Legendary guitarist Steve Cropper, member of Booker T and the MGs, has passed away aged 84
Steve Cropper, the renowned guitarist with the iconic band Booker T & the MGs, has left us at the age of 84.
The artist, who contributed to and co-wrote the classic song Sittin' On the Dock of the Bay and Wilson Pickett's In the Midnight Hour, died recently in Music City, Nashville.
Considered among the best backing bands in the history of soul music, the quartet Booker T & the MGs was the core musical unit of the groundbreaking Memphis label Stax/Volt and is best remembered for their 1962 instrumental track Green Onions.
Cropper also joined the comedy music group The Blues Brothers in the late 1970s and performed on their successful version of Soul Man.
"Steve was a deeply admired artist, writer, and producer whose immense talent inspired generations 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 continued.
A specific cause 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 fresh material.
"He's such a wonderful human," Gore said. "We were lucky to have him, for sure."
A Prolific Career
Named the number two guitarist of all time by a music periodical in 1996, Cropper first found employment at the Stax label in 1961 at the age of 20.
A year later, the MGs came together, 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 seen myself as a rhythm guitarist," Cropper explained in a past interview. "I get off on the fact that I can play something over and over, while other guitar players don't want to even know about that. They refuse to play the same phrase twice."
As well as a guitarist, Cropper was a productive songwriter, and alongside Dock of the Bay and In the Midnight Hour, he helped write Eddie Floyd's hit Knock on Wood.
According to his official biography, he was "involved in nearly all record released by Stax from 1961 through the end of 1970".
"We would often spend marathon sessions in the studio," Cropper said. "I think we had 17 or 18 artists signed to the label, so we had a very hectic schedule."
