Legendary guitarist Steve Cropper, member of the famed band Booker T & the MGs, has died at the age of 84
The legendary guitarist Steve Cropper, the renowned guitarist with the iconic band Booker T & the MGs, has left us at the age of 84.
The artist, who played on and collaborated on writing the classic song Sittin' On the Dock of the Bay and the hit track In the Midnight Hour, succumbed this past Wednesday in the city of Nashville.
Often cited among the best studio bands in soul and R&B, the group Booker T. Jones and the MGs was the core musical unit of the influential Memphis label Stax Records and is most famous for their 1962 instrumental track Green Onions.
Cropper went on to join the comedy music group The Blues Brothers in the late 1970s and performed on their hit cover of Soul Man.
"Steve was a cherished guitarist, composer, and producer whose extraordinary talent impacted millions of lives around the world," his family expressed in a message.
"While we grieve the loss of a husband, father, and friend, we are consoled knowing that Steve will live forever through his music," they noted.
A specific cause was not immediately known.
A colleague, Eddie Gore, mentioned he was with Cropper on Tuesday in Nashville, where the guitarist was developing new music.
"He's such a wonderful human," Gore remarked. "We were blessed to have him, for sure."
A Storied Musical Path
Voted the second-best guitarist of all time by a British music magazine in 1996, Cropper started his career 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 entered into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1992.
"I've always seen myself as a rhythm player," Cropper explained in a past interview. "I take pride in the fact that I can play something over and over, while other guitar players don't want to even know about that. They won't even play the same phrase twice."
Not only was he a guitarist, Cropper was a productive songwriter, and in addition to 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 put out by Stax from 1961 through the end of 1970".
"We would often spend marathon sessions in the studio," Cropper said. "I think we had nearly 20 artists on the roster, so we had a pretty busy schedule."
