Steve Cropper, musician of Booker T and the MGs, has died aged 84
The legendary guitarist Steve Cropper, the renowned guitarist with the iconic band Booker T & the MGs, has passed away at the age of 84.
The artist, who contributed to and collaborated on writing the classic song Sittin' On the Dock of the Bay and Wilson Pickett's In the Midnight Hour, died this past Wednesday in the city of Nashville.
Often cited among the greatest supporting groups in soul and R&B, the quartet Booker T. Jones and the MGs was the resident studio band of the historic Memphis label Stax and is most famous for their classic 1962 track Green Onions.
Cropper also joined the blues revival band The Blues Brothers in the late 1970s and performed on their successful version of Soul Man.
"Steve was a beloved musician, songwriter, and producer whose immense talent touched millions of lives around the world," his family stated in a message.
"While we mourn the loss of a husband, father, and friend, we find comfort knowing that Steve will be remembered through his music," they noted.
A specific cause was not immediately known.
A friend, Eddie Gore, stated he was with Cropper recently in Nashville, where the guitarist was in the process of creating new music.
"He's such a kind human," Gore remarked. "We were lucky 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, 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 rhythm guitarist," Cropper remarked in a past interview. "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 phrase 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 co-wrote Eddie Floyd's hit Knock on Wood.
According to historical accounts, he was "a part of virtually every record put out by Stax from 1961 through year end 1970".
"We would often spend long days in the studio," Cropper said. "I think we had 17 or 18 artists we worked with, so we had a extremely demanding schedule."
