Hi Rhythm Section

The Hi Rhythm Section was most notably 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, Charles Hodges (organ), Leroy Hodges (bass), and Mabon "Teenie" Hodges (guitar), together with drummer Howard Grimes (or Stax Records legend Al Jackson, Jr. on most singles until his death in 1975). Many recordings also used The Memphis Horns - Wayne Jackson and Andrew Love - of Stax fame, usually with Willie's brother James Mitchell arranging. The recordings were made at producer Willie Mitchell's Royal Recording Studio in Memphis, Tennessee.

Band history

The Hodges brothers began playing together in their father's band, the Germantown Blue Dots, in the late 1950s and early 1960s. Leroy Hodges then formed his own band, The Impalas, and came into contact with Memphis trumpeter and bandleader Willie Mitchell. Younger brother Teenie Hodges, then an aspiring bass player, was unofficially adopted by Mitchell in the mid-1960s, and became a member of his regular band, soon joined by Charles and Leroy. Mitchell also recruited first Al Jackson, and later Howard Grimes, from the Stax house band, and used his stepson Archie Turner as an additional keyboard player.

In the late 1960s, Mitchell and his band cut back on their touring...
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