Talk:Steve Cropper

"They wrote sounds"
"The MGs, as instrumental artists, worked because they wrote sounds."

Could the contributor who added the paragraph beginning with this sentence please elaborate? For example you could write:
 * The MGs, as instrumental artists, worked because they "wrote sounds," focusing on the texture and timbre of their songs instead of melody.

Of course, that example is built on an assumption that I can't support with the existing text; it's not entirely clear what "they wrote sounds" is supposed to mean. Thanks! - Cobra libre 18:27, Dec 10, 2004 (UTC)

I think this is worth expounding upon, too. I think this paragraph has the spark of an important idea about the MGs, and I'm pretty sure it could be written better, but I'm not sure if I know enough facts do it. Someone help! Sklero 06:41, 20 March 2007 (UTC)

Origin of the Mar-Keys name

 * The Mar-Keys was a play on the marquee outside of Stax (at the time, called Satellite Records). Cropper, ever astute, figured, "People 'round here don't speak French", hence the spelling.

Peter Guralnick's Sweet Soul Music gives the origin of the name "Mar-Keys" as a play on the word marquis, as many bands at that time based their names on the titles of nobility. Steve Cropper's remark "People 'round here don't speak French" makes much more sense in this context. Is there a source for the statement that the name of the band is a pun on the Stax marquee? - Cobra libre 16:20, Feb 5, 2005 (UTC)


 * I found this reference:, and added it to the article. I have no reference to Cropper's french remark, so I removed it from the article (it seems unimportant). Please avoid adding youtube videos as external links, these links are very likely to be broken in the near future. - Fbergo 16:37, 25 January 2007 (UTC)

nickname
So does anyone know the origin of his nickname? -FZ 16:11, 3 April 2007 (UTC)
 * Yes. According to Steve in an interview:

"We were on tour with Levon Helm and the RCO All-Stars, and a lot of people may not know that the nucleus of the RCO All Stars band and The Blues brothers are much and the same, cause it's the same horn players and there's also Duck Dunn and myself. And Willie Hall was also on that tour with us. But the guys walked in one day and they said "hey Cropper we got something for you", and they threw me a package and I opened it up, it was this t-shirt that had the epaulets on it, so from that day on they called me 'The Colonel', I guess cause I boss everybody around. I come by it naturally, I spent 7 years in ROTC bossin' everybody around and so I guess no exception, even though I wasn't the band leader but I'm always telling people that I wanna do this or I wanna do that. So they nicknamed me 'The Colonel'". (I just transcribed this from the audio clip now). --Bbcentral 07:36, 26 April 2007 (UTC)

Technique/Equipment
Would this be the right place to write a little about Steve Cropper's technique and equipment? For someone who enjoys such a good reputation in the guitar world there seems to be precious little here. Does anyone have any good sources? Doozy88 15:34, 16 June 2007 (UTC)

Cropper used standard Fender Telecasters (White Body and Pickguard, Rosewood Neck) and Fender Tweed Harvard amps (Modern equivalent would be a Fender Reissue 57' Deluxe) Unfortunately, I can't find a concrete source to cite this information. Cyongbld 16:45, 14 October 2008 (UTC)

Latest work
According to the iTunes Music Store, Steve Cropper and Felix Cavaliere (formerly of The Young Rascals) released an album entitled Nudge It Up a Notch on July 29, 2008. I think perhaps this information should be added near the end of the article, but I'll leave that to someone more experienced than I am. Joel6653 (talk) 12:26, 16 August 2008 (UTC)joel6653

Place of birth
Dora or Willow Springs, Missouri ? The present article states both places, which would be a neat trick but rather undermines credibility of the article.

Derek R Bullamore (talk) 14:35, 4 November 2010 (UTC)

The official Steve Cropper web site, biography page, states that he was born " on a farm near Dora, Missouri". That's conclusive enough. I suspect that the Willow Springs information came from the music website allmusic, which is a less reliable source. I've amended the article accordingly. Twistlethrop (talk) 11:58, 19 April 2011 (UTC)
 * Sorry about that! I was WP:BOLD, but didn't realize there was previous discussion on this. I have a published source which includes an interview with Cropper stating:

"I was born in my aunt's house in Willow Springs, Missouri, on October 21, 1941. My mom was there visiting so I was born in Willow Springs and not in Dora, Missouri, which is where I grew up and where my dad's from. Shortly thereafter, we moved to West Plains, Missouri, which is thirty miles from Dora." Feel free to revert if you want. Bkissin (talk) 16:33, 1 June 2020 (UTC)

Sources other than Cropper's official websites
Cropper's official website and front for his Insomnia Studio in Nashville (www.playitsteve.com) supports much of the content of the article, albeit with a perhaps understandable slant. I've cited it as source for some recent edits, but I'm reluctant to overuse a single source. His myspace page doesn't seem to be updated frequently. Does anybody have any pointers to other sources that are as reliable, please? Twistlethrop (talk) 15:05, 19 April 2011 (UTC)

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