steve Cropper, influential guitarist, songwriter, and producer pivotal to the Stax Records sound, has died at age 81. Cropper, best known for co-writing Otis Redding‘s signature song “(Sittin’ On) the Dock of the Bay,” passed away Saturday, May 11, 2024, according to the Associated Press.
Cropper’s career began with The Mar-Keys, a house band at Stax Records in Memphis, Tennessee. The band later evolved, with cropper and other members forming Booker T.& the M.G.’s, renowned for instrumental hits like “Green Onions,” “Hang ‘Em High,” and “time Is Tight.” The racially integrated group-Cropper and Donald “Duck” Dunn were white, while Booker T.Jones and Al Jackson were Black-also served as a sought-after backing band for artists including Otis Redding and Sam & Dave.
“When you walked in the door at Stax, there was absolutely no color,” Cropper told the AP. “We were all there for the same reason – to get a hit record.”
Cropper’s songwriting contributions extended beyond Redding’s catalog. he recalled discovering gospel recordings by Wilson Pickett and, inspired by the line “I’ll see my Jesus in the midnight hour,” helped craft a secular standard. “The man up there has been forgiving me for this ever since!” he quipped.
He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1992 as a member of Booker T. & the M.G.’s and into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2005. He received a Grammy Award for lifetime achievement in 2007. Rolling stone magazine ranked him 39th on its list of the 100 Greatest Guitarists.
Cropper also appeared in the films The Blues Brothers and Blues Brothers 2000, portraying “The Colonel.” He continued to record and perform, releasing the album Friendlytown in 2024, which received a Grammy nomination. Earlier in 2024, he was honored with the Tennessee Governor’s Arts Award.
Al Jackson died in 1975 and Donald Dunn in 2012. Booker T. Jones is the only surviving member of Booker T. & the M.G.’s.
