Steve Cropper, musician of Booker T and the MGs, has passed away at the age of 84
Steve Cropper, the renowned guitarist with the seminal soul group Booker T & the MGs, has left us at the age of 84.
The musician, who performed on and collaborated on writing Otis Redding's Sittin' On the Dock of the Bay and the hit track In the Midnight Hour, died recently in the city of Nashville.
Considered among the greatest studio bands in soul and R&B, the four-piece band the MGs was the core musical unit of the groundbreaking Memphis label Stax Records and is primarily known for their 1962 instrumental track Green Onions.
Cropper went on to join the blues revival band The Blues Brothers in the late '70s and performed on their popular rendition of Soul Man.
"Steve was a cherished artist, writer, and producer whose immense talent inspired generations around the world," his family expressed in a release.
"While we feel sorrow for the loss of a family man and friend, we find comfort knowing that Steve will live forever through his music," they noted.
A cause of death was not immediately known.
A colleague, Eddie Gore, stated he was with Cropper recently in Nashville, where the guitarist was in the process of creating fresh material.
"He's such a good human," Gore said. "We were lucky to have him, for sure."
A Storied Musical Path
Voted the number two guitarist of all time by a UK publication in 1996, Cropper began working at Stax in 1961 at the age of 20.
A year later, the MGs were formed, comprising organist Booker T Jones, drummer Al Jackson and bassist Lewie Steinberg - who was replaced by Donald "Duck" Dunn in 1964.
The band was entered into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1992.
"I've always seen myself as a rhythm player," Cropper said in a past interview. "I enjoy the fact that I can play something repeatedly, while other guitar players avoid that approach. They won't even play the same lick twice."
As well as a guitarist, Cropper was a productive 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 "integral to nearly all record issued by Stax from late 1961 through the end of 1970".
"We would literally spend 15 hours a day in the studio," Cropper said. "I think we had nearly 20 artists on the roster, so we had a extremely demanding schedule."
