“Play it, Steve!”
November 27th, 2007 byIt’s one of the more famous shout-outs in music history: During a break in Sam & Dave’s torrid vocal exchanges in “Soul Man,” Sam Moore can be distinctly heard yelling, “Play it, Steve!”
In 1996, the British music magazine Mojo published a list of “the 100 greatest guitarists of all time.” Chuck Berry, the king of rock & roll, claimed the fifth spot; Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards came in fourth; and British bluesman Peter Green (Fleetwood Mac) finished third.
Jimi Hendirx was voted the best. Steve Cropper finished second behind only Hendrix.
It’s impossible to quantify exactly but I daresay it’s a safe bet guitarist Steve Cropper wrote, performed, arranged and produced more Stax Records than any other individual. You don’t even have to listen to the four-CD The Stax Story compilation for confirmation; you just have to read the companion booklet - there he is as co-composer on “Green Onions,” “Knock on Wood,” “Time is Tight” and “(Sitting on the) Dock of the Bay” (and that’s just disc one!).
If there’s a singular “voice of Stax Records,” even if it was most often heard in a supporting role, that voice is guitarist Steve Cropper. We will spend the last month of this 50th anniversary celebratory year with Stax takes on holiday and seasonal favorites. But before we do we’ll close the rest of the calendar with a look at Cropper’s only solo album on Stax, With a Little Help From My Friends.
