Legendary guitarist Steve Cropper, guitarist of Booker T and the MGs, has died at the age of 84
Esteemed musician Steve Cropper, the renowned guitarist with the iconic band Booker T & the MGs, has passed away at the age of 84.
The guitar virtuoso, who played on and collaborated on writing the classic song Sittin' On the Dock of the Bay and the hit track In the Midnight Hour, died this past Wednesday in Music City, Nashville.
Widely regarded among the greatest studio bands in soul music, the quartet the MGs was the core musical unit of the historic Memphis label Stax Records and is most famous for their classic 1962 track Green Onions.
Cropper also joined the John Belushi-Dan Aykroyd act The Blues Brothers in the 1970s and played on their hit cover of Soul Man.
"Steve was a beloved artist, writer, and producer whose immense talent touched countless people around the world," his family said in a message.
"While we grieve the loss of a husband, father, and friend, we take solace knowing that Steve will be remembered through his music," they noted.
A specific cause was not immediately known.
A friend, Eddie Gore, stated he was with Cropper on Tuesday in Nashville, where the guitarist had been working on new songs.
"He's such a good human," Gore commented. "We were fortunate to have him, for sure."
An Illustrious Journey
Voted the number two guitarist of all time by a music periodical in 1996, Cropper started his career at the Stax label in 1961 at the age of 20.
A year later, the MGs were founded, 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 inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1992.
"I've always thought of myself as a rhythm player," Cropper explained in a past interview. "I enjoy the fact that I can play something repeatedly, while other guitar players avoid that approach. They are reluctant to repeat the same lick twice."
Not only was he a guitarist, Cropper was a vastly creative 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 "integral to the majority of record put out by Stax from the fall of 1961 through 1970".
"We would truly spend marathon sessions in the studio," Cropper once recalled. "I think we had a roster of artists on the roster, so we had a extremely demanding schedule."
