Steve Cropper, member of Booker T and the MGs, has died aged 84
The legendary guitarist Steve Cropper, the renowned guitarist with Booker T and the MGs, has passed away at the age of 84.
The guitar virtuoso, who performed on and co-wrote Otis Redding's Sittin' On the Dock of the Bay and Wilson Pickett's In the Midnight Hour, succumbed recently in Music City, Nashville.
Often cited among the greatest studio bands in soul and R&B, the group the MGs was the core musical unit of the groundbreaking Memphis label Stax and is most famous for their 1962 track Green Onions.
Cropper also joined the blues revival band The Blues Brothers in the late '70s and featured on their popular rendition of Soul Man.
"Steve was a beloved musician, songwriter, and producer whose profound talent impacted countless people around the world," his family expressed in a release.
"While we grieve the loss of a family man and friend, we find comfort knowing that Steve will endure through his music," they continued.
A cause of death was not released at this time.
An associate, Eddie Gore, stated he was with Cropper recently in Nashville, where the guitarist was in the process of creating new music.
"He's such a good human," Gore said. "We were fortunate to have him, for sure."
A Prolific Career
Voted the runner-up for guitarist of all time by a music periodical in 1996, Cropper started his career 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 succeeded 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 said in a past interview. "I enjoy the fact that I can play something repeatedly, while other guitar players avoid that approach. They are reluctant to repeat 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 helped write Eddie Floyd's hit Knock on Wood.
According to available information, he was "involved in the majority of record put out by Stax from the fall of 1961 through 1970".
"We would truly spend long days in the studio," Cropper once recalled. "I think we had nearly 20 artists we worked with, so we had a very hectic schedule."