The iconic guitarist Steve Cropper, guitarist of Booker T and the MGs, has died at the age of 84
Esteemed musician Steve Cropper, the renowned guitarist with the iconic band Booker T & the MGs, has died at the age of 84.
The guitar virtuoso, who played on and helped pen Otis Redding's Sittin' On the Dock of the Bay and Wilson Pickett's In the Midnight Hour, passed away on Wednesday in Nashville.
Widely regarded among the greatest backing bands in soul and R&B, the group Booker T & the MGs was the resident studio band of the influential Memphis label Stax Records and is best remembered for their 1962 instrumental track Green Onions.
Cropper later became a member of the John Belushi-Dan Aykroyd act The Blues Brothers in the 1970s and performed on their popular rendition of Soul Man.
"Steve was a cherished artist, writer, and producer whose profound talent impacted generations around the world," his family said in a release.
"While we mourn the loss of a loved one and companion, we are consoled knowing that Steve will live forever through his music," they added.
A specific cause was not released at this time.
An associate, Eddie Gore, recalled he was with Cropper on Tuesday in Nashville, where the guitarist had been working on new songs.
"He's such a wonderful human," Gore commented. "We were fortunate to have him, for sure."
A Storied Musical Path
Voted the runner-up for guitarist of all time by a UK publication in 1996, Cropper began working at the Stax label in 1961 at the age of 20.
A year later, the MGs were founded, consisting of 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 thought of myself as a rhythm guitarist," Cropper said in a previous conversation. "I take pride in the fact that I can play something over and over, while other guitar players avoid that approach. They won't even play the same phrase twice."
Not only was he a guitarist, Cropper was a prolific 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 available information, he was "a part of nearly all record released by Stax from the fall of 1961 through year end 1970".
"We would often spend long days in the studio," Cropper noted in an interview. "I think we had 17 or 18 artists signed to the label, so we had a extremely demanding schedule."
