There have been so many extraordinary moments in the amazing career of guitarist, songwriter and producer Steve Cropper that it would seem he’s done almost everything possible within the world of popular music. But Cropper, perhaps best known as a member of the prolific and influential Stax house band Booker T. & the M.G.’s, insists his new LP Fire It Up is something truly different for him. The 13-song release, out Friday, was co-produced by Jon Tiven, one of Music City’s finest soul and rock session men, and Cropper says much of the inspiration for what ultimately resulted dates back many years.
“This is really, in my view, my first real solo album since 1969,” Cropper tells the Scene. “There’s a lot of grooves that have been around for a long time. Some of them came out of past things I’d worked on with Felix [Cavaliere, of The Rascals]. But when the pandemic and lockdown happened, that changed a lot of things. Jon and I have been meeting for many years, almost every week writing songs. For this one, we reworked some old things, and the more that we played some things off each other, the more we felt like we really had some good material here. Jon and I have worked together for many years, and he really has a great ear for what works well in my music.”
Fire It Up is a prominent showcase for the archetypal rhythmic guitar riffs and licks that have been a Cropper signature for more than six decades. It also reveals an idiomatic versatility Cropper feels he hasn’t always been credited with, despite the array of diversified talent that has featured his playing. The title tune accents a fiery, hard-edged vocal from punk and power-pop singer Roger C. Reale, underscored by the usual dynamic Cropper approach. It’s a strong mix of impressive technique augmented with lots of soul and authority, high notes delivered with dashing ease.
“One Good Turn” offers a more understated but no less delightful Cropper style, while “Bush Hog,” the lone instrumental, has the funky melodic bent and crisp undercutting rhythms of vintage M.G.’s cuts. Reale soars again on “The Go-Getter Is Gone,” while the album’s first single “Far Away” celebrates removing oneself from too much clatter and confusion to find sanctuary and a fresh start. It seems that’s an approach Cropper takes to heart, as his enthusiasm for this new project and music in general is extremely high.
“I’m not one of these people who doesn’t listen to new music,” he says. “In addition to constantly writing new songs, I’m always keeping my ears and eyes open to what’s happening. You can’t stay fresh unless you do. I think the worst thing that happens sometimes, and the way you get yourself in a rut, is if you don’t pay attention to what’s going on. At the same time, you always can bring in things from the past, but you have to find ways of making them work in a contemporary vein.”
Cropper’s remarkable musical journey dates back to the late ’50s, when he and fellow teen musician Charlie Freeman formed a band called The Royal Spades. By 1961 they had renamed themselves The Mar-Keys, and their spicy instrumental “Last Night” became a pop and R&B smash. The Cropper guitar sound was crafted early in his playing days. It’s a seamless merging of blues, jazz, R&B and country elements gleaned from ardent listening to guitarists ranging from Tal Farlow to Chuck Berry, Chet Atkins and The “5” Royales’ Lowman Pauling.
After departing The Mar-Keys, Cropper would join keyboardist Booker T. Jones, drummer Al Jackson Jr. and bassist Lewie Steinberg (who was soon replaced by Donald “Duck” Dunn) in the seminal Booker T. & the M.G.’s. Besides being part of the ensemble that made the Stax sound a worldwide sensation, Cropper would enjoy equal prominence as an A&R man and songwriter, co-penning epic and evergreen hits like “In the Midnight Hour,” “Knock on Wood,” and “Sittin’ on the Dock of the Bay,” while his prickly licks became rhythm staples on such songs as “Soul Man” by Sam & Dave.
Though the Stax run alone was enough to ensure musical immortality, Cropper’s post-M.G.’s and post-Stax career has been equally prolific. As a producer and player, he’s done sessions with Paul Simon, Ringo Starr, John Lennon and Buddy Guy, among heaps of others. He produced Mavis Staples’ 1969 solo debut, John Prine’s 1975 album Common Sense and a trio of contemporary bluesman Joe Louis Walker’s LPs, among many more.
For those who either missed or aren’t familiar with the Stax years, you might instead know Cropper from either Levon Helm’s RCO All-Stars or The Blues Brothers’ albums and films. But he’s also found time for his own albums, running the gamut from 1969’s With a Little Help From My Friends to The Interview — Play It Steve!, a collection of spoken stories about his career on his own label. He’s also released LPs with the aforementioned Felix Cavaliere in 2008 and 2010, and 2011’s glorious Dedicated: A Salute to The 5 Royales, produced by Tiven.
A Nashville resident for more than three decades and a 2010 inductee into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame, Steve Cropper is who you think of when you say “living legend.” But he continues to adhere to a simple philosophy in regard to making music.
“I always think about the story. That’s what the best musicians do. They build off and enhance the story, through what they do with the melody and the groove.”
