Prolific musician was known for work on songs like Green Onions and Otis Redding’s (Sittin’ on) the Dock of the Bay
Steve Cropper, the legendary guitarist whose work as an instrumentalist, producer and songwriter at Stax Records left an indelible impression on Memphis soul music, has died at the age of 84.
Hs son Cameron confirmed his death to Variety.
A prolific musician, Cropper was best known as the guitarist in Booker T & the MGs, an interracial soul quartet widely considered the best backing band in soul music, and perhaps still best remembered for their timeless blues track Green Onions. But Cropper’s distinctive guitar work animated many of the tracks out of Stax Records, the influential Memphis soul label that released a string of international hits by such soul luminaries as Otis Redding, Wilson Pickett, Sam & Dave, Rufus and Carla Thomas, and Eddie Floyd.
Cropper played, and sometimes produced and engineered, on the MG tracks Soul-Limbo and Time is Tight, and such huge R&B hits as Redding’s (Sittin’ on) The Dock of the Bay and Mr Pitiful; on Pickett’s In the Midnight Hour and 634-5789; on Floyd’s Knock On Wood and Raise Your Hand; and Don Covay’s See Saw and Sookie Sookie.
