Legendary guitarist Steve Cropper, member of Booker T and the MGs, has died aged 84
Steve Cropper, the renowned guitarist with Booker T and the MGs, has left us at the age of 84.
The musician, who contributed to and collaborated on writing Otis Redding's Sittin' On the Dock of the Bay and Wilson Pickett's In the Midnight Hour, died recently in Nashville.
Widely regarded among the greatest studio bands in the history of soul music, the four-piece band Booker T & the MGs was the core musical unit of the groundbreaking Memphis label Stax/Volt and is primarily known for their 1962 instrumental track Green Onions.
Cropper went on to join the blues revival band The Blues Brothers in the late '70s and played on their popular rendition of Soul Man.
"Steve was a deeply admired guitarist, composer, and producer whose profound talent impacted countless people around the world," his family said in a release.
"While we mourn the loss of a loved one and companion, we take solace knowing that Steve will endure through his music," they noted.
A specific cause was not immediately known.
A friend, Eddie Gore, recalled he was with Cropper just the day before in Nashville, where the guitarist was developing fresh material.
"He's such a wonderful human," Gore remarked. "We were lucky to have him, for sure."
A Storied Musical Path
Ranked the runner-up for guitarist of all time by a British music magazine in 1996, Cropper began working at Stax Records in 1961 at the age of 20.
A year later, the MGs were founded, consisting of organist Booker T Jones, drummer Al Jackson and bassist Lewie Steinberg - who was replaced by Donald "Duck" Dunn in 1964.
The band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1992.
"I've always thought of myself as a rhythm player," Cropper remarked in a previous conversation. "I get off on the fact that I can play something repeatedly, while other guitar players wouldn't consider it. They refuse to play the same riff twice."
Not only was he a guitarist, Cropper was a productive songwriter, and alongside Dock of the Bay and In the Midnight Hour, he co-wrote Eddie Floyd's hit Knock on Wood.
According to available information, he was "integral to virtually every record released by Stax from 1961 through 1970".
"We would often spend marathon sessions in the studio," Cropper said. "I think we had a roster of artists on the roster, so we had a very hectic schedule."
