Legendary guitarist Steve Cropper, musician of the famed band Booker T & the MGs, has died aged 84
Steve Cropper, the celebrated guitarist with Booker T and the MGs, has passed away at the age of 84.
The artist, who performed on and helped pen the classic song Sittin' On the Dock of the Bay and Wilson Pickett's In the Midnight Hour, succumbed recently in Nashville.
Widely regarded among the best studio bands in soul and R&B, the quartet the MGs was the core musical unit of the influential Memphis label Stax and is most famous for their 1962 track Green Onions.
Cropper went on to join the comedy music group The Blues Brothers in the late '70s and performed on their popular rendition of Soul Man.
"Steve was a beloved artist, writer, and producer whose extraordinary talent impacted generations around the world," his family said in a release.
"While we feel sorrow for the loss of a loved one and companion, we find comfort knowing that Steve will live forever through his music," they continued.
A cause of death was not disclosed.
An associate, Eddie Gore, stated he was with Cropper recently in Nashville, where the guitarist was in the process of creating new music.
"He's such a good human," Gore said. "We were fortunate to have him, for sure."
A Storied Musical Path
Voted the second-best guitarist of all time by a music periodical in 1996, Cropper first found employment at Stax Records in 1961 at the age of 20.
A year later, the MGs were formed, featuring 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 thought of myself as a rhythm player," Cropper remarked in a previous conversation. "I take pride in the fact that I can play something repeatedly, 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 vastly creative 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 issued by Stax from late 1961 through the end of 1970".
"We would literally spend 15 hours a day in the studio," Cropper said. "I think we had nearly 20 artists on the roster, so we had a very hectic schedule."