Steve Cropper, guitarist of the soul group Booker T & the MGs, has died at the age of 84
Steve Cropper, the acclaimed guitarist with the seminal soul group Booker T & the MGs, has died at the age of 84.
The guitar virtuoso, who performed on and helped pen Otis Redding's Sittin' On the Dock of the Bay and Wilson Pickett's In the Midnight Hour, died this past Wednesday in Nashville.
Widely regarded among the greatest backing bands in soul and R&B, the quartet Booker T. Jones and the MGs was the resident studio band of the influential Memphis label Stax and is most famous for their 1962 instrumental track Green Onions.
Cropper also joined the blues revival band The Blues Brothers in the late 1970s and played on their hit cover of Soul Man.
"Steve was a beloved guitarist, composer, and producer whose profound talent touched countless people around the world," his family said in a statement.
"While we feel sorrow for the loss of a loved one and companion, we are consoled knowing that Steve will live forever through his music," they noted.
A reason for his passing was not released at this time.
A friend, Eddie Gore, mentioned he was with Cropper just the day before in Nashville, where the guitarist had been working on new songs.
"He's such a kind human," Gore remarked. "We were fortunate to have him, for sure."
A Storied Musical Path
Ranked the runner-up for guitarist of all time by a UK publication in 1996, Cropper began working at the Stax label in 1961 at the age of 20.
A year later, the MGs came together, comprising organist 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 seen myself as a player who focuses on rhythm," Cropper explained in a previous conversation. "I get off on the fact that I can play something repeatedly, while other guitar players don't want to even know about that. They won't even play the same phrase twice."
Not only was he a guitarist, Cropper was a productive songwriter, and alongside Dock of the Bay and In the Midnight Hour, he collaborated on Eddie Floyd's hit Knock on Wood.
According to historical accounts, he was "involved in virtually every record issued by Stax from 1961 through year end 1970".
"We would literally spend long days in the studio," Cropper once recalled. "I think we had nearly 20 artists signed to the label, so we had a extremely demanding schedule."
