Steve Cropper, member of Booker T and the MGs, has died at the age of 84
The legendary guitarist Steve Cropper, the renowned guitarist with the iconic band Booker T & the MGs, has left us 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, died on Wednesday in the city of Nashville.
Often cited among the finest backing bands in soul music, the four-piece band the MGs was the core musical unit of the groundbreaking Memphis label Stax/Volt and is most famous for their 1962 instrumental track Green Onions.
Cropper went on to join the blues revival band The Blues Brothers in the late '70s and performed on their hit cover of Soul Man.
"Steve was a cherished guitarist, composer, and producer whose extraordinary talent touched countless people around the world," his family said in a message.
"While we feel sorrow for the loss of a family man and friend, we find comfort knowing that Steve will endure through his music," they noted.
A reason for his passing was not disclosed.
A friend, Eddie Gore, recalled he was with Cropper on Tuesday in Nashville, where the guitarist had been working on new music.
"He's such a kind human," Gore remarked. "We were lucky to have him, for sure."
A Storied Musical Path
Voted the runner-up for guitarist of all time by a British music magazine in 1996, Cropper began working at Stax in 1961 at the age of 20.
A year later, the MGs came together, consisting of 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 seen myself as a rhythm player," Cropper remarked in a past interview. "I enjoy the fact that I can play something repeatedly, 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 vastly creative songwriter, and besides 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 "integral to the majority of record put out by Stax from the fall of 1961 through the end of 1970".
"We would literally spend 15 hours a day in the studio," Cropper noted in an interview. "I think we had nearly 20 artists we worked with, so we had a very hectic schedule."
