The iconic guitarist Steve Cropper, musician of Booker T and the MGs, has died aged 84
Esteemed musician Steve Cropper, the renowned guitarist with the iconic band Booker T & the MGs, has passed away at the age of 84.
The guitar virtuoso, who played on and helped pen the classic song Sittin' On the Dock of the Bay and the hit track In the Midnight Hour, died recently in Music City, Nashville.
Widely regarded among the finest supporting groups in the history of soul music, the quartet Booker T & the MGs was the house band of the groundbreaking Memphis label Stax and is primarily known for their 1962 instrumental track Green Onions.
Cropper later became a member of the comedy music group The Blues Brothers in the late 1970s and played on their successful version of Soul Man.
"Steve was a beloved artist, writer, and producer whose profound talent impacted countless people around the world," his family stated in a release.
"While we grieve the loss of a husband, father, and friend, we find comfort knowing that Steve will endure through his music," they noted.
A cause of death was not disclosed.
An associate, Eddie Gore, stated he was with Cropper just the day before in Nashville, where the guitarist had been working on new songs.
"He's such a good human," Gore said. "We were blessed to have him, for sure."
A Storied Musical Path
Voted the second-best guitarist of all time by a British music magazine in 1996, Cropper first found employment at Stax Records in 1961 at the age of 20.
A year later, the MGs came together, comprising organist Booker T Jones, drummer Al Jackson and bassist Lewie Steinberg - who was replaced 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 guitarist," Cropper remarked in a past interview. "I enjoy the fact that I can play something over and over, while other guitar players don't want to even know about that. They won't even play the same phrase twice."
As well as 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 virtually every record issued by Stax from the fall of 1961 through the end of 1970".
"We would often spend 15 hours a day in the studio," Cropper noted in an interview. "I think we had 17 or 18 artists we worked with, so we had a extremely demanding schedule."
