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The Review - MUSIC - grooves with ROISIN GADELRAB
Published: 4 September 2008

Steve Cropper

Legendary Cropper makes it a Stax bill to remember

REVIEW: STEVE CROPPER AND THE ANIMALS
Dingwalls

WHEN somebody tries a rendition of Dock of The Bay it’s nearly always an insult to the memory of Otis Redding and that beautiful piece of soul music.
Steve Cropper can’t get close to matching Redding’s unrivalled rasp, but if anybody has the right to sing and whistle it, it’s him: he helped write it and supplied the lullaby guitar which Otis melted over. Cropper was never the singer at the legendary Stax studios in Memphis – but his contribution as the label’s house band was mountainous.
In a stunning career, Cropper was the groove guitar behind soul instrumentalists Booker T and the MGs. He helped write and played on a zillion of Stax’s best records in the 1960s, such as Midnight Hour and Soul Man. He was crowned the greatest living guitarist by Mojo magazine recently, and others might know him as the hairy one in the band in The Blues Brothers movie. No wonder he can effortlessly reel off magical stories from another era – the “I was in the studio one time” recollections are worth the ticket price alone.
The Animals – without Eric Burdon here – tried to keep pace in a sort of support role, chucking in some rhythm and blues favourites. Keys man Mickey Gallagher shone and We Gotta Get Out Of This Place was rousing.
But this evening by the Lock was all about Cropper and whenever he launched into a solo or a bluesy break, he set the place buzzing. He has written songs that are part of our everyday culture and he still delivers them with thrilling skill, a privilege to witness.
At times, you felt you had rocked up to the Palace Hotel Ballroom for the Blues Brothers finale, ordering orange whips and tapping toes to Jake and Elwood.
At other moments, more importantly, you were morphed back to the Stax tour of Europe that brought soul music to Britain in 1966.
The bewitching encore of Green Onions was a moment of magnificence, no finer guitarist could you hope to see.
RICHARD OSLEY

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