Steve Cropper, member of Booker T and the MGs, has died aged 84
Esteemed musician Steve Cropper, the acclaimed guitarist with the iconic band Booker T & the MGs, has died at the age of 84.
The artist, who played on and collaborated on writing Otis Redding's Sittin' On the Dock of the Bay and the hit track In the Midnight Hour, passed away recently in Nashville.
Considered among the finest studio bands in the history of soul music, the group the MGs was the core musical unit of the influential Memphis label Stax/Volt and is best remembered for their 1962 track Green Onions.
Cropper also joined the comedy music group The Blues Brothers in the late 1970s and featured on their popular rendition of Soul Man.
"Steve was a beloved artist, writer, and producer whose immense talent touched generations around the world," his family expressed in a statement.
"While we feel sorrow for the loss of a family man and friend, we are consoled knowing that Steve will endure through his music," they continued.
A reason for his passing was not immediately known.
An associate, Eddie Gore, recalled he was with Cropper on Tuesday in Nashville, where the guitarist was developing fresh material.
"He's such a wonderful human," Gore said. "We were lucky to have him, for sure."
A Prolific Career
Ranked the second-best guitarist of all time by a UK publication in 1996, Cropper began working at Stax Records in 1961 at the age of 20.
A year later, the MGs were founded, comprising keyboardist 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 considered myself to be a rhythm player," Cropper remarked in a previous conversation. "I enjoy the fact that I can play something repeatedly, while other guitar players don't want to even know about that. They are reluctant to repeat the same lick twice."
As well as a guitarist, Cropper was a productive 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 1961 through 1970".
"We would often spend marathon sessions in the studio," Cropper once recalled. "I think we had 17 or 18 artists we worked with, so we had a very hectic schedule."
