One of Hi's biggest hits of the early years was a vocal, as Bill Black's singer Gene Simmons scored a novelty hit in 1964 with "Haunted House," a cover of an old R&B song Ray Harris had heard Sam the Sham do on local TV. But as the Sixties wore on, the Memphis Sound evolved into the soulful groove of Stax Records, spreading to Chips Moman's hit factory at American Studios with Reggie Young and the studio's stellar American rhythm section and all the way down to Alabama's Muscle Shoals.

     Not surprisingly, that same groove caught on at Hi. And the man chiefly responsible was a popular Memphis bandleader/trumpeter named Willie Mitchell. He'd been one of Memphis' most accomplished bandleaders since 1954, a time when the city boasted many great bands, including such greats as Gene "Bowlegs" Miller and Ben Branch, both of whom also recorded at Hi.

     Mitchell's mix of jazz sophistication and down-home Southern blues -- not to mention his ambition and work ethic -- set him apart, and he and his streamlined, stripped-down big band were in demand at clubs and parties by black and white audiences alike. Playing grueling 9 p.m.-4 a.m. gigs at local nightspots like West Memphis' Plantation Inn, Mitchell's band turned out some of the finest musicians to come from Memphis, including jazz greats Charles Lloyd and Harold Mabern.

     Mitchell's modern approach found success at Hi backing singers as well as on instrumental hits like "Soul Serenade" and his first Hi success, "20-75." 
More importantly, he also became more involved in the production aspect of the studio. Hi's studio was at 1320 South Lauderdale, the home of the old Royal movie theater. Stax was also in an old movie house. In the Fifties that new fad, TV, was stealing movie audiences, and many old theaters became inexpensive real estate investments that also made good recording studios. But it took some work. "We had to do a whole lot to the studio to make it sound like we wanted it to sound," recalls Mitchell.

     At Hi in the Sixties, Mitchell was already working with the core of what would become one of the world's greatest rhythm sections -- guitarist/leader Teenie Hodges, his organist brother Charles and bassist brother LeRoy. Known as Hi Rhythm, the Hodges Brothers, along with drummer Howard Grimes, remains the premier ongoing Memphis soul section.