The iconic guitarist Steve Cropper, member of the famed band Booker T & the MGs, has died aged 84
Steve Cropper, the renowned guitarist with the seminal soul group Booker T & the MGs, has passed away at the age of 84.
The guitar virtuoso, who contributed to and helped pen Otis Redding's Sittin' On the Dock of the Bay and the hit track In the Midnight Hour, succumbed this past Wednesday in the city of Nashville.
Often cited among the finest supporting groups in the history of soul music, the group Booker T. Jones and the MGs was the house band of the groundbreaking Memphis label Stax/Volt and is most famous for their classic 1962 track Green Onions.
Cropper also joined the blues revival band The Blues Brothers in the 1970s and featured on their hit cover of Soul Man.
"Steve was a cherished musician, songwriter, and producer whose immense talent inspired millions of lives around the world," his family expressed in a statement.
"While we feel sorrow for the loss of a family man and friend, we find comfort knowing that Steve will be remembered through his music," they added.
A reason for his passing was not disclosed.
A colleague, Eddie Gore, mentioned he was with Cropper recently in Nashville, where the guitarist was developing fresh material.
"He's such a good human," Gore remarked. "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 started his career at the Stax label in 1961 at the age of 20.
A year later, the MGs were formed, featuring 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 thought of myself as a rhythm guitarist," Cropper explained in a previous conversation. "I get off on the fact that I can play something consistently, while other guitar players wouldn't consider it. They refuse to play the same riff twice."
As well as a guitarist, Cropper was a vastly creative songwriter, and besides Dock of the Bay and In the Midnight Hour, he collaborated on Eddie Floyd's hit Knock on Wood.
According to available information, he was "a part of virtually every record issued by Stax from the fall of 1961 through the end of 1970".
"We would literally spend marathon sessions in the studio," Cropper noted in an interview. "I think we had 17 or 18 artists on the roster, so we had a very hectic schedule."
