Friday's Guitar Hero: Steve Cropper
He's played on more great songs than just about anyone else.

© Brian Hineline/Retna Ltd./Corbis
What do the following songs have in common? Eddie Floyd's Knock On Wood, Wilson Pickett's In the Midnight Hour, Sam & Dave's Soul Man and Otis Redding's (Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay...
Well, OK, it's a tad obvious in this scenario. They were all co-written by Steve 'The Colonel' Cropper, a guitarist whose reputation as a legendary figure had, as such, been long established by the time the classic film The Blues Brothers was released, in which he made an effective cameo clad in a "...candy-ass monkey suit..."
That said, probably his best-loved work appears on Green Onions, immortalised in 1962 by Booker T. & the M.G.s.
© Michael Ochs Archives/Corbis
Steve is second-right in this great old shot of the band, Fender Tele in hand, and, below, enjoy a Shaky-Cam clip of a more recent performance that proves once again that less is most definitely more...
Get the MusicRadar Newsletter
Want all the hottest music and gear news, reviews, deals, features and more, direct to your inbox? Sign up here.
Simon Bradley is a guitar and especially rock guitar expert who worked for Guitarist magazine and has in the past contributed to world-leading music and guitar titles like MusicRadar (obviously), Guitarist, Guitar World and Louder. What he doesn't know about Brian May's playing and, especially, the Red Special, isn't worth knowing.

“Crafted for the true metal enthusiast, this axe embodies the soul of legendary guitarist Zakk Wylde”: Paging all “shred warriors,” Wylde Audio’s Berzerker takes the shape of metal guitars to new extremes

“A high-spec instrument at a competitive price”: Sustainiac pickups, onboard Z.Vex Fuzz Factory circuits, a Night Sky Holosparkle finish? Manson lavishes Matt Bellamy-approved specs on updated M-Series electrics