Hi Records is an American

soul music Soul music is a popular music genre that originated in the African American community throughout the United States in the late 1950s and early 1960s. It has its roots in African-American gospel music and rhythm and blues. Soul music became ...

and

rockabilly Rockabilly is one of the earliest styles of rock and roll music. It dates back to the early 1950s in the United States, especially the South. As a genre it blends the sound of Western musical styles such as country with that of rhythm and b ...

label founded in

Memphis, Tennessee Memphis is a city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the seat of Shelby County in the southwest part of the state; it is situated along the Mississippi River. With a population of 633,104 at the 2020 U.S. census, Memphis is the second-mo ...

, in 1957 by singer

Ray Harris Ray Harris (September 7, 1927 – November 13, 2003)'. ''The Independent''. November 27, 2003. was an American rockabilly musician and songwriter. He formed a band with Wayne Powers, and wrote the songs "Come On, Little Mama" and "Greenback Do ...

, record store owner Joe Cuoghi, Bill Cantrell and Quinton Claunch (formerly producers for

Sun Records Sun Records is an American independent record label founded by producer Sam Phillips in Memphis, Tennessee in February 1952. Sun was the first label to record Elvis Presley, Charlie Rich, Roy Orbison, Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins, and Johnny ...

), and three silent partners, including Cuoghi's lawyer, Nick Pesce. Escott, Colin; Frank W. Hoffmann d. ''The Encyclopedia of Recorded Sound, Vol. 1''. 2nd edn

Routledge Routledge () is a British multinational publisher. It was founded in 1836 by George Routledge, and specialises in providing academic books, journals and online resources in the fields of the humanities, behavioural science, education, law ...

, p. 491.

History

Hi Records' first big hit was "Smokie Part 2", an instrumental by Bill Black's Combo, released in 1959. Black was a

bass player A bassist (also known as a bass player or bass guitarist) is a musician who plays a bass instrument such as a double bass (upright bass, contrabass, wood bass), bass guitar (electric bass, acoustic bass), synthbass, keyboard bass or a low br ...

with

Elvis Presley Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977), or simply Elvis, was an American singer and actor. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Elvis Presley, one ...

and a long-time friend of Ray Harris. Founder Claunch was forced out of the label, selling his share in 1960 to Carl McVoy (a cousin of

Jerry Lee Lewis Jerry Lee Lewis (September 29, 1935October 28, 2022) was an American singer, songwriter and pianist. Nicknamed "The Killer", he was described as " rock & roll's first great wild man". A pioneer of rock and roll and rockabilly music, Lewis ma ...

), who had been involved with the label since its first recording and had worked with Bill Black. Willie Mitchell joined the label that year as a recording artist. In 1968 he began to produce Al Green. Bill Black's saxophonist,

Ace Cannon John Henry "Ace" Cannon (May 5, 1934 – December 6, 2018) was an American tenor and alto saxophonist. He played and toured with Hi Records stablemate Bill Black's Combo, and started a solo career with his record "Tuff" in 1961, using the Black ...

, landed a hit with the single "

Tuff Tuff is a type of rock made of volcanic ash ejected from a vent during a volcanic eruption. Following ejection and deposition, the ash is lithified into a solid rock. Rock that contains greater than 75% ash is considered tuff, while rock ...

" in 1961. Royal Recording Studios

In 1970, when founder Joe Cuoghi died and Ray Harris retired, Nick Pesce became president; Willie Mitchell became vice-president. Hi Records' commercial peak was in the early 1970s, mainly due to the innovative and highly successful work of Al Green, whose hits on the label included "

Tired of Being Alone "Tired of Being Alone" is a soul song written by American singer Al Green. It reached number 11 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and number seven on the Soul Singles Chart in 1971. ''Billboard'' ranked it as the number-12 song for 1971. Background ...

", " Let's Stay Together", " I'm Still in Love with You", and " Call Me". Other artists on the label included

O. V. Wright Overton Vertis "O. V." Wright (October 9, 1939 – November 16, 1980) was an American singer who is generally regarded as a blues artist by African-American fans in the Deep South; he is also regarded as one of Southern soul's most authoritativ ...

, Don Bryant,

Otis Clay Otis Lee Clay (February 11, 1942 – January 8, 2016) was an American R&B and soul singer, who started in gospel music. In 2013, Clay was inducted to the Blues Hall of Fame. Early life Clay was born in Waxhaw, Mississippi, to a musical family, ...

, and

Ann Peebles Ann Lee Peebles (born April 27, 1947) is an American singer and songwriter who gained celebrity for her Memphis soul albums of the 1970s for Hi Records. Two of her most popular songs are " I Can't Stand the Rain", which she wrote with her husband ...

. None reached the same level of success. The label's music was mostly recorded at Willie Mitchell's

Royal Studios Royal Studios is a recording studio located in Memphis, Tennessee, United States. Established in 1956, it is one of the oldest continuously operated music recording studios in the world. It is widely known for producer, recording artist and owner ...

, located in a renovated movie theater in

South Memphis South Memphis, one of the oldest portions of Memphis, Tennessee, is a community stretching from Midtown and Downtown to the Mississippi state line. In its early days, it was primarily an agrarian community. South Memphis has many well-known neighb ...

. The label was distributed nationally by London Records. On its numerous hit recordings of the 1970s, the label used a house backing band of local session musicians known as the

Hi Rhythm Section The Hi Rhythm Section was the house band for hit soul albums by several artists, including Al Green and Ann Peebles, on Willie Mitchell's Hi Records label in the 1970s. The band included the three Hodges brothers, organist Charles Hodges, bassis ...

. The popularity of disco music in the late 1970s led to a decline in the popularity of

southern soul Southern soul is a type of soul music that emerged from the Southern United States. The music originated from a combination of styles, including blues (both 12 bar and jump), country, early R&B, and a strong gospel influence that emanated ...

music. Licensed distribution is by Crimson Productions (a division of

Demon Music Group Demon Music Group (DMG) is a record company owned by BBC Studios that is mainly concerned with back-catalogue rights and re-issuing recordings as compilations on physical media (CDs and vinyl) via supermarkets and specialist stores. History DM ...

) in Europe;

EMI EMI Group Limited (originally an initialism for Electric and Musical Industries, also referred to as EMI Records Ltd. or simply EMI) was a British Transnational corporation, transnational Conglomerate (company), conglomerate founded in March 1 ...

licensed the catalog in Canada and the United States until 2009, when

Fat Possum Records Fat Possum Records is an American independent record label based in Water Valley and Oxford, Mississippi. At first Fat Possum focused almost entirely on recording previously unknown Mississippi blues artists (typically from Oxford or Holly Sprin ...

began distributing for the United States, Canada and Australia. Before EMI, Motown Records distributed Hi's back catalog from the 1980s to the mid-1990s, consisting mostly Green's and Mitchell's albums.

Notable artists

* Al Green * Don Bryant *

* Quiet Elegance *

Syl Johnson Sylvester Johnson (born Sylvester Thompson; July 1, 1936 – February 6, 2022) was an American blues and soul singer, musician, songwriter and record producer. His most successful records included "Different Strokes" (1967), " Is It Because I' ...

* Bill Black's Combo * Al Perkins * Ace Cannon * Willie Mitchell

References

External links

Official site

* {{Authority control American record labels Record labels established in 1957 Rhythm and blues record labels Soul music record labels Record labels based in Tennessee

History

Notable artists

See also

References

External links