Legendary guitarist Steve Cropper, musician of the famed band Booker T & the MGs, has died aged 84
The legendary guitarist Steve Cropper, the renowned guitarist with the seminal soul group Booker T & the MGs, has left us at the age of 84.
The guitar virtuoso, who played on and co-wrote Otis Redding's Sittin' On the Dock of the Bay and the hit track In the Midnight Hour, passed away on Wednesday in the city of Nashville.
Considered among the greatest backing bands in soul music, the group Booker T & the MGs was the resident studio band of the groundbreaking Memphis label Stax/Volt and is primarily known for their 1962 instrumental track Green Onions.
Cropper went on to join the John Belushi-Dan Aykroyd act The Blues Brothers in the late 1970s and played on their successful version of Soul Man.
"Steve was a beloved guitarist, composer, and producer whose immense talent impacted generations around the world," his family expressed in a release.
"While we grieve the loss of a husband, father, and friend, we are consoled knowing that Steve will be remembered through his music," they continued.
A cause of death was not immediately known.
An associate, Eddie Gore, recalled he was with Cropper recently in Nashville, where the guitarist had been working on new music.
"He's such a good human," Gore said. "We were blessed to have him, for sure."
An Illustrious Journey
Ranked the number two 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 were formed, 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 inducted into 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 enjoy the fact that I can play something over and over, while other guitar players avoid that approach. They are reluctant to repeat the same riff twice."
Not only was he a guitarist, Cropper was a prolific songwriter, and in addition to Dock of the Bay and In the Midnight Hour, he collaborated on Eddie Floyd's hit Knock on Wood.
According to available information, he was "integral to the majority of record issued by Stax from late 1961 through the end of 1970".
"We would often spend long days in the studio," Cropper said. "I think we had a roster of artists signed to the label, so we had a extremely demanding schedule."
