Steve Cropper, musician of the soul group Booker T & the MGs, has died aged 84
The legendary guitarist Steve Cropper, the celebrated guitarist with the iconic band Booker T & the MGs, has died at the age of 84.
The musician, who played on and helped pen the classic song Sittin' On the Dock of the Bay and Wilson Pickett's In the Midnight Hour, succumbed on Wednesday in Nashville.
Considered among the best studio bands in soul and R&B, the group Booker T. Jones and the MGs was the core musical unit of the groundbreaking Memphis label Stax and is most famous for their 1962 instrumental track Green Onions.
Cropper also joined the comedy music group The Blues Brothers in the late '70s and featured on their successful version of Soul Man.
"Steve was a beloved musician, songwriter, and producer whose immense talent inspired countless people around the world," his family stated in a statement.
"While we grieve the loss of a husband, father, and friend, we take solace knowing that Steve will be remembered through his music," they added.
A cause of death was not disclosed.
A friend, Eddie Gore, stated he was with Cropper just the day before in Nashville, where the guitarist had been working on new music.
"He's such a wonderful human," Gore commented. "We were fortunate to have him, for sure."
A Storied Musical Path
Named the second-best guitarist of all time by a UK publication in 1996, Cropper started his career at Stax in 1961 at the age of 20.
A year later, the MGs came together, consisting of keyboardist Booker T Jones, drummer Al Jackson and bassist Lewie Steinberg - who was replaced by Donald "Duck" Dunn in 1964.
The band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1992.
"I've always seen myself as a player who focuses on rhythm," Cropper remarked in a past interview. "I enjoy the fact that I can play something over and over, while other guitar players wouldn't consider it. They won't even play the same riff twice."
As well as a guitarist, Cropper was a productive songwriter, and besides 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 "integral to nearly all record put out by Stax from 1961 through the end of 1970".
"We would often spend long days in the studio," Cropper said. "I think we had nearly 20 artists we worked with, so we had a extremely demanding schedule."
