The Willie Mitchell Orchestra also had its own vocal group, the Four Kings. The group recorded at Hi, cutting the minor hit, "Farmer John." But when three of the Kings abdicated, only Donald Bryant was left. Bryant adjusted and continued touring with the Mitchell band as a solo singer, covering R&B hits of the day. He also recorded for Hi, but though he made such fine records as 1965's "Don't Turn Your Back on Me," he couldn't get a hit under his own name. He was considering a career as a songwriter when a young lady from St. Louis auditioned for Hi.

      Ann Peebles had come to Memphis with her brother, who was visiting a girlfriend. They went to the Rosewood Club to see Bowlegs Miller's band, and teen-aged Ann was asked to do a song with them. Bowlegs was impressed with her version of the old gospel favorite "Steal Away" and brought her to Mitchell for a possible Hi contract. Mitchell also liked what he heard. Everything was falling into place, with Willie Mitchell as the hub of the wheel. In him Hi had an R&B producer/bandleader/songwriter with great ears and vast experience in the business. 

      "He was developing a sound of his own," says Bryant. "It was getting the label a whole lot more recognition in the R&B thing." But Mitchell was just one piece of the Hi puzzle. His brother James Mitchell was a premier saxophonist, as well as the arranger of many of the Hi signature sounds. With Hi Rhythm and the Memphis Horns (Wayne Jackson and Andrew Love, who divided their session time between Stax and Hi), the label had a Dream Team studio band. And in Ann Peebles, Hi had its first soul superstar.

     It was another time of transition for the label. Even former Sun artists Rufus Thomas and Charlie Rich would try their luck for hits on the Hi label. As the Sixties ended, Ray Harris, who had guided the Hi sound since its rockabilly birth, was ready to step down. In June of 1970, Harris sold his share of the company to Mitchell, who became a vice president and managing partner in the company. Within weeks, Joe Cuoghi, the label's sole remaining founder, died. 

     Hi was starting yet another new life. And with Ann Peebles, it got it. She hit the charts with her debut single, 1969's "Walk Away" (#22 on the R&B charts). She proved that was no fluke with the quickly-released follow-up, "Part Time Love" (# 7 R&B), a record that also crossed over to the pop charts (#45).
 
     "Here's a young lady coming in with one record and it just takes off," says Bryant, who decided then to focus his talents behind the scenes. He was still singing with the Mitchell band, but by then he was opening for Peebles. The troupe traveled in Willie's stretched-out van, a U-Haul trailer full of instruments rattling behind. Bryant also began writing songs for Hi's new star. That was the big difference between then and now, he says. In the classic era of Memphis soul, the songwriters wrote with specific singers in mind.
 
     "Like with Ann, you know, I kind of knew her phrases and her changes and different things, So I started directing my writing to sound like Ann Peebles." The result was "99 Pounds," which she still considers to be her first real hit, because it was "her" song. It wasn't long before that musical partnership led to a personal one and the two were soon married.