warren (24 Carat Black), Lester Snell and Wardell Quezergue.
The original album is now hard to find and expensive , so this analogue reissue on black or coloured vinyl is very welcome.
