Steve Cropper, guitarist of Booker T and the MGs, has died at the age of 84
The legendary guitarist Steve Cropper, the acclaimed guitarist with the seminal soul group Booker T & the MGs, has left us at the age of 84.
The artist, who played on and helped pen the classic song 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 the history of soul music, the quartet Booker T. Jones and the MGs was the house band of the influential Memphis label Stax Records and is most famous for their classic 1962 track Green Onions.
Cropper went on to join the blues revival band The Blues Brothers in the 1970s and featured on their hit cover of Soul Man.
"Steve was a beloved guitarist, composer, and producer whose extraordinary talent touched millions of lives around the world," his family stated in a message.
"While we grieve the loss of a family man and friend, we take solace knowing that Steve will endure through his music," they continued.
A cause of death was not disclosed.
An associate, Eddie Gore, recalled he was with Cropper just the day before in Nashville, where the guitarist was developing new songs.
"He's such a good human," Gore said. "We were fortunate to have him, for sure."
An Illustrious Journey
Voted the second-best guitarist of all time by a UK publication in 1996, Cropper began working at the Stax label in 1961 at the age of 20.
A year later, the MGs came together, 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 considered myself to be a player who focuses on rhythm," Cropper said in a past interview. "I take pride in the fact that I can play something over and over, while other guitar players avoid that approach. They won't even play the same phrase twice."
In addition to being a guitarist, Cropper was a productive songwriter, and in addition to Dock of the Bay and In the Midnight Hour, he co-wrote Eddie Floyd's hit Knock on Wood.
According to available information, he was "involved in virtually every record put out by Stax from late 1961 through 1970".
"We would truly spend 15 hours a day in the studio," Cropper said. "I think we had a roster of artists signed to the label, so we had a pretty busy schedule."
