The iconic guitarist Steve Cropper, guitarist of the famed band Booker T & the MGs, has died aged 84
Steve Cropper, the renowned guitarist with Booker T and the MGs, has left us at the age of 84.
The artist, who contributed to and helped pen Otis Redding's Sittin' On the Dock of the Bay and the hit track In the Midnight Hour, passed away this past Wednesday in the city of Nashville.
Often cited among the finest studio bands in soul and R&B, the group the MGs was the house band of the groundbreaking Memphis label Stax/Volt and is best remembered for their classic 1962 track Green Onions.
Cropper also joined the blues revival band The Blues Brothers in the late '70s and performed on their popular rendition of Soul Man.
"Steve was a beloved guitarist, composer, and producer whose profound talent inspired millions of lives around the world," his family said in a statement.
"While we mourn the loss of a loved one and companion, we find comfort knowing that Steve will be remembered through his music," they added.
A specific cause was not immediately known.
A friend, Eddie Gore, recalled he was with Cropper just the day before in Nashville, where the guitarist was in the process of creating new songs.
"He's such a kind human," Gore said. "We were fortunate to have him, for sure."
An Illustrious Journey
Voted the runner-up for guitarist of all time by a music periodical in 1996, Cropper began working 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 entered into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1992.
"I've always considered myself to be a player who focuses on rhythm," Cropper remarked 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 lick twice."
Not only was he a guitarist, Cropper was a prolific songwriter, and alongside Dock of the Bay and In the Midnight Hour, he co-wrote Eddie Floyd's hit Knock on Wood.
According to available information, he was "integral to virtually every record released by Stax from 1961 through the end of 1970".
"We would literally spend 15 hours a day in the studio," Cropper noted in an interview. "I think we had nearly 20 artists we worked with, so we had a pretty busy schedule."
