Steve Cropper, member of the soul group Booker T & the MGs, has passed away at the age of 84
Steve Cropper, the celebrated guitarist with the seminal soul group Booker T & the MGs, has died at the age of 84.
The guitar virtuoso, who performed on and co-wrote Otis Redding's Sittin' On the Dock of the Bay and the hit track In the Midnight Hour, passed away recently in the city of Nashville.
Often cited among the best studio bands in soul music, the group Booker T & the MGs was the core musical unit of the groundbreaking Memphis label Stax Records and is best remembered for their 1962 instrumental track Green Onions.
Cropper also joined the John Belushi-Dan Aykroyd act The Blues Brothers in the late '70s and played on their hit cover of Soul Man.
"Steve was a deeply admired artist, writer, and producer whose extraordinary talent inspired countless people around the world," his family said in a release.
"While we feel sorrow for the loss of a loved one and companion, we find comfort knowing that Steve will endure through his music," they added.
A specific cause was not disclosed.
An associate, Eddie Gore, recalled he was with Cropper just the day before in Nashville, where the guitarist was developing fresh material.
"He's such a good human," Gore said. "We were fortunate to have him, for sure."
A Storied Musical Path
Voted the second-best 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, consisting of keyboardist 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 remarked in a past interview. "I enjoy the fact that I can play something repeatedly, while other guitar players don't want to even know about that. They refuse to play the same lick twice."
In addition to being a guitarist, Cropper was a vastly creative songwriter, and besides Dock of the Bay and In the Midnight Hour, he helped write Eddie Floyd's hit Knock on Wood.
According to historical accounts, he was "involved in the majority of record put out by Stax from the fall of 1961 through year end 1970".
"We would truly spend 15 hours a day in the studio," Cropper once recalled. "I think we had 17 or 18 artists on the roster, so we had a very hectic schedule."