Editing Hi Rhythm Section

{{Short description|American music group}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=August 2022}}
{{More citations needed|date=March 2019}}
The '''Hi Rhythm Section''' was the [[house band]] for hit [[soul music|soul]] albums by several artists, including [[Al Green]] and [[Ann Peebles]], on [[Willie Mitchell (musician)|Willie Mitchell]]'s [[Hi Records]] label in the 1970s. The band included the three Hodges brothers, organist [[Charles Hodges]], bassist [[Leroy Hodges]] and guitarist [[Mabon "Teenie" Hodges]], together with pianist [[Archie Turner (musician)|Archie Turner]] (or Michael Allen) and drummer [[Howard Grimes]] (or [[Stax Records]] drummer [[Al Jackson Jr.]], on most singles until his death in 1975). Many recordings also used [[The Memphis Horns]] - [[Wayne Jackson (musician)|Wayne Jackson]] and [[Andrew Love (musician)|Andrew Love]] - of Stax fame, usually with Willie's brother James Mitchell arranging and (Perry) Michael Allen - piano (Alt). The recordings were made at [[Record producer|producer]] Willie Mitchell's [[Royal Studios|Royal Recording Studio]] in [[Memphis, Tennessee]].<ref name="allmusic">{{cite web|url=https://www.allmusic.com/artist/hi-rhythm-section-mn0001869786/biography|title=Hi Rhythm Section - Biography & History|publisher=[[AllMusic]]|accessdate=28 March 2019}}</ref>

==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 (musician)|Archie Turner]] as an additional keyboard player.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://api.discogs.com/artists/387208|title=Archie Turner|website=Discogs|accessdate=28 March 2019}}</ref><ref name="mca">{{Cite web |url=http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/2007/nov/23/back-in-the-hi-life/ |title=Back in the Hi life » the Commercial Appeal |access-date=2010-04-08 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110615175857/http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/2007/nov/23/back-in-the-hi-life/ |archive-date=2011-06-15 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

In the late 1960s, Mitchell and his band cut back on their touring schedule, to focus more on studio work.<ref name="mca"/> The Hi Rhythm Section's distinctive, warm, swirling soul sound was a major ingredient in the success of the label through the 1970s. Three members of the Hodges family played guitar, organ and bass for the group; their naturally closeknit, familial warmth brought a unique, intuitive [[Groove (music)|groove]] to the group's sound. Along with contributions by other outstanding contemporary 1960s and 1970s Memphis studio sessions bands, such as [[The Mar-Keys]], the Packers, and [[Booker T. & the M.G.'s]], the Hi Rhythm Section helped define the sounds of the classic [[Memphis soul]] music genre. By the mid-1970s, they had appeared on nearly 20 gold and platinum albums and countless chart hits for [[Al Green]], Ann Peebles, [[Syl Johnson]], [[Otis Clay]] and others.<ref name="mca"/>

The Hodges brothers, with Grimes, recorded the 1976 [[LP album|LP]] ''On the Loose'' as '''Hi Rhythm'''.

The band dissolved after Hi Records was sold in 1977, but regrouped as a touring band in 1979. Through the 1980s and early 1990s, the Hodges brothers toured with singers [[Albert Collins]] and [[Otis Clay]], and periodically regrouped with Grimes and Turner. Charles Hodges left in the 1990s, becoming an ordained church minister.<ref name="mca"/> In 1994, the album ''Perfect Gentlemen'' was released, featuring a fourth Hodges with the addition of Fred on keyboards as well as Percy Wiggins on vocals, issued on Velvet Recordings of America as by '''The Hodges Brothers'''.<ref name="allmusic"/>

Other band members still played together, sometimes with Jackson's cousin [[Steve Potts (drummer)|Steve Potts]] on percussion, providing their unique backdrops for Syl Johnson on the [[Delmark Records]] CD ''Back in the Game'' (1994), and the Mitchell-produced Al Green comeback ''I Can't Stop'' and its follow-up for the [[Blue Note]] label in 2003 and 2005. They also toured with [[Cat Power]], aka Chan Marshall, and featured on her 2006 album ''[[The Greatest (Cat Power album)|The Greatest]]''.<ref name="mca"/> In 2016, the group was inducted into the [[Memphis Music Hall of Fame]].

Canadian singer Frazey Ford recorded her 2014 album ''Indian Ocean'' songs "September Fields" and, "I'm Done", at the Royal Studio, - the Hi Rhythm Section backing her with their unmistakeable signature Memphis sounds.

The Royal Recording Studio in Memphis is now included on the same tour with the landmark studios of [[Stax Records|Stax]] and [[Sun Records|Sun]].

==Members==
*[[Teenie Hodges]] – guitar (died 2014)
*[[Charles Hodges]] – organ
*[[Leroy Hodges]] – bass
*[[Howard Grimes]] – drums (died 2022)
*[[Al Jackson Jr.]] – drums (died 1975)
*[[Archie Turner (musician)|Archie Turner]] – piano 
*(Perry) Michael Allen – piano (Alt)
*[[James Hooker (musician)|James Hooker]] – piano (aka James H. Brown Jr.)

==Discography==
{{Expand section|date=March 2010}}

*''I Can't Stand the Rain'' (1974) – Ann Peebles
*''On the Loose'' (1976)
*''Soul Man: Live in Japan'' (1991) - Otis Clay
*''Perfect Gentlemen'' (1994) – recorded as The Hodges Brothers
*''Out There Somewhere'' (2012) – Deering and Down

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20100514131148/http://hirecords.com/history.html History of Hi Records]
*[http://www.discogs.com/artist/261379-Michael-Allen-2 (Perry) Michael Allen]
*{{Discogs artist|Hi Rhythm}}

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:American instrumental musical groups]]
[[Category:American session musicians]]
[[Category:Musical groups from Memphis, Tennessee]]