The iconic guitarist Steve Cropper, member of the famed band Booker T & the MGs, has died at the age of 84
Esteemed musician Steve Cropper, the renowned guitarist with Booker T and the MGs, has left us at the age of 84.
The musician, who played 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 Music City, Nashville.
Often cited among the finest studio bands in soul and R&B, the quartet Booker T & the MGs was the resident studio band of the groundbreaking Memphis label Stax Records and is best remembered for their classic 1962 track Green Onions.
Cropper went on to join the blues revival band The Blues Brothers in the 1970s and performed on their hit cover of Soul Man.
"Steve was a deeply admired guitarist, composer, and producer whose extraordinary talent impacted countless people around the world," his family stated in a release.
"While we mourn the loss of a loved one and companion, we find comfort knowing that Steve will live forever through his music," they added.
A specific cause was not released at this time.
An associate, Eddie Gore, mentioned he was with Cropper just the day before in Nashville, where the guitarist was in the process of creating new songs.
"He's such a kind human," Gore said. "We were lucky to have him, for sure."
A Storied Musical Path
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, comprising keyboardist Booker T Jones, drummer Al Jackson and bassist Lewie Steinberg - who was replaced 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 player," Cropper said in a previous conversation. "I take pride in the fact that I can play something over and over, while other guitar players avoid that approach. They are reluctant to repeat the same phrase twice."
As well as a guitarist, Cropper was a productive songwriter, and alongside Dock of the Bay and In the Midnight Hour, he co-wrote Eddie Floyd's hit Knock on Wood.
According to his official biography, he was "involved in virtually every record released by Stax from late 1961 through year end 1970".
"We would truly spend 15 hours a day in the studio," Cropper noted in an interview. "I think we had 17 or 18 artists signed to the label, so we had a very hectic schedule."
