Steve Cropper, musician of the famed band Booker T & the MGs, has died aged 84
Steve Cropper, the acclaimed guitarist with the seminal soul group Booker T & the MGs, has died at the age of 84.
The guitar virtuoso, who contributed to and co-wrote the classic song Sittin' On the Dock of the Bay and Wilson Pickett's In the Midnight Hour, succumbed on Wednesday in Music City, Nashville.
Widely regarded among the greatest supporting groups in soul and R&B, the quartet Booker T. Jones and the MGs was the house band of the historic Memphis label Stax Records and is most famous for their 1962 instrumental track Green Onions.
Cropper later became a member of the blues revival band The Blues Brothers in the 1970s and played on their hit cover of Soul Man.
"Steve was a beloved musician, songwriter, and producer whose extraordinary talent inspired millions of lives around the world," his family stated in a statement.
"While we mourn the loss of a husband, father, and friend, we take solace knowing that Steve will be remembered through his music," they continued.
A specific cause was not immediately known.
A friend, Eddie Gore, stated 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 commented. "We were lucky to have him, for sure."
A Prolific Career
Ranked the number two guitarist of all time by a music periodical in 1996, Cropper started his career at the Stax label in 1961 at the age of 20.
A year later, the MGs were formed, 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 honored by inclusion in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1992.
"I've always considered myself to be a player who focuses on rhythm," Cropper remarked in a previous conversation. "I take pride in the fact that I can play something over and over, while other guitar players wouldn't consider it. They won't even play the same riff twice."
As well as a guitarist, Cropper was a prolific songwriter, and besides Dock of the Bay and In the Midnight Hour, he co-wrote Eddie Floyd's hit Knock on Wood.
According to available information, he was "involved in the majority of record put out by Stax from the fall of 1961 through the end of 1970".
"We would truly spend long days in the studio," Cropper noted in an interview. "I think we had nearly 20 artists we worked with, so we had a very hectic schedule."
