The iconic guitarist Steve Cropper, musician of Booker T and the MGs, has died aged 84
Esteemed musician Steve Cropper, the celebrated guitarist with the seminal soul group Booker T & the MGs, has died at the age of 84.
The guitar virtuoso, who contributed to and helped pen Otis Redding's Sittin' On the Dock of the Bay and Wilson Pickett's In the Midnight Hour, died recently in Music City, Nashville.
Often cited among the finest backing bands in soul music, the group Booker T & the MGs was the core musical unit of the influential Memphis label Stax Records and is primarily known for their 1962 track Green Onions.
Cropper also joined the blues revival band The Blues Brothers in the late '70s and played on their popular rendition of Soul Man.
"Steve was a deeply admired guitarist, composer, and producer whose extraordinary talent inspired millions of lives around the world," his family said in a statement.
"While we grieve the loss of a loved one and companion, we take solace knowing that Steve will live forever through his music," they noted.
A cause of death was not released at this time.
A friend, Eddie Gore, mentioned he was with Cropper recently in Nashville, where the guitarist was in the process of creating new music.
"He's such a wonderful human," Gore commented. "We were blessed to have him, for sure."
A Storied Musical Path
Named the runner-up for guitarist of all time by a UK publication in 1996, Cropper started his career at the Stax label in 1961 at the age of 20.
A year later, the MGs were founded, comprising organist Booker T Jones, drummer Al Jackson and bassist Lewie Steinberg - who was replaced by Donald "Duck" Dunn in 1964.
The band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1992.
"I've always considered myself to be a player who focuses on rhythm," Cropper remarked in a past interview. "I take pride in the fact that I can play something consistently, while other guitar players don't want to even know about that. They refuse to play the same lick twice."
In addition to being a guitarist, Cropper was a prolific songwriter, and besides 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 "involved in nearly all record issued by Stax from the fall of 1961 through the end of 1970".
"We would often spend long days in the studio," Cropper said. "I think we had a roster of artists we worked with, so we had a pretty busy schedule."
