Happy Birthday To Legendary Guitarist Steve Cropper

Steve Cropper

If Yankee Stadium is “the house that Babe Ruth built,” Stax Records is “the house that Booker T, and the MG’s built.” Integral to that potent combination is MG rhythm guitarist extraordinaire Steve Cropper. As a guitarist, A & R man, engineer, producer, songwriting partner of Otis Redding, Eddie Floyd and a dozen others and founding member of both Booker T. and the MG’s and The Mar-Keys, Cropper was literally involved in virtually every record issued by Stax from the fall of 1961 through year end 1970.

Such credits assure Cropper of an honored place in the soul music hall of fame. As co-writer of (Sittin’ On) The Dock of the Bay, Knock on Wood and In the Midnight Hour, Cropper is in line for immortality.

Born on October 21, 1941 on a farm near Dora, Missouri, Steve Cropper moved with his family to Memphis at the age of nine.

WILLIE MITCHELL DEAD AT 81

Willie Mitchell
Willie Mitchell
R&B legend Willie Mitchell died today (January 5, 2010) at the age of 81.

Mitchell had a heart attack on December 19 and was hospitalized at Methodist University Hospital in Memphis for over two weeks.

“The great music city of Memphis has lost a legend with the passing of producer/engineer Willie Mitchell. A recipient of The Recording Academy Trustees Award in 2008, Mitchell’s producing and arranging contributed to the success of numerous artists, especially Al Green,” Neil Portnow, President and CEO of The Recording Academy, told RareSoul.com.

Stax Records Files For Bankruptcy

Memphis, Tennessee based record label Stax was forced into bankruptcy today (December 19, 1975). Stax was forced into bankruptcy not because of its roster, or poor sales, but due to…