Steve Cropper, member of the famed band Booker T & the MGs, has died aged 84
Steve Cropper, the acclaimed guitarist with Booker T and the MGs, has died at the age of 84.
The musician, who performed on and helped pen Otis Redding's Sittin' On the Dock of the Bay and the hit track In the Midnight Hour, succumbed on Wednesday in Nashville.
Often cited among the best studio bands in soul music, the quartet Booker T & the MGs was the resident studio band of the influential Memphis label Stax/Volt and is best remembered for their 1962 instrumental track Green Onions.
Cropper also joined the John Belushi-Dan Aykroyd act The Blues Brothers in the late '70s and played on their successful version of Soul Man.
"Steve was a deeply admired artist, writer, and producer whose profound talent inspired millions of lives around the world," his family stated in a message.
"While we mourn the loss of a husband, father, and friend, we take solace knowing that Steve will live forever through his music," they added.
A reason for his passing was not immediately known.
A friend, Eddie Gore, stated he was with Cropper just the day before in Nashville, where the guitarist was developing new songs.
"He's such a good human," Gore commented. "We were lucky to have him, for sure."
A Prolific Career
Named the runner-up for guitarist of all time by a UK publication in 1996, Cropper first found employment at the Stax label in 1961 at the age of 20.
A year later, the MGs came together, comprising 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 seen myself as a rhythm player," Cropper remarked in a previous conversation. "I enjoy the fact that I can play something consistently, while other guitar players don't want to even know about that. They refuse to play the same lick 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 helped write Eddie Floyd's hit Knock on Wood.
According to historical accounts, he was "integral to nearly all record put out by Stax from late 1961 through 1970".
"We would literally spend marathon sessions in the studio," Cropper said. "I think we had 17 or 18 artists signed to the label, so we had a very hectic schedule."
