Steve Cropper, member of Booker T and the MGs, dies aged 84
Esteemed musician Steve Cropper, the acclaimed guitarist with Booker T and the MGs, has left us at the age of 84.
The artist, who contributed to and helped pen the classic song Sittin' On the Dock of the Bay and the hit track In the Midnight Hour, died this past Wednesday in the city of Nashville.
Often cited among the best studio bands in soul music, the four-piece band the MGs was the core musical unit of the groundbreaking Memphis label Stax and is best remembered for their classic 1962 track Green Onions.
Cropper also joined the comedy music group The Blues Brothers in the late '70s and featured on their hit cover of Soul Man.
"Steve was a deeply admired artist, writer, and producer whose extraordinary talent impacted countless people around the world," his family stated in a release.
"While we feel sorrow for the loss of a loved one and companion, we are consoled knowing that Steve will live forever through his music," they continued.
A reason for his passing was not disclosed.
A colleague, Eddie Gore, stated he was with Cropper recently in Nashville, where the guitarist was in the process of creating new songs.
"He's such a kind human," Gore said. "We were fortunate to have him, for sure."
An Illustrious Journey
Named the second-best guitarist of all time by a British music magazine in 1996, Cropper started his career at Stax 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 succeeded 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 player who focuses on rhythm," Cropper remarked in a past interview. "I get off on 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."
Not only was he a guitarist, Cropper was a vastly creative songwriter, and alongside 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 "involved in the majority of record released by Stax from late 1961 through year end 1970".
"We would often 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."
