Steve Cropper, musician of Booker T and the MGs, has passed away at the age of 84
Steve Cropper, the acclaimed guitarist with the seminal soul group Booker T & the MGs, has died at the age of 84.
The artist, 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 the city of Nashville.
Often cited among the greatest studio bands in soul and R&B, the quartet Booker T & the MGs was the house band of the historic Memphis label Stax and is best remembered for their 1962 instrumental track Green Onions.
Cropper went on to join the comedy music group The Blues Brothers in the late 1970s and featured on their hit cover of Soul Man.
"Steve was a beloved artist, writer, and producer whose immense talent impacted millions of lives around the world," his family expressed in a release.
"While we mourn the loss of a loved one and companion, we find comfort knowing that Steve will live forever through his music," they continued.
A cause of death was not immediately known.
A colleague, Eddie Gore, recalled he was with Cropper just the day before in Nashville, where the guitarist had been working on fresh material.
"He's such a wonderful human," Gore remarked. "We were lucky to have him, for sure."
An Illustrious Journey
Voted the second-best guitarist of all time by a UK publication in 1996, Cropper first found employment at the Stax label in 1961 at the age of 20.
A year later, the MGs were formed, featuring organist Booker T Jones, drummer Al Jackson and bassist Lewie Steinberg - who was succeeded by Donald "Duck" Dunn in 1964.
The band was entered into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1992.
"I've always considered myself to be a rhythm guitarist," Cropper said in a previous conversation. "I enjoy the fact that I can play something repeatedly, while other guitar players wouldn't consider it. They refuse to play the same riff 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 co-wrote Eddie Floyd's hit Knock on Wood.
According to historical accounts, he was "integral to nearly all record put out by Stax from 1961 through year end 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."
