Steve Cropper, musician of Booker T and the MGs, has passed away at the age of 84
Steve Cropper, the renowned guitarist with Booker T and the MGs, has died at the age of 84.
The musician, who performed on and co-wrote the classic song Sittin' On the Dock of the Bay and Wilson Pickett's In the Midnight Hour, died on Wednesday in Music City, Nashville.
Often cited among the best studio bands in the history of soul music, the quartet Booker T. Jones and the MGs was the resident studio band of the influential Memphis label Stax/Volt and is primarily known for their 1962 track Green Onions.
Cropper also joined the John Belushi-Dan Aykroyd act The Blues Brothers in the 1970s and featured on their successful version of Soul Man.
"Steve was a cherished musician, songwriter, and producer whose immense talent inspired generations around the world," his family expressed in a release.
"While we mourn the loss of a husband, father, and friend, we are consoled knowing that Steve will be remembered through his music," they continued.
A cause of death was not immediately known.
A friend, Eddie Gore, stated he was with Cropper just the day before in Nashville, where the guitarist had been working on fresh material.
"He's such a good human," Gore remarked. "We were lucky to have him, for sure."
A Prolific Career
Ranked the number two guitarist of all time by a UK publication in 1996, Cropper began working at the Stax label in 1961 at the age of 20.
A year later, the MGs were founded, featuring organist Booker T Jones, drummer Al Jackson and bassist Lewie Steinberg - who was succeeded by Donald "Duck" Dunn in 1964.
The band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1992.
"I've always considered myself to be a player who focuses on rhythm," Cropper said in a past interview. "I enjoy the fact that I can play something consistently, while other guitar players avoid that approach. They are reluctant to repeat the same riff twice."
As well as a guitarist, Cropper was a vastly creative 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 the fall of 1961 through 1970".
"We would truly spend long days in the studio," Cropper once recalled. "I think we had 17 or 18 artists on the roster, so we had a pretty busy schedule."