Steve Cropper, musician of the famed band Booker T & the MGs, has died at the age of 84
The legendary guitarist Steve Cropper, the celebrated guitarist with Booker T and the MGs, has passed away at the age of 84.
The guitar virtuoso, who performed on and collaborated on writing the classic song Sittin' On the Dock of the Bay and the hit track In the Midnight Hour, passed away this past Wednesday in the city of Nashville.
Often cited among the finest studio bands in the history of soul music, the four-piece band Booker T & the MGs was the resident studio band of the historic Memphis label Stax/Volt and is most famous for their classic 1962 track Green Onions.
Cropper went on to join the blues revival band The Blues Brothers in the late 1970s and played on their hit cover of Soul Man.
"Steve was a cherished artist, writer, and producer whose extraordinary talent touched countless people around the world," his family expressed in a statement.
"While we feel sorrow for the loss of a husband, father, and friend, we are consoled knowing that Steve will endure through his music," they added.
A cause of death was not immediately known.
An associate, Eddie Gore, mentioned he was with Cropper on Tuesday in Nashville, where the guitarist was developing new songs.
"He's such a wonderful human," Gore said. "We were blessed to have him, for sure."
A Storied Musical Path
Ranked the number two guitarist of all time by a British music magazine in 1996, Cropper began working at the Stax label in 1961 at the age of 20.
A year later, the MGs were formed, consisting of keyboardist 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 past interview. "I take pride in the fact that I can play something consistently, while other guitar players wouldn't consider it. They are reluctant to repeat the same phrase 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 nearly all record issued by Stax from the fall of 1961 through 1970".
"We would truly spend marathon sessions in the studio," Cropper noted in an interview. "I think we had a roster of artists on the roster, so we had a very hectic schedule."
