Video interview: STEVE CROPPER – Stax legend, guitarist and producer – 18 October 2014

The term legend or legendary is used perhaps too flippantly in the context of music, but the term can be firmly applied to Steve Cropper.

Steve was a member of the Stax Records house band from the early-1960s and lent his musical, production and composing skills to countless artists and sessions. And with the house band – Booker T & The MGs – he achieved wider success in his own right.

He grew up in Memphis and was exposed to post-war rock and roll and the prevalent R&B sounds, forming The Mar-Keys before coming to the attention of Stax president Jim Stewart.

He became Stax’s A & R man in early-1962 and teamed up with Booker T. Jones to form Booker T & The MGs. The band’s first U.S. hit was ‘Green Onions’ in 1962. Perhaps surprisingly it wasn’t until 1979, and after several reissues, that the song became a hit in the UK.

In 1980 he enjoyed a career resurgence when invited to join The Blues Brothers and made several albums and appeared in the 1982 film featuring John Belushi and Dan Ackroyd.

Since that time, Cropper has enjoyed greater recognition from his peers: in 2005 he was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame and in 2010 the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame.

In recent years he has toured the UK with Animals & Friends when he appears as a special guest, and thrills audiences with both his anecdotes and his interpretation of some timeless soul classics.

Steve Cropper with GRTR!’s David Randall

Gig review

Steve Cropper is featured in the ‘Heroes’ series on Get Ready to ROCK! Radio chatting about his career, Sunday 2 November 2014 at 17:00 GMT

More information

Featured Artist: JOSH TAERK

Since early 2020 Josh has been entertaining us with exclusive monthly live sessions, streamed via Facebook.
In 2023 he signed a recording deal with Sony in Canada and released a new single on 15 September.

Next session: Sunday 1 December

Check out videos here: https://www.facebook.com/getreadytorockradio

David Randall presents a weekly show on Get Ready to ROCK! Radio, Sundays at 22:00 GMT, repeated on Mondays and Fridays), when he invites listeners to ‘Assume The Position’. The show signposts forthcoming gigs and tours and latest additions at getreadytorock.com. First broadcast on 3 November 2024.

UK Blues Broadcaster of the Year (2020 and 2021 Finalist) Pete Feenstra presents his weekly Rock & Blues Show on Tuesday at 19:00 GMT as part of a five hour blues rock marathon “Tuesday is Bluesday at GRTR!”. The show is repeated on Wednesdays at 22:00, Fridays at 20:00). This show was first broadcast 29 October 2024.

How to Listen Live?

Click the programming image at the top of the page (top right of page if using desktop)

Listen via Windows Media Player. Click or tap here and “open file”
Listen via other media player (eg. VLC) Click or tap here and “open file”

Get Ready to ROCK! Radio is also in iTunes under Internet Radio/Classic Rock
Listen in via the Tunein app and search for “Get Ready to ROCK!” and save as favourite.

More information and links at our radio website where you can listen again to shows via the presenter pages: getreadytorockradio.com

Power Plays w/c 11 November 2024

ARCANE MOON Hello Sun (indie)
S8NT ELEKTRIC XTC (Long Branch Records)
ARCANA KINGS Here We Go (Curtain Call Records)
KLOGR face The Unknown (Zeta Factory)
BEYOND UNBROKEN Dance With The Dead (FiXT)
REVENGIN Decadent Feeling (Wormholedeath)

Featured Albums w/c 11 November 2024

09:00-12:00 The Best of 2003-2023 (Melodic Rock)
12:00-13:00 The Best of 2003-2023 (Melodic Hard Rock)
14:00-16:00 The Best of 2003-2023 (Singer Songwriter)