The iconic guitarist Steve Cropper, guitarist of the famed band Booker T & the MGs, has died at the age of 84
Steve Cropper, the acclaimed guitarist with the iconic band Booker T & the MGs, has died at the age of 84.
The guitar virtuoso, who performed on and collaborated on writing the classic song Sittin' On the Dock of the Bay and Wilson Pickett's In the Midnight Hour, passed away on Wednesday in Nashville.
Considered among the greatest backing bands in soul and R&B, the group Booker T & the MGs was the house band of the influential Memphis label Stax/Volt and is primarily known for their 1962 instrumental track Green Onions.
Cropper went on to join the John Belushi-Dan Aykroyd act The Blues Brothers in the late 1970s and featured on their successful version of Soul Man.
"Steve was a deeply admired musician, songwriter, and producer whose immense talent impacted countless people around the world," his family expressed in a statement.
"While we feel sorrow for the loss of a family man and friend, we are consoled knowing that Steve will live forever through his music," they continued.
A specific cause was not released at this time.
An associate, Eddie Gore, mentioned he was with Cropper recently in Nashville, where the guitarist had been working on new songs.
"He's such a wonderful human," Gore commented. "We were blessed to have him, for sure."
A Prolific Career
Named the number two guitarist of all time by a British music magazine in 1996, Cropper started his career 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 honored by inclusion in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1992.
"I've always seen myself as a player who focuses on rhythm," Cropper remarked in a previous conversation. "I enjoy the fact that I can play something consistently, while other guitar players avoid that approach. They refuse to play the same lick twice."
Not only was he 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 "integral to nearly all record issued by Stax from 1961 through 1970".
"We would literally spend marathon sessions in the studio," Cropper said. "I think we had a roster of artists on the roster, so we had a extremely demanding schedule."
