Steve Cropper, musician of the famed band Booker T & the MGs, has died at the age of 84
Steve Cropper, the renowned guitarist with the iconic band Booker T & the MGs, has left us at the age of 84.
The guitar virtuoso, who played on and co-wrote Otis Redding's Sittin' On the Dock of the Bay and the hit track In the Midnight Hour, died recently in Music City, Nashville.
Often cited among the best backing bands in soul music, the four-piece band Booker T & the MGs was the core musical unit of the influential Memphis label Stax/Volt and is best remembered for their classic 1962 track Green Onions.
Cropper later became a member of the comedy music group The Blues Brothers in the late 1970s and performed on their successful version of Soul Man.
"Steve was a cherished artist, writer, and producer whose extraordinary talent impacted generations around the world," his family expressed in a message.
"While we mourn the loss of a family man and friend, we take solace knowing that Steve will be remembered through his music," they noted.
A reason for his passing was not immediately known.
An associate, Eddie Gore, stated he was with Cropper recently in Nashville, where the guitarist had been working on new songs.
"He's such a good human," Gore said. "We were lucky to have him, for sure."
An Illustrious Journey
Named the second-best guitarist of all time by a UK publication in 1996, Cropper started his career at the Stax label in 1961 at the age of 20.
A year later, the MGs were founded, featuring keyboardist Booker T Jones, drummer Al Jackson and bassist Lewie Steinberg - who was replaced by Donald "Duck" Dunn in 1964.
The band was honored by inclusion in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1992.
"I've always thought of myself as a rhythm player," Cropper explained in a previous conversation. "I get off on the fact that I can play something consistently, while other guitar players avoid that approach. They are reluctant to repeat the same phrase twice."
In addition to being a guitarist, Cropper was a vastly creative songwriter, and besides 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 "a part of virtually every record issued by Stax from late 1961 through year end 1970".
"We would literally spend 15 hours a day in the studio," Cropper said. "I think we had a roster of artists on the roster, so we had a pretty busy schedule."
