Legendary guitarist Steve Cropper, musician of the soul group Booker T & the MGs, has died at the age of 84
The legendary guitarist Steve Cropper, the acclaimed guitarist with Booker T and the MGs, has left us at the age of 84.
The musician, who played on and co-wrote Otis Redding's Sittin' On the Dock of the Bay and Wilson Pickett's In the Midnight Hour, succumbed recently in Music City, Nashville.
Considered among the best supporting groups in soul and R&B, the four-piece band Booker T & the MGs was the core musical unit of the influential Memphis label Stax and is primarily known for their 1962 instrumental track Green Onions.
Cropper also joined the John Belushi-Dan Aykroyd act The Blues Brothers in the late '70s and featured on their popular rendition of Soul Man.
"Steve was a deeply admired musician, songwriter, and producer whose immense talent inspired countless people around the world," his family expressed in a message.
"While we mourn the loss of a loved one and companion, we are consoled knowing that Steve will be remembered through his music," they noted.
A cause of death was not released at this time.
A colleague, Eddie Gore, mentioned he was with Cropper recently in Nashville, where the guitarist was in the process of creating new songs.
"He's such a wonderful human," Gore said. "We were lucky to have him, for sure."
An Illustrious Journey
Ranked the number two guitarist of all time by a UK publication in 1996, Cropper began working at Stax in 1961 at the age of 20.
A year later, the MGs came together, featuring keyboardist Booker T Jones, drummer Al Jackson and bassist Lewie Steinberg - who was succeeded by Donald "Duck" Dunn in 1964.
The band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1992.
"I've always considered myself to be a rhythm player," Cropper explained in a previous conversation. "I enjoy the fact that I can play something consistently, while other guitar players avoid that approach. They are reluctant to repeat the same riff twice."
As well as a guitarist, Cropper was a vastly creative songwriter, and in addition to Dock of the Bay and In the Midnight Hour, he collaborated on Eddie Floyd's hit Knock on Wood.
According to available information, he was "integral to virtually every record put out by Stax from late 1961 through the end of 1970".
"We would truly spend marathon sessions in the studio," Cropper said. "I think we had 17 or 18 artists signed to the label, so we had a very hectic schedule."
