This week's bonus album was unplanned. But I would feel remiss if I didn't do it. One of the... hallmarks, for lack of a better word, of these weekly "sermons" is what I call the memorial rant. And we lost one of the greats this past week and I feel compelled to mention it here.
Steve Cropper died earlier this week at the age of 84. A cornerstone of Memphis soul music in the 1960s, he was ranked #39 by Rolling Stone on their list of the 100 greatest guitarists in 2015. (Mojo, a British publication, ranked him at #2 on their list of guitar greats, just behind Jimi Hendrix, in 1996.)
As a member of the Royal Spades, Cropper joined Stax Records in Memphis when they were still known as Satellite Records. The Royal Spades later became known as The Mar-Keys, playing in session recordings for the studio, even having a hit single of their own in 1961 with "Last Night." The following year, Cropper became part of the new "house band" at Stax, Booker T. & The MGs. Alongside Hammond organist Booker T. Jones, drummer Al Jackson Jr., and bassist Lewie Steinberg (later replaced by Donald "Duck" Dunn), they backed many of the artists who recorded for Stax including Otis Redding, Sam & Dave, Eddie Floyd, Wilson Pickett, and Carla Thomas. Cropper even co-wrote quite a few of those hit songs including Pickett's "In the Midnight Hour," Floyd's "Knock On Wood," and Redding's posthumous hit "(Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay." Booker T. & The MGs even managed to score a few instrumental hits of their own including "Time Is Tight," "Soul Limbo," "Hip Hug-Her," and of course "Green Onions," which seems to be featured in the soundtrack to any movie set in 1962.
In the late 1970s, John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd, then part of the Not-Ready-For-Prime-Time Players at "Saturday Night Live," formed a musical group. Cropper, along with fellow MG "Duck" Dunn and a tremendous group of musicians became part of The Blues Brothers Band. They became so popular on the show that they were eventually signed to a recording contract with Atlantic Records. The Blues Brothers toured the country opening for comedian Steve Martin. Aykroyd wrote a whole backstory for the band (which is partially chronicled in the liner notes to their 1978 album A Briefcase Full of Blues), eventually developing it into a screenplay and a movie, The Blues Brothers, which was released in 1980. (For more on this, please see my "Film of the Week" rant from 22 November of this year.)
Over the years, Cropper continued to record--both as a musician and a producer--with a whole host of artists including Rod Stewart, John Prine, Jeff Beck, John Mellencamp, Eric Clapton, and Sammy Hagar. He also received many accolades along the way including two Grammy Awards, with five other nominations between 1967 and 2022. Booker T. & The MGs were inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1992, and Cropper was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2005.
But I will always think of him first and foremost as an architect of the "Memphis Sound" that defined some of the best soul music ever recorded. This week's album is one of my favourites of the era by my favourite singer of all time. Released in 1965 on the Stax subsidiary Volt Records, the album consists of mostly cover songs, three of them by Sam Cooke, who had been murdered the previous year. Backed by Booker T. & The MGs as well as the Memphis Horns, please enjoy the one and only Otis Redding with his third album, Otis Blue / Otis Redding Sings Soul.
Until next week, stay safe, be good to your neighbours, and please remember that if at first you don't succeed, then skydiving definitely isn't for you.
Yours in peace, love, and rock 'n' roll!
The Reverend Will the Thrill
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