Steve Cropper, guitarist of the famed band Booker T & the MGs, has died at the age of 84
Esteemed musician Steve Cropper, the acclaimed guitarist with the seminal soul group Booker T & the MGs, has died at the age of 84.
The guitar virtuoso, who contributed to and collaborated on writing the classic song Sittin' On the Dock of the Bay and Wilson Pickett's In the Midnight Hour, died this past Wednesday in Music City, Nashville.
Often cited among the finest supporting groups in soul music, the quartet the MGs was the resident studio band of the groundbreaking Memphis label Stax and is most famous for their classic 1962 track Green Onions.
Cropper also joined the comedy music group The Blues Brothers in the late '70s and featured on their hit cover of Soul Man.
"Steve was a cherished artist, writer, and producer whose extraordinary talent inspired generations around the world," his family stated in a statement.
"While we feel sorrow for the loss of a family man and friend, we find comfort knowing that Steve will live forever through his music," they noted.
A reason for his passing was not immediately known.
A friend, Eddie Gore, recalled he was with Cropper recently in Nashville, where the guitarist was in the process of creating new songs.
"He's such a good human," Gore said. "We were fortunate to have him, for sure."
A Storied Musical Path
Ranked the runner-up for 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 were founded, featuring keyboardist Booker T Jones, drummer Al Jackson and bassist Lewie Steinberg - who was succeeded 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 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 riff twice."
In addition to being a guitarist, Cropper was a productive songwriter, and alongside Dock of the Bay and In the Midnight Hour, he collaborated on Eddie Floyd's hit Knock on Wood.
According to historical accounts, he was "a part of virtually every record released by Stax from 1961 through the end of 1970".
"We would literally spend 15 hours a day in the studio," Cropper once recalled. "I think we had a roster of artists we worked with, so we had a pretty busy schedule."
