Skillful, lean guitarist backed up the greats

Stax Records mainstay co-wrote '(Sittin' on) the Dock of the Bay' and more soul classics.

- BY ADRIAN SAINZ

Steve Cropper was acclaimed for his ability to fill gaps with spare, catchy licks. He made his mark on Memphis with Booker T. & the M.G.'s, a celebrated — and racially integrated — backing band.

(MARK HUMPHREY Associated Press)

Steve Cropper, the lean, soulful guitarist and songwriter who helped anchor the celebrated Memphis backing band Booker T. & the M.G.’s at Stax Records and co-wrote the classics “Green Onions,” “(Sittin’ on) the Dock ofthe Bay” and “In the Midnight Hour,” has died. He was 84.

Pat Mitchell Worley, president and chief executive of the Soulsville Foundation, said Cropper’s family told her that he died Wednesday in Nashville. The foundation operates the Stax Museum of American Soul Music in Memphis, at the site of the former Stax Records, where Cropper worked for years.

A cause of death was not immediately known. Longtime associate Eddie Gore said he was with Cropper on Tuesday at a rehabilitation facility in Nashville, where Cropper had been after a recent fall. Cropper had been working on new music when Gore visited, he said.

“He’s such a good human,” Gore said. “We were blessed to have him, for sure.”

The guitarist, songwriter and record producer was not known for flashy playing, but his spare, catchy licks and solid rhythm chops helped define Memphis soul music. At a time when it was common for white musicians to co-opt the work of Black artists and make more money from their songs, Cropper was that rare white artist willing to keep a lower profile and collaborate.

AS SAM MOORE SAID, 'PLAY IT, STEVE!'