Passing greatness

Two giants of black music history died in January | Arsenio Orteza

Mitchell (right) and Pendergrass (Associated Press)

With the recent deaths of Willie Mitchell and Teddy Pendergrass, Black History Month 2010 begins on a decidedly somber note.

Mitchell, who died on Jan. 5 at 81, was the architect of the sinuously insinuating sound unique to Hi Records, the Memphis soul-music label he helped put on the map in the 1970s by helming the soundboards for the likes of Ann Peebles, Syl Johnson, and O.V. Wright.

Mitchell's greatest success, however, came from his teamwork with Al Green. Together Mitchell and Green scored a dozen top-40 hits, half of them reaching the top 10 and one—the iconic "Let's Stay Together"—reaching No. 1 on both the pop and R&B charts. The two split when Green devoted himself to gospel music in the late 1970s, but, beginning with Green's He Is the Light in 1985, they periodically reunited, with I Can't Stop (2003) and Everything's OK (2005) in particular restoring both men to acclaim.