Stax guitarist Steve Cropper recalls his first UK visit (From East London and West Essex Guardian Series)

Stax guitarist Steve Cropper recalls his first UK visit

11:05am Friday 23rd September 2011 in London gigs By George Nott

In a few hours’ time Steve Cropper will boarding a plane for the long flight home to Memphis; it will be the 14th time he’s made the trip since June.

Principal guitarist and producer at the Stax studio when Southern soul dominated the charts in the late 1960s, Steve co-authored many of the label’s finest releases: Eddie Floyd’s Knock On Wood, In the Midnight Hour by Wilson Pickett and Otis Redding’s (Sittin’ On) The Dock of the Bay.

It’s a legacy that keeps him in demand around the world: he’s had to get used to all the travelling.

“There’s not a whole lot to do up there,“ he explains in a broad American accent. “I listen to a lot of music but it’s hard. If it’s something I like I can’t start hooting and hollering. Most of the time I just want to grab a guitar and play along, but that’s difficult on a plane!“

On arrival in the US, he will play at a memorial concert to mark what would have been Otis Redding’s 70th birthday. As he prepares to leave on the day of the anniversary, Steve remembers arriving in England at Heathrow in 1967 for the first leg of the now famed Stax European tour.

“We had an idea of how big Sam and Dave and Otis were but we had no idea the fans wanted to know about the musicians too. We were just session musicians but we were treated like The Beatles were when they landed in America. Everyone wanted a piece of us, to meet us.“

“Whatever we were expecting it turned into something else.“

Steve and his label-mates struggled through the crowds of British fans to the limousines laid on specially by The Beatles. Later that night the Fab Four broke from recording Sergeant Pepper at Abbey Road to meet their idols, with a bow.

“I don’t know if it was quite a bow or more a semi-curtsy, but yeh,“ the 69-year-old recalls in typically modest fashion. “It was quite something.“

Though they had enjoyed some success in America, Stax stablemates Eddie Floyd, Arthur Conley, The Mar-Keys, Booker T & The MGs, Sam and Dave and Otis Redding arrived in Britain as royalty, long championed by Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Eric Burdon, John Mayall and Pete Townsend, who all scrambled for tickets to see the shows.

“It was very successful. I wasn’t used to being in the spotlight but as you do show after show knowing this, you grow in confidence, embellish on it and do better each night. We worked them into a frenzy.

“I remember one show in Blackpool, Sam and Dave were on and the crowd was jumping around so much this big crack appeared in the balcony. They had to drag them off stage. It was rocking, just crazy.“

Steve, armed with his new Super-8 camera, started shooting from the tour bus.

“It’s pretty much useless, but I just wanted to capture it. I’m just filming out of the bus window – at anything, a castle in the distance, a tree in a field. It wasn’t quite National Geographic magazine stuff but I wanted to take it all in.“

Tragically, in December of that year Otis Redding would be killed in an airplane crash.

“He was probably the least prejudiced person I’ve met,“ remembers Steve. “He was big in every way, physically, in talent and in wisdom. After he died, I was surprised to find out I was the same age as he was, because I always looked up to him as an older brother.“

Following his short stay at home remembering Otis, Steve returns to these shores to continue his tour as special guest of The Animals. With dates up and down the country, he’s been able to take it in all over again.

“It’s been great playing here. Fans come up and say they remember that first visit. It was a crazy time. It’s a little less crazy now but I’m still having fun!“

Steve Cropper joins The Animals at Millfield Arts Centre, Silver Street, Edmonton on September 14 at 8pm. Details: 020 8807 6680