The iconic guitarist Steve Cropper, musician of the soul group Booker T & the MGs, has died aged 84
Steve Cropper, the renowned guitarist with the iconic band Booker T & the MGs, has passed away at the age of 84.
The artist, who contributed to and co-wrote Otis Redding's Sittin' On the Dock of the Bay and the hit track In the Midnight Hour, succumbed recently in the city of Nashville.
Widely regarded among the best supporting groups in the history of soul music, the quartet Booker T. Jones and the MGs was the resident studio band of the influential Memphis label Stax/Volt and is most famous for their 1962 track Green Onions.
Cropper later became a member of the John Belushi-Dan Aykroyd act The Blues Brothers in the late '70s and performed on their successful version of Soul Man.
"Steve was a deeply admired guitarist, composer, and producer whose profound talent touched countless people around the world," his family said in a statement.
"While we feel sorrow for the loss of a loved one and companion, we find comfort knowing that Steve will endure through his music," they noted.
A specific cause was not disclosed.
A friend, Eddie Gore, stated he was with Cropper just the day before in Nashville, where the guitarist had been working on new music.
"He's such a good human," Gore commented. "We were fortunate to have him, for sure."
A Storied Musical Path
Voted the second-best guitarist of all time by a British music magazine in 1996, Cropper started his career at the Stax label in 1961 at the age of 20.
A year later, the MGs came together, featuring organist 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 guitarist," Cropper explained in a past interview. "I take pride in the fact that I can play something repeatedly, while other guitar players avoid that approach. They won't even play the same lick twice."
In addition to being a guitarist, Cropper was a prolific songwriter, and in addition to 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 "integral to nearly all record issued by Stax from 1961 through 1970".
"We would literally spend 15 hours a day in the studio," Cropper once recalled. "I think we had nearly 20 artists signed to the label, so we had a extremely demanding schedule."
