Steve Cropper, guitarist of Booker T and the MGs, has died at the age of 84
Esteemed musician Steve Cropper, the acclaimed guitarist with Booker T and the MGs, has passed away at the age of 84.
The guitar virtuoso, who performed on 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 Music City, Nashville.
Widely regarded among the best studio bands in soul and R&B, the four-piece band the MGs was the resident studio band of the groundbreaking Memphis label Stax and is primarily known for their 1962 track Green Onions.
Cropper went on to join the comedy music group The Blues Brothers in the late '70s and performed on their hit cover of Soul Man.
"Steve was a deeply admired guitarist, composer, and producer whose immense talent impacted millions of lives around the world," his family said in a message.
"While we mourn the loss of a loved one and companion, we are consoled knowing that Steve will endure through his music," they added.
A reason for his passing was not immediately known.
A friend, Eddie Gore, recalled he was with Cropper on Tuesday in Nashville, where the guitarist was in the process of creating new music.
"He's such a kind human," Gore remarked. "We were lucky to have him, for sure."
A Storied Musical Path
Ranked the number two guitarist of all time by a British music magazine in 1996, Cropper began working at Stax Records 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 entered into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1992.
"I've always seen myself as a player who focuses on rhythm," Cropper explained in a previous conversation. "I get off on 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 riff twice."
Not only was he a guitarist, Cropper was a prolific songwriter, and alongside Dock of the Bay and In the Midnight Hour, he co-wrote Eddie Floyd's hit Knock on Wood.
According to his official biography, he was "integral to nearly all record released by Stax from 1961 through 1970".
"We would literally spend marathon sessions in the studio," Cropper noted in an interview. "I think we had 17 or 18 artists on the roster, so we had a very hectic schedule."