Steve Cropper, member of Booker T and the MGs, dies aged 84

Steve Cropper, the acclaimed guitarist with the seminal soul group Booker T & the MGs, has left us 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 the hit track In the Midnight Hour, passed away this past Wednesday in Music City, Nashville.

Considered among the greatest studio bands in soul music, the group Booker T & the MGs was the resident studio band of the historic Memphis label Stax/Volt and is best remembered for their 1962 track Green Onions.

Cropper also joined the comedy music group The Blues Brothers in the late 1970s and played on their hit cover of Soul Man.

"Steve was a cherished guitarist, composer, and producer whose extraordinary talent touched generations around the world," his family said in a message.

"While we grieve the loss of a loved one and companion, we take solace knowing that Steve will live forever through his music," they noted.

A specific cause was not disclosed.

A colleague, Eddie Gore, mentioned he was with Cropper just the day before in Nashville, where the guitarist had been working on fresh material.

"He's such a kind 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 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 founded, 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 considered myself to be a player who focuses on rhythm," Cropper remarked in a past interview. "I enjoy the fact that I can play something over and over, while other guitar players avoid that approach. They refuse to play the same riff twice."

In addition to being a guitarist, Cropper was a vastly creative songwriter, and besides 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 virtually every record released by Stax from the fall of 1961 through 1970".

"We would literally spend long days in the studio," Cropper once recalled. "I think we had a roster of artists we worked with, so we had a pretty busy schedule."