Steve Cropper, member of Booker T and the MGs, has passed away aged 84
Steve Cropper, the celebrated guitarist with Booker T and the MGs, has died at the age of 84.
The musician, who played on and helped pen the classic song Sittin' On the Dock of the Bay and Wilson Pickett's In the Midnight Hour, succumbed this past Wednesday in the city of Nashville.
Considered among the best supporting groups in soul music, the four-piece band Booker T & the MGs was the house band of the influential Memphis label Stax and is best remembered for their 1962 instrumental track Green Onions.
Cropper went on to join the blues revival band The Blues Brothers in the 1970s and featured on their popular rendition of Soul Man.
"Steve was a beloved musician, songwriter, and producer whose immense talent inspired generations around the world," his family said in a release.
"While we grieve 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 disclosed.
A friend, Eddie Gore, stated he was with Cropper on Tuesday in Nashville, where the guitarist was developing new music.
"He's such a kind human," Gore remarked. "We were fortunate to have him, for sure."
An Illustrious Journey
Ranked the runner-up for guitarist of all time by a UK publication in 1996, Cropper first found employment at Stax in 1961 at the age of 20.
A year later, the MGs were founded, comprising 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 considered myself to be a rhythm guitarist," Cropper said in a past interview. "I get off on the fact that I can play something consistently, while other guitar players don't want to even know about that. They refuse to play the same riff twice."
As well as a guitarist, Cropper was a productive songwriter, and in addition to 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 the majority of record issued by Stax from the fall of 1961 through year end 1970".
"We would often spend 15 hours a day in the studio," Cropper once recalled. "I think we had 17 or 18 artists signed to the label, so we had a extremely demanding schedule."
