Willie Mitchell, 81, a celebrated trumpeter, arranger and producer for Hi Records who launched the careers of Al Green and other leading soul performers of the 1970s, died of cardiac arrest Tuesday at a hospital in Memphis.
In a career spanning six decades, Mitchell proved a hitmaker as a producer for singers such as Ann Peebles, Otis Clay, Syl Johnson and Denise LaSalle. He also worked with a wide range of rock performers including Rod Stewart and John Mayer.
Mitchell first made an impression as an instrumentalist. His rhythm-and-blues group signed with Hi Records in 1959 and recorded a string of successful soul instrumentals.
Through his efforts, Hi Records competed with Stax Records as the main purveyor of the driving, funky Memphis soul style.
Mitchell was born March 1, 1928, into a sharecropping family. He took up trumpet at 8 and received a music degree from Rust College in Holly Springs, Miss.
