Steve Cropper

Steven Lee Steve Cropper (born October 21, 1941,

Dora, Missouri, United States)[1] is an American guitarist, songwriter, and record producer. He is best known
as the guitarist of the Stax Records house band, Booker
T. & the M.G.'s, and has backed artists such as Otis Redding, Sam & Dave, Carla Thomas, Rufus Thomas and
Johnnie Taylor, also acting as producer on many of these
records. He later gained fame as a member of the Blues
Brothers band.[2] Rolling Stone lists him 39th on their list
of the 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time.[3] Mojo ranks
Cropper as the second-best guitarist ever. His nickname
is The Colonel.

Early life

When he was nine years old, Cropper moved with his

family to Memphis, Tennessee.[1] At the age of ten, he
strummed his brother-in-laws Gibson guitar for the rst
time. Cropper received his rst guitar by mail order at
14 and started playing with local musicians. His guitar
heroes at the time included Lowman Pauling of the 5
Royales, as well as Chet Atkins, Chuck Berry, Tal Farlow, Jimmy Reed, and the guitarist of the Bill Doggett
band, Billy Butler.[1]
Steve Cropper in concert (1990)

Career
Brothers, lead singer John Belushi again mentioned Cropper.

Cropper and guitarist Charlie Freeman formed the Royal

Spades, who eventually became the Mar-Keys. The name
referred to the marquee outside Stax studios, known as
Satellite Records at the time. Eventually the Mar-Keys
began playing on sessions and had a hit single of their
own with "Last Night" in 1961.

At this time Croppers fame was not limited to the

United States. The Beatles favoured Croppers playing, and his production on Otis Redding records. John
Lennon and Paul McCartney made tentative plans to
record in Memphis, and to work with the guitarist. However Brian Epstein cancelled the sessions, citing security
problems.[4] Regarding this period, Rob Bowman, in his
book Soulsville U.S.A.: The Story of Stax Records, quoted
Booker T. Jones as saying:

Besides being impressed with the young guitarists playing, Stax Records president Jim Stewart saw professionalism and maturity beyond Croppers years. When
American Records founder Chips Moman left Stax,
Cropper became the companys A&R man. He became
a founding member of the Stax house band Booker T. &
the M.G.'s, along with Hammond organ player Booker
T. Jones, bassist Donald Duck Dunn and drummer Al
Jackson Jr.. As a house guitarist he played on many
recordings such as "(Sittin' on) the Dock of the Bay, cowritten with and performed by Otis Redding, and Sam &
Daves "Soul Man" on which he was mentioned by name.
When Cropper played on the songs remake by the Blues

Along with inuential work with Booker T & The MGs,

Cropper co-wrote "Knock on Wood" with Eddie Floyd,
"In the Midnight Hour" with Wilson Pickett and "(Sittin'
On) The Dock of the Bay with Otis Redding. In 1969,
Cropper released his rst solo album, With a Little Help
From My Friends.
When Cropper left Stax in the fall of 1970,[5] the label
lost one of its most successful producers and songwriters.
1

CAREER

In 1992, Booker T. & the M.G.'s were inducted into

the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and Cropper appeared
with a new line-up of the group for the Bob Dylan
30th Anniversary concert, on October 1992 at Madison
Square Garden, performing songs by and backing Dylan, Eric Clapton, George Harrison, Tom Petty, Johnny
Cash, Chrissie Hynde, Sinad O'Connor, Stevie Wonder and Neil Young. The concert was recorded and
later released as The 30th Anniversary Concert Celebration (1993). Young later recruited this line up of Booker
T. and the M.Gs, to tour with him and record as his studio
band.
In 1996, Cropper was named the greatest living guitar
player by Britains Mojo magazine. When asked what
he thought of Cropper, the guitarist Keith Richards said,
Perfect, man. In February 1998, Cropper released Play
It, Steve! which included some of soul music's most enduring songs. The album title came from the shout of
the title phrase by Moore on Sam & Daves Soul Man,
and later by John Belushi (with the Blues Brothers).
In June 2004, Cropper appeared with Dunn and Jones
as the backing band for Eric Claptons Crossroads Guitar
Festival, held at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas. Others who
appeared included Joe Walsh and David Hidalgo.[6] On
June 9, 2005, Cropper was inducted into the Songwriters
Hall of Fame.
Steve Cropper at the Hamar Music Festival, 2007

Cropper then set up TMI Studios with Jerry Williams and

former Mar-Key Ronnie Stoots. There he played guitar and produced various musicians including Tower of
Power, Rod Stewart, John Prine, Jos Feliciano, The Je
Beck Group, Ringo Starr and John Lennon. Its littleknown that Cropper also played guitar on the cover of
The Velvet Underground's "Femme Fatale" that appears
on fellow Memphians Big Star's Third/Sister Lovers.
By 1975, Cropper had moved to Los Angeles and along
with Jackson and Dunn, reformed Booker T. & the
M.Gs. Jackson, whom Cropper called the greatest
drummer to ever walk the earth, was murdered in his
Memphis home before the group could make their comeback. In 1978, Cropper and Dunn became members of
Levon Helm's RCO All-Stars, and then went on to gure
prominently in the Blues Brothers Band with the drummer Willie Hall. This led to two albums and two movie
soundtracks. Cropper also re-recorded "(Sittin' On) The
Dock of the Bay (1979) for Sammy Hagar. Cropper
lived in Los Angeles for the next thirteen years before
moving to Nashville and reuniting with the Blues Brothers Band in 1988.

He co-produced The Memphis Album (2007), recorded

by Australian soul singer Guy Sebastian. Cropper also
played guitar on the following promotional tour, which
was recorded and released two years later as The Memphis Tour. On March 2, 2008 Cropper and Sebastian
were guests on the Vega Sunday Session with host Mark
Gable from the rock band the Choirboys.[7] On July 29,
2008, Cropper and Felix Cavaliere released the album
Nudge It Up A Notch. In August 2008, Cropper appeared
at the Rhythm Festival alongside the Animals.[8]

Cropper has a cameo in the Weird Al Yankovic

mockumentary The Compleat Al (1985), where he plays a
bit of Soul Man in an unsuccessful attempt to join Als
band.

On November 12, 2009, EMP/SFM presented Cropper with their Founders Award. On October 17, 2010,
Cropper was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall
of Fame.[9]

Cropper toured Australia with Guy Sebastian, playing on Sebastians The Memphis Album tour in March 2008

3
On August 9, 2011, Cropper released the album Dedicated which was his tribute to the 5 Royales. In 2013
he was a special guest at selected concerts as part of Peter
Frampton's Guitar Circus Tour, including the rst performance which featured Frampton, Robert Cray and Vince
Gill.[10]
In April 2013, Cropper appeared with Jones and Matt
Guitar Murphy as Booker T and the M.G.'s at Eric Claptons 4th Crossroads Guitar Festival at Madison Square
Garden in New York City.

Personal life

[4] The Beatles Tennessee Connections. Tennessee Concerts. Retrieved 2010-02-14.

[5] Steve Cropper, Blues Brothers..... Play it Steve. Retrieved 2010-02-14.
[6] Eric Clapton Crossroads Guitar Festival DVD Video R2
970378, 2004
[7] Patterson, Bryan (February 24, 2008). Happy Guy Sebastian bares his soul. Sunday Herald Sun. News. Retrieved 2012-07-15.
[8] Rhythm Festival 2008. Rhythm Festival. Retrieved
2010-02-14.
[9] Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame 2010 Inductees.
Nashville Song Writers Foundation. Retrieved 2011-1102.

Cropper married his second wife, Angel, in the late

1980s. They have two children named Andrea and
Cameron. The Croppers currently live in Tennessee. [11] [10] Peter Frampton | News. Frampton.com. October 29,
2013. Retrieved 2014-02-16.

Discography
1971: With a Little Help from My Friends
1981: Playin' My Thang
1982: Night After Night
1991: Jammed Together (with Albert King and Pops
Staples)
2007: This Is ... Steve Cropper & His Friends
2008: Nudge It Up A Notch
2010: Midnight Flyer
2011: Dedicated A Salute to the 5 Royales

Filmography
1980: The Blues Brothers as himself
1988: Satisfaction as Sal
1999: Blues Brothers 2000 as himself
2008: Be Kind Rewind as himself

References

[1] Ocial website Biography. Playitsteve.com. Retrieved 2011-11-02.

[2] Koda, Cub (October 21, 1941). Allmusic biography.
Allmusic.com. Retrieved 2011-11-02.
[3] ""Steve Cropper, 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time
Rolling Stone. Rollingstone.com. Retrieved 2011-1102.

[11]

7 External links
Ocial website
The ocial Steve Cropper MySpace page

8 TEXT AND IMAGE SOURCES, CONTRIBUTORS, AND LICENSES

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