Green Onions and Sittin' On the Dock of the Bay are a great legacy by themselves. RIP Steve Cropper.
Posted on 12/03/2025 4:21:29 PM PST by Rummyfan
Guitarist Steve Cropper, who left an indelible impression on Memphis soul music as an instrumentalist, producer and songwriter at Stax Records, has died, his son Cameron confirmed to Variety on Wednesday. He was 84.
Cropper was best known to the public for his distinctive, economical lead/rhythm work in the hit-making interracial instrumental combo Booker T. & the MG’s, but his playing also fired dozens of tracks – some of which he produced or engineered — cut at Stax Records’ studio by such soul greats as Otis Redding, Wilson Pickett, Sam & Dave, Rufus and Carla Thomas and Eddie Floyd.
In 1996, British music monthly Mojo named him the second-greatest guitarist of all time, behind Jimi Hendrix. The publication said, “Cropper puts everything he’s got, which is considerable, at the disposal of the artist and the song: metronome-crisp timing; deadly-accurate chops; earth-moving bottom-line riffs; sharp, nasty little licks and grace notes. His solos never outstay their welcome or leave you wanting less.”
(Excerpt) Read more at variety.com ...
Green Onions and Sittin' On the Dock of the Bay are a great legacy by themselves. RIP Steve Cropper.
Haven’t heard his name in a long time.
RIP
Was he in Blues Brothers?
Legend. Nothing fancy but smooth and tasty.
Loved his work with Murph And The Magic Tones at the Armada Room’s 2-Hour Disco Swing Party.
j/k legendary musician
Here is Steve Cropper with the Blues Brothers at Winterland, New Years Eve 1978.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=F9tg2tlbvnI
Dubbed “Green Onions,” the number became a breakout national hit for Stax, climbing to No. 1 on the R&B charts and No. 3 on the pop side. It served as a template for a succession of similarly styled singles by the unit, dubbed Booker T. & the MG’s (in which Cropper’s high school chum Dunn supplanted Steinberg in 1964).
As with many of these classics, it came together by accident.
Yes.... playing himself.
Sorry he’s gone, but man, what a ride he had! He was part of a band powerful enough to turn goat piss into gasoline!
(per D. Duck Dunn)
I have those Booker T and the MG vinyl albums and they still sound great. Agree that Steve was a great guitarist...and I - as a keyboard guy - loved learning from Booker T. The Hammond/Leslie combination is still a rockin’ sound.
RIP.
Memories.
May he Rest in Peace.
Booker T. & the Memphis Group were the house band of Stax. Cropper was a first class soul brother.
...we will be taking a 10 minute break so in the meantime...don’t go changing...
RIP great one
Great musician. John Lennon and Paul McCartney had even briefly talked about doing a blues album with him.
“The Hammond/Leslie combination is still a rockin’ sound.”
‘Balls to the Wall’.
Played with a steel player way back when who used a Leslie tastefully, incredible.
Steve Cropper played on Roy Buchanan’s “Loading Zone” album. A great version of Green Onions is on that one. Booker T also plays...RIP
Here is a nice interview of Steve by the late Joe Chambers at the Musician’s Hall of Fame (Nashville).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iCmr3nI1amo
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