Steve Cropper, guitarist of Booker T and the MGs, dies at the age of 84
Esteemed musician Steve Cropper, the renowned guitarist with Booker T and the MGs, has died at the age of 84.
The guitar virtuoso, who performed on and helped pen Otis Redding's Sittin' On the Dock of the Bay and Wilson Pickett's In the Midnight Hour, passed away recently in Music City, Nashville.
Considered among the best supporting groups in the history of soul music, the four-piece band Booker T. Jones and the MGs was the resident studio band of the groundbreaking Memphis label Stax/Volt and is most famous for their 1962 instrumental track Green Onions.
Cropper went on to join the comedy music group The Blues Brothers in the late 1970s and performed on their successful version of Soul Man.
"Steve was a cherished artist, writer, and producer whose extraordinary talent inspired millions of lives around the world," his family expressed in a release.
"While we mourn the loss of a loved one and companion, we take solace knowing that Steve will endure through his music," they noted.
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 in the process of creating fresh material.
"He's such a kind human," Gore remarked. "We were fortunate to have him, for sure."
A Storied Musical Path
Named the number two guitarist of all time by a UK publication in 1996, Cropper first found employment at Stax in 1961 at the age of 20.
A year later, the MGs were founded, comprising 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 guitarist," Cropper remarked 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 are reluctant to repeat the same lick twice."
Not only was he a guitarist, Cropper was a prolific songwriter, and alongside 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 "a part of virtually every record released by Stax from 1961 through year end 1970".
"We would truly spend 15 hours a day in the studio," Cropper said. "I think we had 17 or 18 artists signed to the label, so we had a pretty busy schedule."
