Man, we keep losing legend. Steve Cropper, the “Colonel,” has gone home at 84, but if you’ve ever loved a simple, perfectly placed lick that cuts right to the heart, you know his sound is going to live forever.
For me, like a lot of guys, I first got hooked on Cropper watching The Blues Brothers movie. Hearing that tight, punchy groove on their cover of “Soul Man”—the feel of that rhythm guitar was just electrifying. It sent me right back to the source, which was his work as the core guitarist for Booker T. & the M.G.’s.
Cropper wasn’t flashy, he was tasteful. As the core guitarist for Booker T. & the M.G.’s, he helped craft the tight, soulful sound of Stax Records in Memphis. Think about his work: the instantly recognizable Telecaster chime on “Green Onions,” the perfect, understated harmony that carries Otis Redding’s “(Sittin’ On) The Dock of the Bay,” or the razor-sharp riff that kicks off Wilson Pickett’s “In the Midnight Hour.” That’s all Cropper—the ultimate rhythm player and the master of the concise fill.
He proved that the magic is in the feel and the groove, not the shredding. His style is a clinic in restraint, and a necessary lesson for any guitar player. Grab your Tele (or whatever you’re running), put on “Time Is Tight,” and feel the groove he laid down for us all. It doesn’t get any better than that.
