Steve Cropper, member of Booker T and the MGs, dies at the age of 84
The legendary guitarist Steve Cropper, the renowned guitarist with the seminal soul group Booker T & the MGs, has left us at the age of 84.
The artist, who contributed to and helped pen the classic song Sittin' On the Dock of the Bay and Wilson Pickett's In the Midnight Hour, passed away on Wednesday in the city of Nashville.
Widely regarded among the finest backing bands in soul music, the quartet Booker T. Jones and the MGs was the resident studio band of the groundbreaking Memphis label Stax Records and is primarily known for their classic 1962 track Green Onions.
Cropper also joined the blues revival band The Blues Brothers in the late 1970s and featured on their hit cover of Soul Man.
"Steve was a beloved artist, writer, and producer whose profound talent inspired generations around the world," his family expressed in a message.
"While we grieve the loss of a husband, father, and friend, we find comfort knowing that Steve will live forever through his music," they noted.
A cause of death was not disclosed.
A colleague, Eddie Gore, stated he was with Cropper just the day before in Nashville, where the guitarist was developing new music.
"He's such a good human," Gore commented. "We were lucky to have him, for sure."
A Prolific Career
Ranked the runner-up for guitarist of all time by a music periodical in 1996, Cropper first found employment at Stax Records in 1961 at the age of 20.
A year later, the MGs were formed, featuring organist Booker T Jones, drummer Al Jackson and bassist Lewie Steinberg - who was replaced by Donald "Duck" Dunn in 1964.
The band was entered into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1992.
"I've always considered myself to be a rhythm guitarist," Cropper explained in a previous conversation. "I get off on the fact that I can play something over and over, while other guitar players wouldn't consider it. They are reluctant to repeat the same riff twice."
In addition to being 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 historical accounts, he was "a part of the majority of record issued by Stax from late 1961 through the end of 1970".
"We would literally spend long days in the studio," Cropper noted in an interview. "I think we had a roster of artists we worked with, so we had a pretty busy schedule."
