Esteemed musician Steve Cropper, the renowned guitarist with Booker T and the MGs, has left us at the age of 84.
The musician, who contributed to and helped pen the classic song Sittin' On the Dock of the Bay and the hit track In the Midnight Hour, succumbed on Wednesday in Nashville.
Widely regarded among the best supporting groups in soul and R&B, the quartet Booker T. Jones and the MGs was the core musical unit of the influential Memphis label Stax Records and is primarily known for their 1962 track Green Onions.
Cropper also joined the comedy music group The Blues Brothers in the late 1970s and featured on their hit cover of Soul Man.
"Steve was a deeply admired guitarist, composer, and producer whose extraordinary talent impacted millions of lives around the world," his family expressed in a release.
"While we mourn the loss of a loved one and companion, we find comfort knowing that Steve will be remembered through his music," they added.
A cause of death was not released at this time.
An associate, Eddie Gore, stated he was with Cropper recently in Nashville, where the guitarist was in the process of creating new music.
"He's such a kind human," Gore remarked. "We were fortunate to have him, for sure."
A Prolific Career
Voted the second-best guitarist of all time by a music periodical in 1996, Cropper started his career at the Stax label in 1961 at the age of 20.
A year later, the MGs were formed, featuring organist 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 thought of myself as a rhythm player," Cropper said in a past interview. "I enjoy the fact that I can play something repeatedly, while other guitar players avoid that approach. They won't even play the same lick twice."
As well as a guitarist, Cropper was a productive songwriter, and alongside Dock of the Bay and In the Midnight Hour, he collaborated on Eddie Floyd's hit Knock on Wood.
According to available information, he was "involved in nearly all record released by Stax from late 1961 through the end of 1970".
"We would often spend marathon sessions in the studio," Cropper noted in an interview. "I think we had nearly 20 artists we worked with, so we had a extremely demanding schedule."
