On this day (October 21) in 1941, Stephen Lee Cropper was born on a farm in Dora, Missouri. While never a household name, Steve Cropper was a major driving force behind the scenes of soul music. He left his mark both as a guitarist — backing the likes of Sam & Dave, Otis Redding, and others — and as a songwriter. Cropper co-wrote seminal works like Redding’s posthumous 1968 chart-topper “(Sittin’ On) The Dock of the Bay”.
As head of artists & repertoire (A&R) at Southern soul powerhouse Stax Records in Memphis, he had a hand “in virtually every record issued by Stax from the fall of 1961 through year end 1970,” according to his website.
A longtime member of Booker T. & the MG’s, the house rhythm section at Stax, he played on number-one R&B hits like MG’s “Green Onions” and Sam & Dave’s “Soul Man”.
On December 3, 2025, Steve Cropper died at a Nashville rehabilitation facility at age 84. Today, we’re highlighting his invaluable musical contributions in honor of what would have been his 85th birthday.
Steve Cropper’s Musical Influences Were Many
The only child of a railway special agent and a schoolteacher, Steve Cropper lived his early years at the intersection of country and blues music.
Exposed to country at a young age, he developed an appreciation for gospel and R&B after moving to Memphis with his family at age nine. Cropper counted country music’s “Mister Guitar”, Chet Atkins, and jazz guitarist Tal Farrow among his early musical influences.
Buying his first guitar by mail order at age 14, Cropper formed a band called the Royal Spades with several high school classmates, including MG’s bassist Donald “Duck” Dunn. After renaming themselves the Mar-Keys, the group scored a Top 10 pop hit with the instrumental “Last Night.” By this point, Cropper was already an occasional studio fixture at Sun Records and Hi Records.
The Stax Records Years
In 1962, Stax Records President Jimmy Stewart overheard Steve Cropper jamming with keyboardist Booker T. Jones, bassist Lewie Steinberg, and drummer Al Jackson Jr. during downtime at the Memphis studio.
Highly impressed, Stewart captured the session on tape. That tape later became “Green Onions”, the chart-topping 1962 R&B hit that also reached number three on the pop chart.
After Chips Moman left Stax to found American Sound Studio, Cropper took over as the Memphis label’s A&R man.
“Steve was my right-hand man,” Stewart said in 1986. “He would come to the studio and sit there and keep the doors open and take care of business; he was disciplined and responsible. Steve was the key.”
Before departing Stax in fall 1970, Cropper played on numerous recordings including “(Sittin’ On) The Dock of the Bay”, which he co-wrote with Otis Redding.
“I knew this was it,” Cropper said shortly before his death in 2025. “It was just a great song. We knew we finally had the song that would cross him over to the pop market.”
After Stax Records
After releasing two solo albums, Steve Cropper left Stax Records in 1970.
Opening TMI Studios in Memphis, he moved to Los Angeles in 1975. There, he did session work for John Lennon and Leon Russell before joining Levon Helm & the RCO All-Stars.
This led to a stint with The Blues Brothers, a side project co-founded by Saturday Night Live legends Dan Akroyd and John Belushi. That stint spanned four decades, multiple tours, and an appearance in the 1998 sequel Blues Brothers 2000.
[RELATED: 3 Songs Written by Steve Cropper That Should Be Universally Known]
Steve Cropper won two Grammy Awards, including 1968’s Best R&B Song for “Sittin’ on the Dock” and 1994’s Best Pop Instrumental Performance for Booker T & the MGs’ “Cruisin”.
In 1992, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of Booker T & the MGs.
Featured image by Ed Perlstein/Redferns/Getty Images
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