Legendary guitarist Steve Cropper, guitarist of the famed band Booker T & the MGs, has died aged 84
The legendary guitarist Steve Cropper, the celebrated guitarist with the iconic band Booker T & the MGs, has passed away at the age of 84.
The musician, who contributed to and helped pen Otis Redding's Sittin' On the Dock of the Bay and Wilson Pickett's In the Midnight Hour, passed away on Wednesday in Nashville.
Widely regarded among the finest supporting groups in soul and R&B, the four-piece band Booker T. Jones and the MGs was the core musical unit of the groundbreaking Memphis label Stax/Volt and is most famous for their 1962 instrumental track Green Onions.
Cropper also joined the blues revival band The Blues Brothers in the late 1970s and played on their popular rendition of Soul Man.
"Steve was a beloved musician, songwriter, and producer whose profound talent touched countless people around the world," his family expressed in a release.
"While we grieve the loss of a family man and friend, we are consoled knowing that Steve will endure through his music," they noted.
A reason for his passing was not disclosed.
A friend, Eddie Gore, stated he was with Cropper on Tuesday in Nashville, where the guitarist had been working on new music.
"He's such a wonderful human," Gore commented. "We were fortunate to have him, for sure."
An Illustrious Journey
Voted the runner-up for guitarist of all time by a music periodical in 1996, Cropper began working at Stax Records in 1961 at the age of 20.
A year later, the MGs were formed, consisting of organist 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 considered myself to be a player who focuses on rhythm," Cropper said in a past interview. "I get off on the fact that I can play something over and over, while other guitar players wouldn't consider it. They refuse to play the same riff twice."
Not only was he a guitarist, Cropper was a vastly creative songwriter, and alongside Dock of the Bay and In the Midnight Hour, he helped write Eddie Floyd's hit Knock on Wood.
According to available information, he was "integral to nearly all record put out by Stax from the fall of 1961 through year end 1970".
"We would literally spend 15 hours a day in the studio," Cropper noted in an interview. "I think we had 17 or 18 artists signed to the label, so we had a very hectic schedule."