The iconic guitarist Steve Cropper, guitarist of the famed band Booker T & the MGs, has died at the age of 84
Esteemed musician Steve Cropper, the renowned guitarist with the seminal soul group Booker T & the MGs, has left us at the age of 84.
The guitar virtuoso, who contributed to and helped pen Otis Redding's Sittin' On the Dock of the Bay and the hit track In the Midnight Hour, died this past Wednesday in Music City, Nashville.
Widely regarded among the finest supporting groups in the history of soul music, the quartet Booker T. Jones and the MGs was the house band of the influential Memphis label Stax Records and is most famous for their classic 1962 track Green Onions.
Cropper also joined the John Belushi-Dan Aykroyd act The Blues Brothers in the late 1970s and featured on their successful version of Soul Man.
"Steve was a deeply admired guitarist, composer, and producer whose extraordinary talent inspired generations around the world," his family expressed in a release.
"While we grieve the loss of a loved one and companion, we take solace knowing that Steve will endure through his music," they continued.
A cause of death was not released at this time.
A colleague, Eddie Gore, mentioned he was with Cropper recently in Nashville, where the guitarist was developing new music.
"He's such a kind human," Gore remarked. "We were fortunate to have him, for sure."
An Illustrious Journey
Voted the second-best guitarist of all time by a British music magazine in 1996, Cropper began working at the Stax label in 1961 at the age of 20.
A year later, the MGs came together, 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 thought of myself as a player who focuses on rhythm," Cropper explained 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 won't even play the same lick twice."
In addition to being a guitarist, Cropper was a productive 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 virtually every record issued by Stax from the fall of 1961 through the end of 1970".
"We would often spend 15 hours a day in the studio," Cropper said. "I think we had 17 or 18 artists we worked with, so we had a extremely demanding schedule."
