He was signed by Warner Brothers as a child for his possible future potential but became known as a singer on the San Francisco radio. After U.S. Navy service, he sang with Carmen Cavallaro's band from 1946-1947. In 1950, he joined Columbia records and, accompanied by Mitch Miller and his Orchestra, had some great hits that included gold records for "My Heart Cries for You" in 1950, "My Truly Truly Fair" in 1951, "The Roving Kind" in 1951, "Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania" in 1952 and "Singing the Blues" in 1957. Mitchell appeared in the films Those Redheads from Seattle (1953) in 1953 and Jarretières rouges (1954) in 1954.