Steve Cropper, guitarist of the famed band Booker T & the MGs, has died at the age of 84
Esteemed musician Steve Cropper, the acclaimed guitarist with the iconic band Booker T & the MGs, has died at the age of 84.
The musician, who performed on and helped pen the classic song Sittin' On the Dock of the Bay and Wilson Pickett's In the Midnight Hour, succumbed recently in the city of Nashville.
Considered among the greatest backing bands in the history of soul music, the group Booker T. Jones and the MGs was the core musical unit of the influential Memphis label Stax/Volt and is best remembered for their 1962 instrumental track Green Onions.
Cropper also joined the blues revival band The Blues Brothers in the late '70s and performed on their hit cover of Soul Man.
"Steve was a beloved artist, writer, and producer whose immense talent touched millions of lives around the world," his family stated in a release.
"While we feel sorrow for the loss of a loved one and companion, we take solace knowing that Steve will live forever through his music," they noted.
A cause of death was not disclosed.
A friend, Eddie Gore, mentioned he was with Cropper just the day before in Nashville, where the guitarist was developing fresh material.
"He's such a kind human," Gore commented. "We were lucky to have him, for sure."
An Illustrious Journey
Named the runner-up for guitarist of all time by a British music magazine in 1996, Cropper began working at Stax in 1961 at the age of 20.
A year later, the MGs came together, featuring organist 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 said in a past interview. "I get off on the fact that I can play something repeatedly, while other guitar players avoid that approach. They are reluctant to repeat the same phrase twice."
As well as a guitarist, Cropper was a vastly creative 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 available information, he was "a part of the majority of record issued by Stax from 1961 through the end of 1970".
"We would literally spend long days in the studio," Cropper once recalled. "I think we had a roster of artists we worked with, so we had a pretty busy schedule."
