Legendary guitarist Steve Cropper, musician of the soul group Booker T & the MGs, has died at the age of 84
The legendary guitarist Steve Cropper, the acclaimed guitarist with Booker T and the MGs, has died 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 Wilson Pickett's In the Midnight Hour, died this past Wednesday in Nashville.
Widely regarded among the finest supporting groups in the history of soul music, the quartet Booker T & the MGs was the core musical unit of the influential Memphis label Stax and is most famous for their 1962 instrumental track Green Onions.
Cropper went on to join the John Belushi-Dan Aykroyd act The Blues Brothers in the late '70s and performed on their successful version of Soul Man.
"Steve was a cherished guitarist, composer, and producer whose immense talent touched generations around the world," his family said in a message.
"While we mourn the loss of a family man and friend, we are consoled knowing that Steve will live forever through his music," they continued.
A specific cause was not immediately known.
A friend, Eddie Gore, mentioned he was with Cropper recently in Nashville, where the guitarist had been working on new music.
"He's such a wonderful human," Gore commented. "We were blessed 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 Stax Records in 1961 at the age of 20.
A year later, the MGs were formed, 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 considered myself to be a rhythm guitarist," Cropper said in a past interview. "I get off on the fact that I can play something consistently, 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 prolific songwriter, and in addition to Dock of the Bay and In the Midnight Hour, he helped write Eddie Floyd's hit Knock on Wood.
According to available information, he was "integral to nearly all record put out by Stax from 1961 through the end of 1970".
"We would literally spend long days in the studio," Cropper once recalled. "I think we had a roster of artists on the roster, so we had a very hectic schedule."
