Steve Cropper, musician of the famed band Booker T & the MGs, has died at the age of 84
Steve Cropper, the celebrated guitarist with Booker T and the MGs, has died at the age of 84.
The guitar virtuoso, 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, passed away recently in Music City, Nashville.
Considered among the finest supporting groups in soul music, the quartet Booker T. Jones and the MGs was the resident studio band of the influential Memphis label Stax and is best remembered for their 1962 track Green Onions.
Cropper went on to join the John Belushi-Dan Aykroyd act The Blues Brothers in the late 1970s and performed on their successful version of Soul Man.
"Steve was a beloved guitarist, composer, and producer whose immense talent inspired millions of lives around the world," his family stated in a release.
"While we grieve the loss of a loved one and companion, we are consoled knowing that Steve will endure through his music," they noted.
A specific cause was not released at this time.
An associate, Eddie Gore, stated he was with Cropper on Tuesday in Nashville, where the guitarist had been working on new songs.
"He's such a good 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, comprising keyboardist Booker T Jones, drummer Al Jackson and bassist Lewie Steinberg - who was succeeded by Donald "Duck" Dunn in 1964.
The band was entered into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1992.
"I've always considered myself to be a rhythm player," Cropper explained in a past interview. "I enjoy the fact that I can play something repeatedly, while other guitar players avoid that approach. They are reluctant to repeat the same riff twice."
Not only was he 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 his official biography, he was "involved in virtually every record issued by Stax from late 1961 through the end of 1970".
"We would often spend long days in the studio," Cropper said. "I think we had nearly 20 artists on the roster, so we had a extremely demanding schedule."