Willie Mitchell had joined Hi Records in 1960 as a trumpeter. He had quickly built up an orchestra that provided the core of the session band that became known as the Hi Rhythm Section.
At the heart of the group were three brothers, who had all started out playing in their father’s band, the Germantown Blue Dots, during the late fifties and early sixties. They were Charles, Leroy and Mabon “Teenie” Hodges. Charles played the organ, Leroy played bass and Teenie played guitar. Archie Turner, Mitchell’s stepson, (piano), Michael Allen (piano), Howard Grimes (drums), Al Jackson Jr. (drums), completed the band.
The Memphis Music Hall of Fame website describes the contributions of the three key members of the Rhythm Section: “Teenie Hodges, the de-facto leader of the group, was a masterful guitarist with a knack for getting to the pure, simple essence of a song. Organist Charles Hodges brought a sense of spirituality and sultriness to many of Hi Records’ greatest recordings… Bassist Leroy Hodges had the impeccable feel and rhythm that one would expect of a world class player…”
The Memphis Horns were often a potent addition to this wonderful mix, with Willie’s brother James doing most of the horn arrangements. The choice of two pianists gave extra flexibility. Jackson did most of the sessions up to his death in 1975, and Grimes then came to the fore. James Hooker, who later changed his name to James H. Brown Jr., also worked as a member of the studio band from 1968 to 1971, before moving to Muscle Shoals to work at the FAME Studios with Rick Hall.
The strength of the band was the “warmth” of their sound. The three brothers had an intuitive understanding of each other’s playing and, with Al Jackson Jr. or Howard Grimes driving the beat, they were able to create a recognizable groove. Charles Hodges described the process in an article in the Memphis Flyer in 2014: “The bass player knew what I was going to do. I knew what the guitar player was going to do. The drummer knew what we were all going to do. We didn’t get in anyone’s way. We came together spiritually… We just feel each other.”
The overlap with Stax musicians helped fuse the Memphis Soul sound into something special.
By the mid-seventies, the band had played on a series of gold and platinum albums, plus many hit singles, backing Al Green, Ann Peebles, Syl Johnson and the other Hi Records artists. The Hodges brothers and Howard Grimes also found time to record an album of their own in 1976 called “On the Loose”, released under the name of Hi Rhythm.
The Hi Rhythm Section: “On The Loose”
When Hi Records was sold in 1977, the session band split up for a couple of years, before reuniting as a touring band in 1979. The Hodges brothers then toured with Otis Clay and Blues guitarist Albert Collins during the eighties and nineties. Charles Hodges left to become a church minister, but the brothers continued working as the Hodges brothers, adding Fred Hodges on keyboards for the recording of their album “Perfect Gentlemen” on Velvet Recordings of America in 1994. Other members of the original session band reunited from time to time for specific projects, backing Syl Johnson on “Back in the Game” and Al Green’s comeback album “I Can’t Stop”.
In 2016 the contribution of the band to the Memphis Soul sound was finally recognised formally, when they were inducted into the Memphis Music Hall of Fame.
