Steve Cropper, musician of Booker T and the MGs, has died aged 84
Esteemed musician Steve Cropper, the acclaimed guitarist with the iconic band Booker T & the MGs, has left us at the age of 84.
The musician, who performed on and co-wrote Otis Redding's Sittin' On the Dock of the Bay and the hit track In the Midnight Hour, died this past Wednesday in Nashville.
Widely regarded 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/Volt and is primarily known for their classic 1962 track Green Onions.
Cropper also joined the blues revival band The Blues Brothers in the 1970s and performed on their hit cover of Soul Man.
"Steve was a cherished musician, songwriter, and producer whose extraordinary talent inspired millions of lives around the world," his family said in a release.
"While we mourn the loss of a husband, father, and friend, we are consoled knowing that Steve will live forever through his music," they continued.
A reason for his passing was not immediately known.
An associate, Eddie Gore, mentioned he was with Cropper recently in Nashville, where the guitarist was developing fresh material.
"He's such a kind human," Gore commented. "We were lucky to have him, for sure."
A Storied Musical Path
Voted the runner-up for guitarist of all time by a British music magazine in 1996, Cropper began working at the Stax label in 1961 at the age of 20.
A year later, the MGs came together, comprising organist Booker T Jones, drummer Al Jackson and bassist Lewie Steinberg - who was succeeded by Donald "Duck" Dunn in 1964.
The band was entered into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1992.
"I've always thought of myself as a rhythm guitarist," Cropper explained in a past interview. "I enjoy the fact that I can play something over and over, while other guitar players wouldn't consider it. They are reluctant to repeat the same lick twice."
In addition to being a guitarist, Cropper was a vastly creative songwriter, and alongside Dock of the Bay and In the Midnight Hour, he co-wrote Eddie Floyd's hit Knock on Wood.
According to his official biography, he was "involved in virtually every record put out by Stax from the fall of 1961 through the end of 1970".
"We would truly spend 15 hours a day in the studio," Cropper once recalled. "I think we had a roster of artists signed to the label, so we had a pretty busy schedule."
