Willie Mitchell (music producer)

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Willie Mitchell

Willie Mitchell (* 1. March 1928 in Ashland , Mississippi , † 5. January 2010 in Memphis , Tennessee ) was an American Soul - R & B - Pop - and radio - music producer and arranger . Most recently he ran his company, Royal Recording, in Memphis. He was best known for his Hi Records recordings in the 1970s, where some popular Memphis soul musicians released, including Mitchell himself, Al Green and Ann Peebles .

Life

Mitchell, who grew up in Ashland, moved to Memphis in high school. He was in Rust College. He learned to play the trumpet when he was eight . During high school he was a sought-after musician in local big bands. He later formed his own band, in which Booker Little , Charles Lloyd , George Coleman and pianist Phineas Newborn Jr. played along.

Mitchell initially took a job with the Home of the Blues record label as a producer. He later moved to Hi Records as a musician, director and producer. He earned his nickname "Papa Willie" by running Hi Records through its most successful years in the 1970s. Mitchell's productions were particularly characterized by a hard-hitting kick drum sound (mostly played by drummer Al Jackson, Jr. of the band Booker T. & the MG's ).

As a trumpeter and band leader , Mitchell released a number of his own singles on Hi Records in the 1960s, including the chart number Soul Serenade . During the 1980s Willie ran his own independent label, Waylo Records . The published musicians there included Billy Always and Lynn White.

Mitchell and Al Green revived their successful collaboration after an 18 year hiatus in 2003 when Green recorded I Can't Stop , followed by the Everything's OK CD . He wrote string and brass arrangements for a Rod Stewart album with R&B cover versions.

Mitchell died of a heart attack in Memphis at the age of 81 . Shortly before, he had the album Nothing's impossible by Solomon Burke finished produced.

Discography

  • 1963: Sunrise Serenade
  • 1965: It's Dance Time
  • 1966: It's What's Happenin
  • 1967: Ooh Baby, You Turn Me On
  • 1967: The Hit Sound of Willie Mitchell
  • 1968: Willie Mitchell Live at the Royal
  • 1968: On Top 1969
  • 1969: Solid Soul
  • 1969: Soul Bag
  • 1970: Robbin's Nest
  • 1970: The Many Moods of Willie Mitchell
  • 1971: Hold It
  • 1971: Listen Dance
  • 1977: Willie Mitchell Live
  • 1981: Willie Willie Willie
  • 1986: That Driving Beat
  • 2003: Walkin 'With Willie
  • 2008: Best Damn Fool (with Buddy Guy )

Awards

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b David N. Howard (2004). Sonic Alchemy: Visionary Music Producers and Their Maverick Recordings , pp. 150-51. Hal Leonard Corporation. ISBN 0634055607 .
  2. ↑ Willie Mitchell interview by Pete Lewis, 'Blues & Soul' October 1987
  3. ↑ a b c Associated Press of January 6, 2010: "Legendary Producer Willie Mitchell Dead At 81"
  4. ^ The New York Times, Jan. 6, 2010: Death from Heart Failure
personal data
SURNAME Mitchell, Willie
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American soul, R&B, pop and funk music producer and arranger
DATE OF BIRTH March 1, 1928
PLACE OF BIRTH Ashland , Mississippi
DATE OF DEATH January 5, 2010
Place of death Memphis , Tennessee