The iconic guitarist Steve Cropper, member of Booker T and the MGs, has passed away aged 84
Esteemed musician Steve Cropper, the renowned guitarist with the iconic band Booker T & the MGs, has passed away at the age of 84.
The musician, who performed on 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 Nashville.
Considered among the greatest studio bands in soul and R&B, the quartet Booker T. Jones and the MGs was the core musical unit of the historic Memphis label Stax Records and is most famous for their 1962 track Green Onions.
Cropper later became a member of the comedy music group The Blues Brothers in the late 1970s and featured on their successful version of Soul Man.
"Steve was a cherished guitarist, composer, and producer whose profound talent inspired countless people around the world," his family expressed in a message.
"While we grieve the loss of a family man and friend, we are consoled knowing that Steve will endure through his music," they noted.
A specific cause was not released at this time.
An associate, Eddie Gore, stated he was with Cropper on Tuesday in Nashville, where the guitarist was in the process of creating new songs.
"He's such a wonderful human," Gore remarked. "We were fortunate to have him, for sure."
A Prolific Career
Named the second-best 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, consisting of organist 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 player who focuses on rhythm," Cropper said in a past interview. "I enjoy the fact that I can play something consistently, while other guitar players don't want to even know about that. They won't even play the same phrase twice."
In addition to being a guitarist, Cropper was a prolific songwriter, and besides Dock of the Bay and In the Midnight Hour, he collaborated on Eddie Floyd's hit Knock on Wood.
According to available information, he was "involved in nearly all record put out by Stax from the fall of 1961 through the end of 1970".
"We would literally spend marathon sessions in the studio," Cropper once recalled. "I think we had a roster of artists on the roster, so we had a very hectic schedule."
