The iconic 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 celebrated guitarist with the seminal soul group Booker T & the MGs, has left us 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, succumbed this past Wednesday in Nashville.
Widely regarded among the greatest studio bands in soul music, the group the MGs was the core musical unit of the influential Memphis label Stax Records and is primarily known for their 1962 instrumental track Green Onions.
Cropper later became a member of the blues revival band The Blues Brothers in the late '70s and featured on their hit cover of Soul Man.
"Steve was a beloved artist, writer, and producer whose profound talent inspired countless people around the world," his family expressed in a statement.
"While we grieve the loss of a loved one and companion, we find comfort knowing that Steve will endure through his music," they added.
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 had been working on new music.
"He's such a good human," Gore said. "We were lucky to have him, for sure."
A Storied Musical Path
Voted the second-best guitarist of all time by a music periodical in 1996, Cropper first found employment at Stax Records 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 honored by inclusion in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1992.
"I've always seen myself as a rhythm player," Cropper explained in a past interview. "I enjoy the fact that I can play something over and over, while other guitar players wouldn't consider it. They refuse to play the same lick twice."
Not only was he a guitarist, Cropper was a vastly creative songwriter, and alongside 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 "involved in the majority of record released by Stax from late 1961 through 1970".
"We would often spend long days in the studio," Cropper once recalled. "I think we had a roster of artists we worked with, so we had a pretty busy schedule."
