Steve Cropper, guitarist of Booker T and the MGs, has died aged 84
Steve Cropper, the acclaimed guitarist with the iconic band Booker T & the MGs, has left us at the age of 84.
The guitar virtuoso, who contributed to and collaborated on writing Otis Redding's Sittin' On the Dock of the Bay and Wilson Pickett's In the Midnight Hour, succumbed this past Wednesday in the city of Nashville.
Often cited among the best supporting groups in soul music, the group the MGs was the house band of the influential Memphis label Stax and is most famous for their classic 1962 track Green Onions.
Cropper also joined the blues revival band The Blues Brothers in the late '70s and played on their hit cover of Soul Man.
"Steve was a deeply admired artist, writer, and producer whose extraordinary talent inspired countless people around the world," his family stated in a message.
"While we grieve the loss of a husband, father, and friend, we take solace knowing that Steve will live forever through his music," they continued.
A cause of death was not released at this time.
A colleague, Eddie Gore, recalled he was with Cropper on Tuesday in Nashville, where the guitarist was in the process of creating new music.
"He's such a good human," Gore remarked. "We were lucky to have him, for sure."
A Prolific Career
Named the runner-up for guitarist of all time by a music periodical in 1996, Cropper began working at Stax in 1961 at the age of 20.
A year later, the MGs were formed, 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 player," Cropper remarked in a previous conversation. "I enjoy the fact that I can play something repeatedly, while other guitar players avoid that approach. They refuse to play the same lick twice."
As well as a guitarist, Cropper was a prolific songwriter, and besides 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 "integral to nearly all record issued by Stax from the fall of 1961 through the end of 1970".
"We would often spend marathon sessions in the studio," Cropper noted in an interview. "I think we had a roster of artists signed to the label, so we had a very hectic schedule."
