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Steve Cropper, guitarist of Booker T and the MGs, dies aged 84
Esteemed musician Steve Cropper, the renowned guitarist with Booker T and the MGs, has passed away at the age of 84.
The guitar virtuoso, who performed on and helped pen the classic song Sittin' On the Dock of the Bay and the hit track In the Midnight Hour, passed away on Wednesday in the city of Nashville.
Considered among the greatest supporting groups in soul music, the four-piece band Booker T. Jones and the MGs was the core musical unit of the influential Memphis label Stax/Volt and is most famous for their 1962 instrumental track Green Onions.
Cropper went on to join the blues revival band The Blues Brothers in the late 1970s and played on their successful version of Soul Man.
"Steve was a beloved guitarist, composer, and producer whose extraordinary talent impacted millions of lives around the world," his family said in a release.
"While we mourn the loss of a family man and friend, we are consoled knowing that Steve will endure through his music," they continued.
A specific cause was not immediately known.
An associate, Eddie Gore, mentioned he was with Cropper on Tuesday in Nashville, where the guitarist was in the process of creating new songs.
"He's such a kind human," Gore remarked. "We were lucky to have him, for sure."
An Illustrious Journey
Voted the runner-up for guitarist of all time by a UK publication in 1996, Cropper began working at Stax Records in 1961 at the age of 20.
A year later, the MGs were formed, consisting of organist Booker T Jones, drummer Al Jackson and bassist Lewie Steinberg - who was replaced by Donald "Duck" Dunn in 1964.
The band was honored by inclusion in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1992.
"I've always seen 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 consistently, while other guitar players avoid that approach. They are reluctant to repeat the same phrase twice."
Not only was he 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 "involved in nearly all record put out by Stax from the fall of 1961 through the end of 1970".
"We would literally spend marathon sessions in the studio," Cropper once recalled. "I think we had 17 or 18 artists we worked with, so we had a extremely demanding schedule."
Kenneth Bell
A tech strategist and writer passionate about digital transformation and emerging technologies.
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