The iconic guitarist Steve Cropper, member of the famed band Booker T & the MGs, has died aged 84
Steve Cropper, the celebrated guitarist with the seminal soul group Booker T & the MGs, has passed away at the age of 84.
The guitar virtuoso, who contributed to and co-wrote the classic song Sittin' On the Dock of the Bay and the hit track In the Midnight Hour, passed away this past Wednesday in Music City, Nashville.
Widely regarded among the greatest studio bands in the history of soul music, the group the MGs was the resident studio band of the historic Memphis label Stax and is most famous for their 1962 track Green Onions.
Cropper also joined the blues revival band The Blues Brothers in the late 1970s and performed on their popular rendition of Soul Man.
"Steve was a beloved musician, songwriter, and producer whose extraordinary talent touched generations around the world," his family expressed in a release.
"While we grieve the loss of a family man and friend, we take solace knowing that Steve will be remembered through his music," they continued.
A specific cause was not disclosed.
An associate, Eddie Gore, stated he was with Cropper on Tuesday in Nashville, where the guitarist had been working on fresh material.
"He's such a wonderful human," Gore commented. "We were lucky to have him, for sure."
An Illustrious Journey
Voted the second-best guitarist of all time by a British music magazine in 1996, Cropper started his career at Stax Records in 1961 at the age of 20.
A year later, the MGs were founded, featuring keyboardist Booker T Jones, drummer Al Jackson and bassist Lewie Steinberg - who was succeeded by Donald "Duck" Dunn in 1964.
The band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1992.
"I've always seen myself as a rhythm player," Cropper said in a past interview. "I get off on the fact that I can play something over and over, while other guitar players wouldn't consider it. They are reluctant to repeat the same lick 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 the majority of record put out by Stax from the fall of 1961 through 1970".
"We would truly spend marathon sessions in the studio," Cropper once recalled. "I think we had 17 or 18 artists we worked with, so we had a pretty busy schedule."
