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 helped pen the classic song Sittin' On the Dock of the Bay and Wilson Pickett's In the Midnight Hour, passed away this past Wednesday in Nashville.
Widely regarded among the best backing bands in soul music, the quartet the MGs was the house band of the influential Memphis label Stax and is primarily known for their 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 cherished guitarist, composer, and producer whose profound talent inspired generations around the world," his family stated in a release.
"While we mourn the loss of a husband, father, and friend, we take solace knowing that Steve will endure through his music," they added.
A reason for his passing was not disclosed.
A colleague, Eddie Gore, stated he was with Cropper on Tuesday in Nashville, where the guitarist was developing new music.
"He's such a good human," Gore commented. "We were lucky to have him, for sure."
An Illustrious Journey
Voted the runner-up for guitarist of all time by a British music magazine in 1996, Cropper first found employment at Stax in 1961 at the age of 20.
A year later, the MGs were formed, comprising keyboardist Booker T Jones, drummer Al Jackson and bassist Lewie Steinberg - who was succeeded by Donald "Duck" Dunn in 1964.
The band was entered into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1992.
"I've always thought of myself as a rhythm player," Cropper remarked in a previous conversation. "I take pride in the fact that I can play something repeatedly, while other guitar players don't want to even know about that. They are reluctant to repeat the same lick twice."
Not only was he a guitarist, Cropper was a vastly creative 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 "integral to nearly all record released by Stax from late 1961 through the end of 1970".
"We would truly spend marathon sessions in the studio," Cropper said. "I think we had nearly 20 artists signed to the label, so we had a pretty busy schedule."
