Legendary guitarist Steve Cropper, musician of the soul group Booker T & the MGs, has died aged 84
The legendary guitarist Steve Cropper, the renowned guitarist with the iconic band Booker T & the MGs, has died 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, died recently in the city of Nashville.
Often cited among the best backing bands in soul music, the quartet Booker T & the MGs was the core musical unit of the groundbreaking Memphis label Stax Records and is most famous 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 beloved musician, songwriter, and producer whose profound talent impacted millions of lives around the world," his family expressed in a release.
"While we mourn the loss of a loved one and companion, we take solace knowing that Steve will live forever through his music," they noted.
A specific cause was not disclosed.
A colleague, Eddie Gore, recalled he was with Cropper just the day before in Nashville, where the guitarist was developing new music.
"He's such a good human," Gore remarked. "We were fortunate to have him, for sure."
A Prolific Career
Named the number two guitarist of all time by a British music magazine in 1996, Cropper started his career at the Stax label in 1961 at the age of 20.
A year later, the MGs were formed, comprising keyboardist 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 explained in a past interview. "I get off on the fact that I can play something over and over, while other guitar players don't want to even know about that. They are reluctant to repeat the same riff twice."
Not only was he a guitarist, Cropper was a prolific songwriter, and alongside Dock of the Bay and In the Midnight Hour, he helped write Eddie Floyd's hit Knock on Wood.
According to historical accounts, he was "a part of virtually every record released by Stax from late 1961 through 1970".
"We would truly spend marathon sessions in the studio," Cropper said. "I think we had a roster of artists on the roster, so we had a pretty busy schedule."
