Born and raised in Ashland, Mississippi, Mitchell moved to Memphis when he was in high school. He attended Rust College.[2] At the age of eight, he began to play the trumpet. While in high school, he was a featured player in popular local big bands. He later formed his own combo, which from time to time included musicians such as trumpeter Booker Little, saxophonists Charles Lloyd, and George Coleman, and pianist Phineas Newborn, Jr.[2]
Mitchell landed a job with the Home of the Blues record label as a producer, then left to join Hi Records as both a recording artist and a producer.[2]
Known at the recording studio as "Papa Willie", Mitchell earned his nickname by taking over the reins of Hi Records in 1970 and guiding it through its most successful period. Mitchell's productions have been much noted for featuring a hard-hitting bass drum sound (usually played by pioneering Memphis drummer Al Jackson, Jr.ofBooker T. & the M.G.'s).
A trumpeter and bandleader in his own right, Mitchell released a number of popular singles for Hi Records as an artist in the 1960s, including "Soul Serenade."[3] It peaked at number 43 in the UK Singles Chart in April 1968.[4]
In 1987, Joyce Cobb recorded several singles for Waylo, one of which made it to No. 3 on the British R&B chart:[citation needed] "Another Lonely Night (Without You)", while in 1987, Mitchell worked on a version of Wet Wet Wet's debut album, which was issued in 1988 as The Memphis Sessions.
He and Al Green revived their successful recording partnership in 2003 when Green recorded I Can't Stop, his first collaboration with Mitchell since 1985's He is the Light. Their 2005 follow-up project was Everything's OK.
Mitchell died in Memphis on January 5, 2010, from a cardiac arrest.[6]
^Eagle, Bob; LeBlanc, Eric S. (2013). Blues - A Regional Experience. Santa Barbara: Praeger Publishers. p. 227. ISBN978-0313344237.
^ abcHoward, David N. (2004). Sonic Alchemy: Visionary Music Producers and Their Maverick Recordings, pp. 150–51. Hal Leonard Corporation. ISBN0-634-05560-7.
