Hi Records was established in Memphis, Tennessee in 1957. Hi recorded popular, country and western, soul, and rhythm and blues. The origin of the company belongs to Ray Harris, who had two singles on the Sun label. Harris felt he could produce records and wanted to start a record company. Harris had two partners in Bill Cantrell and Quinton Claunch, who had worked as producers at the Sun Record studio.

In 1957, Harris was doing construction work and a co-worker was Carl McVoy, a piano player and cousin of Jerry Lee Lewis. Harris, Cantrell and Claunch had McVoy cut a demo of rock and roll arrangements of "You Are My Sunshine" and "Tootsie". In order to issue the record, they needed some financing, so they went to Joe Cuoghi who owned the Poplar Tunes Record store in Memphis. Cuoghi formed a partnership to establish Hi records. There were eight partners: Cuoghi, his lawyer Nick Pesce, and three of their friends (Sam Esgro, Bill Brown, and Jim Clarington) who put up $500 each, along with Cantrell, Claunch and Harris, who invested their time. There were 240 shares of the company and each of the partners received 30 shares.

Cantrell was initially appointed President, but before any records were released, Cuoghi bought out three of the other investors, became the majority shareholder, and took over as President. With the money raised, Harris, Claunch and Cantrell took Carl McVoy to Nashville to re-record "You Are My Sunshine" and "Tootsie" which was issued as Hi 2001. McVoy secured an appearance on Dick Clark's Saturday night national TV show, and Hi received many orders for the record -- but few payments for it. Being in a cash flow bind, Hi was forced to sell the record for $2600 to Sam Phillips, who re-released it on Phillips International 3526.

Using the money they received from Phillips, Cuoghi and partners rented an old theater at 1320 South Lauderdale and installed recording equipment. This theater became the Hi Recording Studio. The first sixteen records issued on Hi from 1957-59 were by an array of obscure performers, most likely local artists, some of whom were heard from later. These included, in addition to McVoy, the Charmettes, Buddy Holiday, Joe Fuller, Mark Taylor, Fern Fisher, Kimball Coburn, Will Mercer, Bobby Chandler, Tommy Tucker, and Charles Cockrell. By the summer of 1959, Hi had put out 16 unsuccessful singles, and was going broke.

Then Bill Black showed up. Black, of course, was Elvis Presley's original bass player on his Sun recordings and personal appearances. Black had had a falling out with Presley and had decided to make it on his own by starting his own band, and signed with Hi. At that time, Hi had just signed Jay B. Lloyd, who had recorded on ABC-Paramount, and backed him with the new Bill Black Combo. Lloyd recorded "I'm So Lonely"/"I'll Be Alright" [Hi 2017] which did quite well, and led to Hi records being picked up by London Records for national distribution. London Records distributed Hi Records until 1977.

The first big national success for Hi, however, was the next single, Bill Black's Combo's "Smokie, Part 2" [Hi 2018]. The recording was terrific, a sure hit, but the cash-strapped company didn't have enough money to pay the session fees. Cuoghi offered shares in the tune to the musicians in lieu of payment, and most of them quickly agreed. At that point, the Bill Black combo consisted of bassist Bill Black, guitarist Reggie Young, drummer Jerry Arnold, pianist Joe Hall, and Sax player Martin Willis. Willis quit shortly after "Smokie" was issued and was replaced by saxophonist Ace Cannon and Carl McVoy.

"Smokie" made the national top 20 and #1 on the R&B charts. This was a big enough hit that in December 1959, Hi released it's first album, Smokie [HL-12001]. When Black's followup single, "White Silver Sands," hit in early 1960, Hi replaced the Smokie album by HL-12002, which was titled Saxy Jazz. The latter had 10 of the 12 songs that were on Smokie, but also included the new single, "White Silver Sands." Shortly after the success of "Smokie", Quinton Claunch sold his shares in the company to Carl McVoy. For the next few years, the Bill Black Combo would be the prime movers for Hi Records, being featured on most of their singles and garnering all of their chart hits.

The sax player with the Bill Black Combo was Ace Cannon. In late 1961, he recorded "Tuff" [Hi 2040], and became the first Hi artist to hit the national charts other than Bill Black. The song had a long history. Originally titled "Columbus Stockade Blues," it had also been recorded by Bill Justis for Sun as "Cattywampus" [Phillips International 3529].

Willie Mitchell was signed to the label in 1963, although he was associated with the musicians of Hi for years. Mitchell was a trumpet player with classical music training, and he had long been a performer in the Memphis music scene, having his own band since 1954. In 1964, after several unsuccessful singles for Hi, he issued "20-75," a foot-stompin instrumental which took its title from the record number [Hi 2075]. He went on to record several albums for Hi and had several instrumental hits, but his value to the label was eventually far greater than the hits he had. With hits by Black, Mitchell, and Cannon, Hi records became known as an instrumental label during the early '60s. Most of the early album releases on Hi were by these artists. By the mid '60s, Hi record releases were sounding like dated formula records. Bill Black died of a brain tumor in October, 1965, but the Bill Black Combo kept recording after his death.

Hi had signed the Bill Black Combo's singer, "Jumpin'" Gene Simmons, to a solo contract in 1959 and he recorded "Goin' Back to Memphis." [Obviously, this was a different person from the Gene Simmons who later was part of the 1970s rock group Kiss.] Instead of putting "Goin' Back to Memphis" out on Hi (remember, they had a cash-flow problem in 1959), they leased the record to Checker Records in Chicago. They did not record Simmons again until 1961. Simmons continued to record for Hi for the next few years and had his biggest hit was in September 1964 with "Haunted House". The song was first recorded in the late 1950s by Johnny Fuller for the Specialty label [Specialty 655], but didn't hit. It was strong enough, however, that it was a good song for live performances, and by the 1963 was being done by (as-yet-nationally-unknown) Sam the Sham, who performed it on a Memphis TV station WHBQ's Dance Party. Ray Harris liked the song, and tried to lease it from Sam. When he couldn't, he cut the song with Gene Simmons and got the hit version.

In the mid '60s, Bill Black's Combo, Ace Cannon, and Willie Mitchell were all regularly on the charts, but there wasn't much else being developed. Hi tried some forays into country music, with Jerry Jaye and Narvel Felts. Jaye's countrified version of Fats Domino's "My Girl Josephine" [Hi 2120] made the national top-30 in 1967, but Felts, a veteran of the 1950s Sun days, was several years ahead of his huge 1970s country chart success. By and large, Hi was stagnating. The salvation for Hi Records came as Willie Mitchell started assuming an increasing role at the Hi Studio. Mitchell had a taste for jazz, but also understood what was commercial in contemporary black music. He stared moving Hi into the soul music genre.

In 1970, Ray Harris sold his share of the company to Willie Mitchell, Michell was named Vice President in June, and Joe Cuoghi died in July. By that time, only two of the original eight partners still had ownership in the company: Bill Cantrell and Nick Pesce. Willie Mitchell, long the musical leader of the label and now part owner, became President of Hi Records.

Mitchell had brought Al Green to the company in 1969. Green, a singer with an uncommonly graceful, soulful voice which slipped effortlessly into soaring falsetto, had recorded for Hot Line records, and had had one minor hit in 1967 called "Back Up Train" [Hot Line 15000]. With Willie Mitchell arranging and producing, Al Green started the golden era for Hi Records and became a true 1970s star of soul music. Green's records were masterful; he was able to gain pop radio acceptance without losing the black fans of rhythm and blues. His first big hit was "Tired of Being Alone" in 1971 [Hi 2194]. He followed that up with "Let's Stay Together" [Hi 2202] and "I'm Still in Love With You" [Hi 2216] in 1972. All were classics of understated passion. Green was able to follow these up with seven more Top 20 hits for Hi. Green eventually gave up pop music to become a minister at his own church in Memphis.

Willie Mitchell also was able to get hits with Ann Peebles, the best of which was "I Can't Stand the Rain" [Hi 2248] in 1973. He also had limited success with Syl Johnson, who had made an obscure album on Twinight Records previously, titled Is It Because I'm Black?.

In 1977, the Hi label was sold to Al Bennett's Cream Records. Bennett, of course, was one of Liberty's founders, and operated from the West Coast. The recording moved to the West Coast, and after a couple of years of trying to record Memphis Soul in Los Angeles, Willie Mitchell left the label.

When the label went to Bennett, the 12000/32000 series of albums was replaced with a 6000 and 8000 series. The 6000 series seemed to be used for newly recorded music, while the 8000 series was used for compilations of previously released material. Since the introduction of the compact disc, Hi has leased their material to several labels, including Motown, MCA, and Right Stuff (EMI-Capitol Special Markets), with much of the label's output being reissued on CD.

Hi Records is now doing business as ABS Entertainment, Inc., doing business as Cream/Hi Records. Their web page is at www.hirecords.com. Cream/Hi is owned and operated by Adalah Bennett Shaw, Al Bennett's daughter.

This discography was compiled using Schwann Catalogs from 1959 to 1980, "The American Record Label Directory and Dating Guide, 1940-1959" by Galen Gart, liner notes to Hi Records: The Early Years by Colin Escott, liner notes to Hi Records: The R&B Years by Robert Gordon, and our personal record collections.

The first Hi label was black with silver print. "Hi" in red letters outlined in silver with two musical notes, one on each side of the name above the center hole. This label may have only been used on Hi 12001. The second Hi label was black with silver print. "Hi" in silver letters with musical notes on each side of the name above the center hole. This label may have only been used on early pressings of Hi 12002.






The third Hi label was silver with black printing with "Hi" in red to the left and slightly higher of the center hole. Sometimes this label was tan with the rest of the graphics being the same. This label was used for the rest of the 12000/32000 series releases.






While this label was being used, a few titles were released with a fourth label during 1972 and 1973. This label was white with black printing. There was an orange bar running horizontally through the center hole, above the center hole was a box with "Hi RECORDS" on two lines with "DISTRIBUTED BY LONDON" below it.





The fifth Hi label was black with silver print. On the left side of the label was the blue silhouette of a hand that appears to hold the center hole, on the hand is a white box with "Hi RECORDS" on two lines. Promotional labels were white with "Hi RECORDS" in a black box to the left of the center hole. This label was used on the 6000 and 8000 series.

We would appreciate any additions or corrections to this discography. Just send them to us via e-mail. Both Sides Now Publications is an information web page. We are not a catalog, nor can we provide the records listed below. We have no association with Hi Records. Should you want to contact Hi Records, or should you be interested in acquiring albums listed in this discography (which are all out of print), we suggest you see our Frequently Asked Questions page and follow the instructions found there. This story and discography are copyright 1999, 2003 by Mike Callahan.