Legendary guitarist Steve Cropper, member 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 died at the age of 84.
The guitar virtuoso, who performed on and co-wrote 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 finest backing bands in soul and R&B, the quartet Booker T. Jones and the MGs was the core musical unit of the historic Memphis label Stax Records and is most famous for their 1962 track Green Onions.
Cropper went on to join the John Belushi-Dan Aykroyd act The Blues Brothers in the late '70s and played on their popular rendition of Soul Man.
"Steve was a deeply admired artist, writer, and producer whose immense talent impacted millions of lives around the world," his family expressed in a release.
"While we grieve the loss of a family man and friend, we take solace knowing that Steve will be remembered through his music," they added.
A cause of death was not disclosed.
A friend, 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 good human," Gore said. "We were lucky to have him, for sure."
A Storied Musical Path
Voted 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, comprising keyboardist Booker T Jones, drummer Al Jackson and bassist Lewie Steinberg - who was replaced by Donald "Duck" Dunn in 1964.
The band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1992.
"I've always considered myself to be a rhythm player," Cropper said in a past interview. "I take pride in the fact that I can play something consistently, while other guitar players wouldn't consider it. They refuse to play the same riff twice."
As well as a guitarist, Cropper was a vastly creative songwriter, and in addition to Dock of the Bay and In the Midnight Hour, he helped write Eddie Floyd's hit Knock on Wood.
According to his official biography, he was "integral to virtually every record released by Stax from 1961 through 1970".
"We would truly spend marathon sessions in the studio," Cropper said. "I think we had a roster of artists we worked with, so we had a pretty busy schedule."
