Steve Cropper

Stephen Lee Cropper (October 21, 1941 – December 3, 2025), sometimes known as "The Colonel", was an American guitarist, songwriter and record producer. He was the guitarist of the Stax Records house band, Booker T. & the M.G.'s, which backed artists such as Otis Redding, Wilson Pickett, Sam & Dave, Carla Thomas, Rufus Thomas, Johnnie Taylor and Neil Young. He also acted as the producer of many of these artists' records. He was later a member of the Blues Brothers band. Rolling Stone magazine ranked him 36th on its list of the 100 greatest guitarists. He won two Grammy Awards out of his seven nominations.

Cropper was born in Dora, Missouri, on October 21, 1941. He was raised in Dora and West Plains before moving with his family to Memphis at age 9. There, he was exposed to black gospel music, which had an impact on him musically. He attended Messick High School.

Cropper got his first guitar at age 14, and admired guitarists Tal Farlow, Chuck Berry, Jimmy Reed, Chet Atkins, Lowman Pauling of The "5" Royales, Earl Cate of The Cate Brothers Band and Billy Butler of the Bill Doggett band, among others.

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.

Besides being impressed with the young guitarist's playing, Stax Records president Jim Stewart saw professionalism and maturity beyond Cropper's years. When American Records founder Chips Moman left Stax, Cropper became the company's 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 Lewie Steinberg (who was replaced by Donald "Duck" Dunn soon thereafter) and drummer Al Jackson Jr. As a house guitarist, he played on many recordings such as "(Sittin' On) the Dock of the Bay", co-written with and performed by Otis Redding and Sam & Dave's "Soul Man" on which he was mentioned by name. When Cropper played on the song's remake by the Blues Brothers, lead singer John Belushi again mentioned Cropper. On the early Stax recordings, Cropper is known to have played a 1956 Fender Esquire and later used a blonde Fender Telecaster.

Biography summary from English Wikipedia, photograph via Wikimedia Commons.