The iconic guitarist Steve Cropper, musician of the famed band Booker T & the MGs, has died at the age of 84
Esteemed musician Steve Cropper, the acclaimed guitarist with the iconic band Booker T & the MGs, has left us at the age of 84.
The musician, who contributed to and helped pen the classic song Sittin' On the Dock of the Bay and Wilson Pickett's In the Midnight Hour, died this past Wednesday in Music City, Nashville.
Often cited among the best studio bands in soul and R&B, the group Booker T. Jones and the MGs was the resident studio band of the groundbreaking Memphis label Stax and is best remembered for their 1962 instrumental track Green Onions.
Cropper also joined the comedy music group The Blues Brothers in the late 1970s and featured on their popular rendition of Soul Man.
"Steve was a beloved musician, songwriter, and producer whose immense talent inspired countless people around the world," his family said in a release.
"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 added.
A specific cause was not immediately known.
A friend, Eddie Gore, mentioned he was with Cropper on Tuesday in Nashville, where the guitarist was developing fresh material.
"He's such a wonderful human," Gore remarked. "We were fortunate to have him, for sure."
An Illustrious Journey
Ranked the second-best guitarist of all time by a British music magazine in 1996, Cropper started his career at Stax 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 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 don't want to even know about that. They are reluctant to repeat the same riff twice."
Not only was he a guitarist, Cropper was a vastly creative songwriter, and alongside Dock of the Bay and In the Midnight Hour, he helped write Eddie Floyd's hit Knock on Wood.
According to historical accounts, he was "integral to the majority of record put out by Stax from 1961 through the end of 1970".
"We would often spend marathon sessions in the studio," Cropper said. "I think we had a roster of artists signed to the label, so we had a very hectic schedule."
