Legendary guitarist Steve Cropper, member of the famed band Booker T & the MGs, has died aged 84
Steve Cropper, the renowned guitarist with Booker T and the MGs, has passed away at the age of 84.
The musician, who performed on and co-wrote Otis Redding's Sittin' On the Dock of the Bay and the hit track In the Midnight Hour, died on Wednesday in Music City, Nashville.
Considered among the best studio bands in soul and R&B, the quartet the MGs was the core musical unit of the influential Memphis label Stax and is best remembered for their 1962 track Green Onions.
Cropper also joined the blues revival band The Blues Brothers in the late '70s and featured on their popular rendition of Soul Man.
"Steve was a cherished artist, writer, and producer whose extraordinary talent inspired countless people around the world," his family stated in a release.
"While we mourn the loss of a loved one and companion, we find comfort knowing that Steve will endure through his music," they noted.
A specific cause was not immediately known.
A colleague, Eddie Gore, stated he was with Cropper on Tuesday in Nashville, where the guitarist was developing new songs.
"He's such a good human," Gore commented. "We were blessed to have him, for sure."
A Prolific Career
Named the number two guitarist of all time by a British music magazine in 1996, Cropper first found employment at Stax 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 succeeded 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 thought of myself as a rhythm player," Cropper explained in a previous conversation. "I enjoy the fact that I can play something consistently, while other guitar players avoid that approach. They refuse to play the same phrase twice."
As well as a guitarist, Cropper was a prolific songwriter, and in addition to Dock of the Bay and In the Midnight Hour, he co-wrote Eddie Floyd's hit Knock on Wood.
According to his official biography, he was "a part of virtually every record issued by Stax from the fall of 1961 through year end 1970".
"We would often spend marathon sessions in the studio," Cropper said. "I think we had nearly 20 artists we worked with, so we had a pretty busy schedule."
