Steve Cropper, guitarist of the soul group Booker T & the MGs, has died aged 84
The legendary guitarist Steve Cropper, the acclaimed guitarist with the seminal soul group Booker T & the MGs, has died at the age of 84.
The musician, who played on and co-wrote the classic song Sittin' On the Dock of the Bay and the hit track In the Midnight Hour, succumbed this past Wednesday in Music City, Nashville.
Often cited among the finest studio bands in soul music, the group Booker T & the MGs was the resident studio band of the groundbreaking Memphis label Stax and is best remembered for their 1962 track Green Onions.
Cropper later became a member of the blues revival band The Blues Brothers in the late '70s and featured on their successful version of Soul Man.
"Steve was a deeply admired artist, writer, and producer whose profound talent touched countless people around the world," his family expressed in a message.
"While we feel sorrow for the loss of a husband, father, and friend, we find comfort knowing that Steve will endure through his music," they continued.
A cause of death was not released at this time.
A colleague, Eddie Gore, stated he was with Cropper just the day before in Nashville, where the guitarist was developing new songs.
"He's such a wonderful human," Gore remarked. "We were blessed to have him, for sure."
A Prolific Career
Ranked the runner-up for guitarist of all time by a music periodical in 1996, Cropper first found employment 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 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 previous conversation. "I take pride in the fact that I can play something consistently, 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 productive songwriter, and in addition to 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 "involved in nearly all record released by Stax from 1961 through the end of 1970".
"We would often spend long days in the studio," Cropper noted in an interview. "I think we had 17 or 18 artists we worked with, so we had a pretty busy schedule."
