Legendary guitarist Steve Cropper, guitarist of the soul group Booker T & the MGs, has died at the age of 84
The legendary guitarist Steve Cropper, the renowned guitarist with the seminal soul group Booker T & the MGs, has passed away 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 best studio bands in soul and R&B, the group the MGs was the core musical unit of the groundbreaking Memphis label Stax Records and is most famous for their 1962 track Green Onions.
Cropper also joined the blues revival band The Blues Brothers in the late '70s and featured on their successful version of Soul Man.
"Steve was a cherished musician, songwriter, and producer whose profound talent impacted countless people around the world," his family expressed in a release.
"While we feel sorrow for the loss of a husband, father, and friend, we take solace knowing that Steve will be remembered through his music," they noted.
A cause of death was not disclosed.
A friend, Eddie Gore, mentioned he was with Cropper recently in Nashville, where the guitarist was developing new music.
"He's such a good human," Gore commented. "We were fortunate to have him, for sure."
A Storied Musical Path
Named the number two guitarist of all time by a UK publication in 1996, Cropper started his career at the Stax label in 1961 at the age of 20.
A year later, the MGs came together, featuring 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 said in a previous conversation. "I enjoy the fact that I can play something consistently, while other guitar players avoid that approach. They are reluctant to repeat the same phrase twice."
In addition to being a guitarist, Cropper was a productive 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 his official biography, he was "involved in the majority of record issued by Stax from the fall of 1961 through the end of 1970".
"We would truly spend 15 hours a day in the studio," Cropper said. "I think we had 17 or 18 artists signed to the label, so we had a pretty busy schedule."