4. Dezember 2025
ZUM TOD DES US-AMERIKANISCHEN GITARRISTEN, SONGWRITERS UND MUSIKPRODUZENTEN STEVE CROPPER
Der am 21. Oktober 1941 in Dora (Missouri) geborene US-amerikanische Gitarrist, Songwriter, Tonmeister und Musikproduzent Steve «The Colonel» Cropper (Bild) ist am 3. Dezember 2025 in Nashville (Tennessee) gestorben. Er war Gründungsmitglied der Band Booker T. & the M.G.’s und treibende Kraft beim Stax-Label, wo er den charakteristischen Sound des Memphis-Soul mitprägte. Cropper ist auch bekannt als Co-Autor vieler unsterblicher Hits wie «(Sittin’ On) The Dock of the Bay» oder «In the Midnight Hour» und er war Mitglied der Blues Brothers Band. Cropper wurde zweimal mit dem Grammy ausgezeichnet. (*)
Bild: Steve Cropper, 2007 – Foto: Charlie Liewellin, https://www.flickr.com/people/76913520@N00 / https://www.flickr.com/photos/charliellewellin/456656271/ – Lizenz: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/deed.de – Datei: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Steve_cropper_(456656271).jpg?uselang=de
Steve Cropper, Booker T. & the M.G.’s and Stax Records Guitarist, Dead at 84
Rock & Roll Hall of Fame musician played on and co-wrote classics like “Green Onions,” “In the Midnight Hour,” and “(Sittin’ On) The Dock of the Bay”
“Steve Cropper’s offerings to American music are significant but his contribution to soul and R&B music are immeasurable,” Pat Mitchell Worley, president and CEO of the Soulsville Foundation that operates the Stax Museum of American Soul Music in Memphis, added in a statement. “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.”
Daniel Kreps
12 Essential Steve Cropper Songs
Classic hits from the Memphis soul legend
Jonathan Bernstein, David Browne, Kory Grow, Brian Hiatt
Steve Cropper, Iconic Booker T & the M.G.’s Guitarist, Dies at 84
The Rock & Roll Hall of Famer also co-wrote such classics as «Green Onions» & «(Sittin‘ On) The Dock of the Bay.»
As the guitarist for Booker T & the M.G.’s, which served as Stax Records’ house band during the 1960s, Cropper was an 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”).
Melinda Newman
https://www.billboard.com/music/rock/steve-cropper-dead-booker-t-mgs-guitarist-1236127896
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.”
Chris Morris
Steve Cropper, Guitarist, Songwriter and Shaper of Memphis Soul Music, Dies at 84
Steve Cropper, the prodigious guitarist, songwriter and producer who played a pivotal role in shaping the lean gutbucket soul music made at Memphis’s Stax Records in the 1960s and ’70s, died on Wednesday in Nashville.
As a member of Booker T. & the MG’s, the house rhythm section at Stax, Mr. Cropper played the snarling Fender Telecaster lick on “Green Onions,” the funky hit instrumental by the MG’s from 1962. He also contributed the ringing guitar figure that opened Sam & Dave’s gospel-steeped “Soul Man,” the 1966 single on which the singer Sam Moore shouted, “Play it, Steve!” to cue Mr. Cropper’s stinging single-string solo on the chorus. Both records were Top 10 pop hits and reached No. 1 on the R&B chart.
Bill Friskics-Warren
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/12/03/arts/music/steve-cropper-dead.html
‘Play it, Steve!’
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.
Cropper’s very name was immortalized in the 1967 smash “Soul Man,” recorded by Sam & Dave. Midway, singer Sam Moore calls out “Play it, Steve!” as Cropper pulls off a tight, ringing riff, a slide sound that Cropper used a Zippo lighter to create. The exchange was reenacted in the late 1970s when Cropper joined the John Belushi-Dan Aykroyd act “The Blues Brothers” and played on their hit cover of “Soul Man.”
Adrian Sainz
Legendary guitarist
A prolific musician, Cropper was best known as the guitarist in Booker T & the MGs, an interracial soul quartet widely considered the best backing band in soul music, and perhaps still best remembered for their timeless blues track Green Onions. But Cropper’s distinctive guitar work animated many of the tracks out of Stax Records, the influential Memphis soul label that released a string of international hits by such soul luminaries as Otis Redding, Wilson Pickett, Sam & Dave, Rufus and Carla Thomas, and Eddie Floyd.
Adrian Horton
https://www.theguardian.com/music/2025/dec/03/steve-cropper-death
Muere a los 84 años Steve Cropper, guitarrista de Booker T. & the MG’s y de los Blues Brothers
El músico, que fue guitarrista de soul, instrumentista, productor y compositor en el sello Stax Records, fue nombrado segundo mejor guitarra de todos los tiempos
EFE
Steve Cropper, addio alla chitarra del Memphis Sound e dei Blues Brothers
Il musicista, figura chiave del soul e del R&B e membro fondatore dei Booker T. & the M.G.’s, è morto a 84 anni a Nashville. Ha scritto classici come “(Sittin’ on) the dock of the bay” e “Soul man”, diventando la colonna portante della Blues Brothers Band
Décès du guitariste Steve Cropper, artisan du «Memphis Soul» et membre des Blues Brothers
Le guitariste américain Steve Cropper, artisan du «Memphis Soul», le son qui a révolutionné la soul, est mort à l’âge de 84 ans, a annoncé mercredi le magazine Variety en citant son fils Cameron.
Der Klangmeister von Memphis
Er schrieb „Knock On Wood“ und „Dock Of The Bay“, spielte mit Otis Redding und allen anderen Stax-Stars. Nun ist der Gitarrist, Songschreiber und Produzent Steve Cropper im Alter von 84 Jahren gestorben.
Edo Reents
Soul, Man!
Sam & Dave & Wilson & Otis & Aretha & Janis & Booker: Der unermesslich feinfühlige Gitarrist Steve Cropper hat für alle gespielt – und damit ein ganzes Genre auf ewig geprägt.
Jakob Biazza
https://www.sueddeutsche.de/kultur/steve-cropper-tot-nachruf-soul-gitarrist-li.3349034?reduced=true
https://www.derbund.ch/steve-cropper-soul-gitarrist-gestorben-397062384012
Videos:
STEVE CROPPER / GREEN ONIONS, Sevilla expo’92
Otis Redding – (Sittin‘ On) The Dock Of The Bay (Official Music Video)
The Blues Brothers – Shot Gun Blues (Live Version) (Official Audio)
THE BLUES BROTHERS BAND live in Montreux Jazz Festival 1989
The Blues Brothers Band Green Onions Live in Montreux, 2012
Steve Cropper: Talks in Depth about Guitars, Stax, & Booker T. & the M.G.’s.
Mehr:
https://www.allmusic.com/artist/steve-cropper-mn0000751738#biography
https://myspace.com/stevecropper
https://www.discogs.com/de/artist/292375-Steve-Cropper?redirected=true
https://www.songwriter.co.uk/a28.html
https://www.imdb.com/de/name/nm0188936
https://www.grammy.com/artists/steve-cropper/12297
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Cropper
(*) https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Cropper
#SteveCropper #CHcultura @CHculturaCH ∆cultura cultura+
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