Steve Cropper, musician of Booker T and the MGs, has died aged 84
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 co-wrote Otis Redding's 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 best backing bands in soul music, 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 1962 instrumental track Green Onions.
Cropper also joined the blues revival band The Blues Brothers in the late 1970s and played on their popular rendition of Soul Man.
"Steve was a cherished guitarist, composer, and producer whose immense talent impacted generations around the world," his family said in a release.
"While we mourn the loss of a husband, father, and friend, we are consoled knowing that Steve will endure through his music," they added.
A specific cause was not released at this time.
A friend, Eddie Gore, mentioned he was with Cropper just the day before in Nashville, where the guitarist was in the process of creating new music.
"He's such a kind human," Gore said. "We were blessed to have him, for sure."
A Prolific Career
Named the number two guitarist of all time by a music periodical in 1996, Cropper started his career at Stax Records 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 succeeded 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 thought of myself as a rhythm guitarist," Cropper explained in a previous conversation. "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 refuse to play the same phrase twice."
Not only was he a guitarist, Cropper was a vastly creative songwriter, and alongside Dock of the Bay and In the Midnight Hour, he collaborated on Eddie Floyd's hit Knock on Wood.
According to his official biography, he was "integral to nearly all record issued by Stax from the fall of 1961 through year end 1970".
"We would literally spend 15 hours a day in the studio," Cropper said. "I think we had nearly 20 artists we worked with, so we had a very hectic schedule."
