Steve Cropper, musician of the famed band Booker T & the MGs, has died aged 84
Esteemed musician Steve Cropper, the renowned guitarist with the seminal soul group Booker T & the MGs, has passed away at the age of 84.
The artist, who contributed to and helped pen the classic song Sittin' On the Dock of the Bay and Wilson Pickett's In the Midnight Hour, succumbed on Wednesday in Music City, Nashville.
Considered among the greatest supporting groups in soul music, the quartet the MGs was the resident studio band of the historic Memphis label Stax Records and is most famous for their 1962 instrumental track Green Onions.
Cropper also joined the blues revival band The Blues Brothers in the late 1970s and played on their successful version of Soul Man.
"Steve was a beloved guitarist, composer, and producer whose immense talent impacted generations around the world," his family said in a statement.
"While we feel sorrow for the loss of a husband, father, and friend, we take solace knowing that Steve will be remembered through his music," they noted.
A cause of death was not immediately known.
An associate, Eddie Gore, recalled he was with Cropper recently in Nashville, where the guitarist had been working on new songs.
"He's such a kind human," Gore remarked. "We were blessed to have him, for sure."
A Prolific Career
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 founded, 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 seen myself as a rhythm guitarist," Cropper said in a past interview. "I enjoy the fact that I can play something consistently, while other guitar players don't want to even know about that. 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 historical accounts, he was "integral to nearly all record issued by Stax from the fall of 1961 through year end 1970".
"We would often spend marathon sessions in the studio," Cropper noted in an interview. "I think we had a roster of artists signed to the label, so we had a very hectic schedule."
