Steve Cropper, musician of the soul group Booker T & the MGs, has died at the age of 84
Steve Cropper, the renowned guitarist with Booker T and the MGs, has left us at the age of 84.
The artist, who played on and helped pen Otis Redding's Sittin' On the Dock of the Bay and the hit track In the Midnight Hour, died this past Wednesday in Nashville.
Often cited among the finest backing bands in soul and R&B, the four-piece band the MGs was the resident studio band of the groundbreaking Memphis label Stax and is primarily known for their classic 1962 track Green Onions.
Cropper also joined the John Belushi-Dan Aykroyd act The Blues Brothers in the late 1970s and performed on their hit cover 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 statement.
"While we mourn the loss of a husband, father, and friend, we take solace knowing that Steve will endure through his music," they added.
A specific cause was not immediately known.
A colleague, Eddie Gore, mentioned he was with Cropper on Tuesday in Nashville, where the guitarist had been working on new music.
"He's such a good human," Gore commented. "We were fortunate to have him, for sure."
An Illustrious Journey
Ranked the number two guitarist of all time by a music periodical in 1996, Cropper first found employment at Stax in 1961 at the age of 20.
A year later, the MGs came together, consisting of keyboardist 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 thought of myself as a rhythm player," Cropper explained in a previous conversation. "I take pride in the fact that I can play something repeatedly, while other guitar players wouldn't consider it. They refuse to play the same riff twice."
In addition to being a guitarist, Cropper was a prolific 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 "integral to the majority of record released by Stax from the fall of 1961 through the end of 1970".
"We would often spend long days in the studio," Cropper noted in an interview. "I think we had a roster of artists we worked with, so we had a pretty busy schedule."
