This keyboardist was already well established as a session player by the early '40s, backing up singers and vocal groups in styles that would eventually become established with almighty genre terms such as R&B, funk, and soul. Performer and songwriter
Otis Blackwell is considered an innovator in all of these styles as well as straight and simple rock & roll;
Ernie Hayes, sometimes credited more formally as
Ernest Hayes, played piano and organ on 1942
Blackwell sides as part of the regular albeit stupendous rhythm section that also includes guitarist
Mickey Baker, bassist
Milt Hinton, and drummer
Specs Powell.
To account in detail about every session
Hayes participated in over nearly the next four decades would most likely force a library shelf to sag. There had been, according to trusty discographical sources, nearly 200 recording sessions involving
Ernie Hayes by the late '80s. He shows up on records by
James Brown,
Nina Simone, Mickey & Sylvia,
Screamin' Jay Hawkins,
Jackie Wilson,
Aretha Franklin,
Ian & Sylvia, and
Sam Cooke. He was also known to have a hand in arrangements, sometimes formally and sometimes informally in well-worn rhythm section relationships that relied more on spontaneous setups. As a composer,
Hayes had a Latin touch and seemed to enjoy Spanish titles, including the dark, scenty "Flores de Noche" and the moving "Vaya," both of which were recorded by bandleader
Ray Barretto. ~ Eugene Chadbourne