The iconic guitarist Steve Cropper, guitarist of Booker T and the MGs, has died aged 84
The legendary guitarist Steve Cropper, the acclaimed guitarist with the iconic band Booker T & the MGs, has passed away at the age of 84.
The musician, who played on and co-wrote the classic song Sittin' On the Dock of the Bay and Wilson Pickett's In the Midnight Hour, passed away recently in the city of Nashville.
Widely regarded among the finest studio bands in soul and R&B, the four-piece band Booker T. Jones and the MGs was the house band of the historic Memphis label Stax and is best remembered for their classic 1962 track Green Onions.
Cropper also joined the John Belushi-Dan Aykroyd act The Blues Brothers in the late 1970s and performed on their hit cover of Soul Man.
"Steve was a deeply admired guitarist, composer, and producer whose immense talent impacted countless people around the world," his family stated in a statement.
"While we mourn the loss of a family man and friend, we find comfort knowing that Steve will live forever through his music," they noted.
A cause of death was not immediately known.
A colleague, Eddie Gore, recalled he was with Cropper on Tuesday in Nashville, where the guitarist had been working on new music.
"He's such a wonderful human," Gore commented. "We were lucky to have him, for sure."
A Storied Musical Path
Ranked the second-best guitarist of all time by a UK publication in 1996, Cropper first found employment at Stax in 1961 at the age of 20.
A year later, the MGs were founded, consisting of 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 seen myself as a rhythm guitarist," Cropper remarked in a previous conversation. "I enjoy the fact that I can play something over and over, while other guitar players don't want to even know about that. They refuse to play the same phrase twice."
In addition to being a guitarist, Cropper was a prolific songwriter, and besides 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 "involved in virtually every record put out by Stax from late 1961 through the end of 1970".
"We would literally spend 15 hours a day in the studio," Cropper said. "I think we had a roster of artists on the roster, so we had a very hectic schedule."
