Born 85 Years Ago Today in the Show-Me State, the Grammy-Winning Guitarist Known as “The Colonel” Who Backed Otis Redding and Neil Young

Steve Cropper, the Grammy-winning guitarist and songwriter born in Missouri, is being remembered on what would have been his 85th birthday. A key figure behind the sound of Stax Records, he played on landmark soul hits and co-wrote Otis Redding’s “(Sittin’ On) The Dock of the Bay”.

Cropper joined Booker T. & the MG’s after a recording session produced “Green Onions”, which reached number one on the R&B chart and number three on the pop chart in 1962. He served as Stax’s A&R head until 1970, later worked with artists including John Lennon and Leon Russell, and spent decades performing with the Blues Brothers. He won two Grammy Awards and entered the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame with Booker T. & the MG’s in 1992; he died in December 2025, aged 84.