Steve Cropper 1941-2025
You don’t expect the people you interview to write thank-you letters, but it’s quite nice when they do. Particularly when it comes from someone like Steve Cropper, as happened to me in 1971 after I’d interviewed him for the Melody Maker at his new studio in Memphis on a break from a session he was producing for his old friend Eddie Floyd. I kept the letter, of course, as you would.
Cropper died this week, aged 84. Here’s the obituary I wrote yesterday for the Guardian. I hope I did him some kind of justice. He was a hero of mine, as were the other members of the MGs, ever since I first heard “Green Onions” in 1962. I have all their albums, all the way up to 1994’s That’s the Way It Should Be, and they’re among the last things I’d part with. My favourite is probably Soul Dressing, from 1965, even thought it was the one whose mediocre sales persuaded them that instrumental albums needed covers of familiar tunes in order to attract buyers.
Hence, on subsequent albums, things like their fine versions of the Temptations’ “Get Ready”, Gershwin’s “Summertime”, Cliff Nobles’ “The Horse”, the Delfonics’ “La-La Means I Love You” and Aretha’s “(Sweet Sweet Baby) Since You’ve Been Gone”. I listen to those alongside the MGs’ originals I love: “Big Train”, “Soul Sanction”, “Double or Nothing”, “Kinda Easy Like”, “Last Tango in Memphis”, “Cruisin'”, “Sarasota Sunset” and the rest. It was nice of Steve to take the trouble to express his thanks all those years ago. So now I’ll say thank you back to him, for all of it.
thebluemoment.com 
Wonderful. And how nice of Steve C to acknowledge your interview with him. Enjoyed your Guardian obit. I’m a ‘Time Is Tight’ man myself, never get tired of hearing it.
Thanks for both The Guardian obituary and this post, a fitting tribute to somebody whose contribution to the development and success of Stax is incalculable.
I saw him originally on the Stax Tour 1967 in Bristol at the Colston Hall, again at the Barbican many years later with Booker T and Duck Dunn (but without Al Jackson) and incredibly, with a latter day incarnation of The Animals at the small Tivoli Theatre in Wimborne, Dorset.
I can honestly admit to goosebumps on each occasion, the man was present on so many records that are amongst my favourites of all time.
An excellent CV as a record producer too, a varied one too, even did an album with Poco in 1971.
If anyone hasn’t seen the ‘Stax: Soulsville USA’ 4 part documentary, it’s currently available on Sky Documentaries.
Fond memories. I’m sure he’s also smiling down on your excellent obituary. Thanks for that, and this.
Great guitarist, great guy. First introduction Green Onions/Behave Yourself, which also began a love affair with the Hammond B3. Thanks for the splendid obituary Richard. Any chance your, no doubt extensive, collection of music memorabilia would ever go on display?
A superb tribute to Steve Cropper and how nice to have treasured the letter from Steve for all these years. The Guardian piece inspired me to bring out and play 2 x well preserved compilation LPs ‘Hit The Road Stax!’ with sleeve notes by Bill Harry and ‘Solid Gold Stax’ annoted by BobAltshuler. I remember the impact Mr. Cropper’s house band had when first played (in stereo) back in 1967….
I’m with you on ‘Soul Dressing’, Richard – my favourite of all the MGs’ albums (I even named my band after one of its tracks!) My well-worn London-American LP was bought in early 1965 – a demo copy stamped ‘Guaranteed Second Hand’ in those far-off days of RPM – from a regular haunt, Lee’s Record Stall in Cambridge Circus. I played it again yesterday, loud, all the way through, in honour of Steve Cropper, and boy did it still sound good.
Your post evoked memories of the ‘Hit The Road Stax’ show at the Fairfield Halls, Croydon in March 1967, with SC clearly in control of proceedings, sounding just like on the records and looking impossibly cool in his shiny blue suit (purchased for the occasion from Lansky’s on Beale St, as I’ve subsequently learnt from Rob Bowman’s book). And more especially, of a surreal and unforgettable few hours at Stax at 926 E McLemore in Memphis just months later in early Sept, where I visited on a whim at the end of a gap-year musical pilgrimage across the US by Greyhound Bus and ended up being warmly invited into the studio by Steve and treated as an honoured guest, just for being British!
May I also recommend Garth Cartwright’s complementary Guardian piece to your fine obit?
PS Tangential trivia note to Alan Davies: Booker T actually never played a Hammond B3 on record until ‘Hip Hug Her’ in ’65 – on all tracks before that it was an M3, without Leslie.