Steve Cropper, member of the soul group Booker T & the MGs, has died at the age of 84
Esteemed musician Steve Cropper, the renowned guitarist with the seminal soul group Booker T & the MGs, has passed away at the age of 84.
The guitar virtuoso, who played on and co-wrote Otis Redding's Sittin' On the Dock of the Bay and Wilson Pickett's In the Midnight Hour, passed away on Wednesday in Music City, Nashville.
Considered among the finest supporting groups in the history of soul music, the group Booker T & the MGs was the core musical unit of the groundbreaking Memphis label Stax Records and is most famous for their 1962 instrumental track Green Onions.
Cropper also joined the comedy music group The Blues Brothers in the late 1970s and performed on their hit cover of Soul Man.
"Steve was a cherished musician, songwriter, and producer whose profound talent touched generations around the world," his family stated in a statement.
"While we grieve the loss of a husband, father, and friend, we find comfort knowing that Steve will endure through his music," they added.
A cause of death was not released at this time.
A colleague, Eddie Gore, recalled he was with Cropper just the day before in Nashville, where the guitarist was developing new music.
"He's such a kind human," Gore commented. "We were fortunate to have him, for sure."
An Illustrious Journey
Ranked the number two guitarist of all time by a British music magazine in 1996, Cropper first found employment at the Stax label in 1961 at the age of 20.
A year later, the MGs were formed, consisting of 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 explained in a previous conversation. "I take pride in the fact that I can play something consistently, while other guitar players wouldn't consider it. They are reluctant to repeat the same lick twice."
Not only was he a guitarist, Cropper was a prolific songwriter, and alongside 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 "involved in virtually every record released by Stax from 1961 through 1970".
"We would truly spend 15 hours a day in the studio," Cropper said. "I think we had nearly 20 artists signed to the label, so we had a extremely demanding schedule."