Legendary guitarist Steve Cropper, musician of the famed band Booker T & the MGs, has died aged 84
Esteemed musician Steve Cropper, the renowned guitarist with the seminal soul group Booker T & the MGs, has left us at the age of 84.
The artist, who played on and co-wrote Otis Redding's Sittin' On the Dock of the Bay and Wilson Pickett's In the Midnight Hour, died this past Wednesday in Nashville.
Considered among the finest supporting groups in soul and R&B, the four-piece band Booker T & the MGs was the resident studio band of the groundbreaking Memphis label Stax and is best remembered for their classic 1962 track Green Onions.
Cropper also joined the John Belushi-Dan Aykroyd act The Blues Brothers in the 1970s and performed on their hit cover of Soul Man.
"Steve was a deeply admired musician, songwriter, and producer whose immense talent touched countless people around the world," his family said in a message.
"While we mourn the loss of a family man and friend, we are consoled knowing that Steve will be remembered through his music," they continued.
A reason for his passing was not released at this time.
A friend, 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 said. "We were lucky to have him, for sure."
An Illustrious Journey
Named the second-best guitarist of all time by a British music magazine 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 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 rhythm guitarist," Cropper remarked in a past interview. "I enjoy the fact that I can play something consistently, while other guitar players don't want to even know about that. They won't even play 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 co-wrote Eddie Floyd's hit Knock on Wood.
According to historical accounts, he was "integral to virtually every record put out by Stax from 1961 through 1970".
"We would truly spend marathon sessions in the studio," Cropper said. "I think we had 17 or 18 artists signed to the label, so we had a extremely demanding schedule."