Steve Cropper, musician of the soul group Booker T & the MGs, has died aged 84
The legendary guitarist Steve Cropper, the acclaimed guitarist with the iconic band Booker T & the MGs, has died at the age of 84.
The artist, who played on and helped pen the classic song Sittin' On the Dock of the Bay and Wilson Pickett's In the Midnight Hour, died on Wednesday in Nashville.
Widely regarded among the finest supporting groups in soul and R&B, the four-piece band Booker T. Jones and the MGs was the house band of the influential Memphis label Stax/Volt and is best remembered for their 1962 track Green Onions.
Cropper later became a member of the comedy music group The Blues Brothers in the 1970s and played on their hit cover of Soul Man.
"Steve was a cherished artist, writer, and producer whose profound talent impacted millions of lives around the world," his family expressed in a statement.
"While we feel sorrow for the loss of a family man and friend, we are consoled knowing that Steve will be remembered through his music," they added.
A cause of death was not disclosed.
An associate, Eddie Gore, recalled he was with Cropper just the day before in Nashville, where the guitarist was in the process of creating fresh material.
"He's such a kind human," Gore said. "We were fortunate to have him, for sure."
An Illustrious Journey
Voted the number two 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 formed, 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 considered myself to be a rhythm guitarist," Cropper said in a past interview. "I get off on the fact that I can play something repeatedly, while other guitar players wouldn't consider it. They are reluctant to repeat the same riff twice."
As well as a guitarist, Cropper was a productive 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 historical accounts, he was "integral to nearly all record released by Stax from the fall of 1961 through the end of 1970".
"We would often spend 15 hours a day in the studio," Cropper once recalled. "I think we had 17 or 18 artists we worked with, so we had a pretty busy schedule."
