Legendary guitarist Steve Cropper, who played on seminal recordings by such artists as Otis Redding, Booker T & the M.G.’s, Wilson Pickett and many more, died Wednesday (Dec. 3) in Nashville. He was 84.
Cropper’s son confirmed his father’s death on Facebook. “It’s with the heaviest of hearts that I share the news that my amazing Dad passed away this morning,” Stephen Cropper posted. “He certainly lived an incredible life and enjoyed every minute of entertaining you all. Please lift prayers of comfort for my family.”
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As the guitarist for Booker T & the M.G.’s, which served as Stax Records’ house band during the 1960s, Cropper was architect of the sound, with his ringing, often spare guitar work and deft touch heard on R&B and pop classics including Redding’s “(Sittin’ On) The Dock of the Bay,” Eddie Floyd’s “Knock on Wood,” Pickett’s “In the Midnight Hour” and Sam & Dave’s “Soul Man” (Sam Moore immortalized Cropper with his “Play It, Steve,” ad lib on “Soul Man”).
“Steve Cropper was a towering figure in the history of rock and R&B,” says Steve Greenberg, reissue producer of 1991’s Grammy-winning The Complete Stax-Volt Singles box set, who frequently worked with Cropper. “As one of the all-time great electric guitarists, his unique playing style brought deep character to hits ranging from ‘Green Onions’ to Dock of the Bay to Rod Stewart’s ‘Tonight’s the Night.’ Add to that his songwriting and production on classics like ‘In the Midnight Hour,’ ‘Knock on Wood’ and, of course, ‘Dock of the Bay,’ and Steve Cropper goes down as one of the key creators of popular music in the 1960s.”
Greenberg also notes the role of Cropper and the band in a racially divisive time. “Steve, along with Duck Dunn, Al Jackson and Booker T. Jones, recording as Booker T. and the M.G.’s, were the rare mutiracial group that dared defy the South’s awful color line in the early ’60s. Working together at Stax Studios in segregated Memphis during the most tumultuous years of the civil right movement, they, in a spirit of equality and fraternity, created an indelible body of American music.”
Cropper, who was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1992 as a member of Booker T & the M.G.’s, and the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2005, was also a noted producer, telling The New York Times in 2018 that he finished producing “(Sittin’ On) The Dock of the Bay” under great duress following Redding’s death in a plane crash in 1967. “If I had a week to work on it, it probably would have been overembellished,” he said. Instead, he finished it in less than 24 hours.
The song earned Cropper one his two Grammys, winning for best rhythm & blues song at the 1969 ceremony. Cropper was nominated for nine Grammys, including most recently in 2024 for best contemporary blues album for his set, Friendlytown. In addition to “Dock of the Bay,” he won at the 1995 ceremony for best pop instrumental performance for the Booker T. & the M.G.’s track “Cruisin’.”
Cropper experienced a renaissance in 1979 when The Blues Brothers emerged. He got a phone call from John Belushi, who was half of the fictional blues duo Jake and Elwood Blues, with his “brother,” Dan Aykroyd, and recorded with the pair and made a suggestion that was golden. “What they wanted to do probably would have made it anyway, I don’t know, was basically all slow, kind of medium-tempo blues songs. Nothing wrong with blues songs, but there was nothing in there commercial to dance to,” Cropper recalled in an interview for the Musicians Hall of Fame & Museum in 2019.
“So, at the end of the rehearsal one day I said, ‘John, why don’t you do something you can dance to?’ He said, ‘Like what?’ I said, ‘Like Sam & Dave,’” he continued. I looked at [keyboardist] Paul Shaffer and said, ‘Remember “Soul Man”?’ and they started going crazy and dancing. So, when they get through with it… John turns around to me and says ‘Steve, I love that song, but it’s too high for me,’ and I just dropped it down.” The remake reached No. 14 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1979 and introduced the classic to a new generation.
“Every note he played, every song he wrote, and every artist he inspired ensures that his spirit and artistry will continue to move people for generations to come. and countless musicians and fans whose lives he transformed through his extraordinary gift,” his family said in their statement.
“Steve Cropper’s offerings to American music are significant but his contribution to soul and R&B music are immeasurable, Pat Mitchell Worley CEO, Soulsville Foundation — which includes the Stax Museum, Stax Music Academy, and Stax Charter School — said in a statement. “As a founding member of Booker T. & the M.G.’s and a cornerstone of the Stax Records sound, his songwriting and guitar work shaped the very language of soul music. A gifted songwriter, producer, and musician, Cropper helped create timeless hits that continue to influence artists and people worldwide. His signature style helped define an era and cemented his legacy as one of the most important guitarists in modern music history.”
Survivors include wife Angel Cropper and children Andrea, Cameron, Stephen and Ashley.
