Eddie Floyd
Background information
Birth name	Eddie Lee Floyd
Born	(1937-06-25) June 25, 1937 (age 75) Montgomery, Alabama, United States
Genres	Southern soul, R&B, soul
Occupations	Songwriter, musician
Years active	1956–present
Labels	Stax Records, Concord Music Group
Associated acts	The Falcons, Bill Wyman and the Rhythm Kings
Website	Eddiefloyd.com

Eddie Lee Floyd (born June 25, 1937)^[1][2] is an American soul/R&B singer and songwriter, best known for his work on the Stax record label in the 1960s and 1970s and the song "Knock on Wood".

Biography[link]

Floyd was born in Montgomery, Alabama, but grew up in Detroit, Michigan.^[1] He founded The Falcons, which also featured Mack Rice.^[1] They were forerunners to future Detroit vocal groups such as The Temptations and The Four Tops. Their most successful songs included "You're So Fine" and later, when Wilson Pickett was recruited into the group as the lead singer, "I Found a Love". Pickett then embarked on a solo career, and The Falcons disbanded.^[1]

Floyd signed on with the Memphis based Stax Records as a songwriter in 1965.^[1] He wrote a hit song, "Comfort Me" recorded by Carla Thomas. He then teamed with Stax's guitarist Steve Cropper to write songs for Wilson Pickett, now signed to Atlantic Records. Atlantic distributed Stax and Jerry Wexler brought Pickett down from New York to work with Booker T. & the MGs. The Pickett sessions were successful, yielding several pop and R&B hits, including the Floyd co-written "Ninety-Nine and a Half (Won't Do)" and "634-5789 (Soulsville USA)".^[1]

In 1966, Floyd recorded a song intended for Otis Redding. Wexler convinced Stax president Jim Stewart to release Floyd's version. The Steve Cropper/Eddie Floyd "Knock On Wood" launched Floyd's solo career,^[1] and has been cut by over a hundred different artists from David Bowie to Count Basie. It became a disco hit for Amii Stewart in 1979.

Floyd was one of Stax's most consistent and versatile artists. He scored several more hits on his own, including "I Never Found a Girl (To Love Me Like You Do)" and "Raise Your Hand",^[1] which was covered by both Janis Joplin and Bruce Springsteen.

The song "Big Bird" (featuring Booker T. Jones on organ and guitar, Al Jackson, Jr. on drums, and Donald "Duck" Dunn on bass) was written while Floyd waited in a London airport for a plane back to the United States for Otis Redding's funeral. Although not a US hit, it became an underground favorite in the UK, was later covered by The Jam, and was featured on the video game, Test Drive Unlimited.

Floyd's career did not keep him from being one of the label's most productive writers. Virtually every Stax artist recorded Floyd material, often co-written with either Cropper or Jones, including Sam & Dave ("You Don't Know What You Mean to Me"), Rufus Thomas ("The Breakdown"), Otis Redding ("I Love You More Than Words Can Say"), and Johnnie Taylor's "Just the One (I've Been Looking For)". The latter played during the opening credits of director Harold Ramis's film, Bedazzled.

Floyd, in 1980, also released material on the UK record label I-Spy Records owned and created by the UK band Secret Affair.^[1] He joined old Stax collaborators Cropper and Dunn, and fronted The Blues Brothers Band on a series of world tours, and in 1998, Floyd and former Falcon Wilson Pickett appeared on screen dueting on "634-5789" in Blues Brothers 2000.^[1]

As well as singing with The Blues Brothers Band, Floyd has been the special guest with former Rolling Stone Bill Wyman's Rhythm Kings on several dates in the US and the UK.

In 2008, Floyd returned to Stax Records which is now owned by Concord Music Group. His first new album in six years, Eddie Loves You So released in July 2008.^[1][3]

Discography[link]

Singles[link]

Albums[link]

• Knock on Wood - (1967) - Stax
• Looking Back - (1968) - Ember Records
• Never Found a Girl - (1969) - Stax
• Rare Stamps - (1969) - Stax
• You've Got to Have Eddie - (1969) - Stax
• California Girl - (1970) - Stax
• Down to Earth - (1971) - Stax
• Baby Lay Your Head Down - (1973) - Stax
• Soul Street - (1974) - Stax
• Experience - (1978) - Malaco Records
• Flashback - (1988) - Ichiban Records
• Red, White & Blues (The Blues Brothers Band) - (1992) - Turnstyle Records
• Gotta Make a Comeback - (1999) - Plane Records
• To the Bone - (2002) - Rock House Records
• Eddie Loves You So - (2008) - Stax

References[link]

External links[link]

• Biography by Tim Whitsett III at official Floyd site
• Eddie Floyd interview by Pete Lewis, 'Blues & Soul' July 2011
• Soulsville USA: The Story of Stax Records By Rob Bowman
• Biography at History-of-Rock.com
• Eddie Floyd Biography at Allmusic
• Profile @ Soultracks.com

This biographical article needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful. (April 2011)

Steve Cropper
Steve Cropper, April 2007
Background information
Born	(1941-10-21) October 21, 1941 (age 70) Dora, Missouri, United States
Genres	Rhythm and blues, soul, funk, electric blues, blues
Occupations	Musician, songwriter, producer, actor
Instruments	Guitar
Years active	1958–present
Labels	Stax
Associated acts	Booker T. & the M.G.'s, The Mar-Keys, The Blues Brothers, Otis Redding, The Jeff Beck Group, Sam and Dave, Ringo Starr, John Lennon, Carla Thomas, Tower of Power, Wilson Pickett, Eddie Floyd, Ambergris
Website	www.playitsteve.com
Notable instruments
Peavey Steve Cropper Classic Fender Telecaster

Steve Cropper (born Steven Lee Cropper, October 21, 1941, Dora, Missouri),^[1] also known as Steve "The Colonel" Cropper, is an American guitarist, songwriter and record producer. He is best known as the guitarist of the Stax Records house band, Booker T. & the M.G.'s, and has backed artists such as Otis Redding, Sam & Dave, Carla, Rufus Thomas and Johnnie Taylor, also acting as producer on many of these records. He later gained fame as a member of the Blues Brothers band.^[2] Rolling Stone lists him 36th on their list of the 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time.^[3] Mojo ranks Cropper as the second-best guitarist ever.

Early life[link]

When he was nine years old, Cropper moved with his family to Memphis, Tennessee.^[1] At the age of ten, he strummed his brother-in-law's Gibson guitar for the first time^{[citation needed]}. Cropper received his first guitar by mail order at 14 and started playing with local musicians. His guitar heroes at the time included Lowman Pauling of the "5" Royales, as well as Chet Atkins, Chuck Berry, Tal Farlow, Jimmy Reed, and the guitarist of the Bill Doggett band, Billy Butler.^[1]

Career[link]

Cropper and guitarist Charlie Freeman formed the Royal Spades, who eventually became the Mar-Keys. The name referred to the marquee outside Stax studios, known as Satellite Records at the time. Eventually the Mar-Keys began playing on sessions and had a hit single of their own with "Last Night" in 1961.

Steve Cropper in concert (1990)

Besides being impressed with the young guitarist's playing, Stax Records president Jim Stewart saw professionalism and maturity beyond Cropper's years.^{[citation needed]} When American Records founder Chips Moman left Stax, Cropper became the company's A&R man. He became a founding member of the Stax house band Booker T. & the M.G.'s, along with Hammond organ player Booker T. Jones, bassist Donald "Duck" Dunn and drummer Al Jackson Jr.. As a house guitarist he played on many recordings such as "(Sittin' on) the Dock of the Bay," co-written with and performed by Otis Redding, and Sam & Dave's "Soul Man" on which he was mentioned by name. When Cropper played on the song's remake by the Blues Brothers, lead singer John Belushi again mentioned Cropper.

At this time Cropper's fame was not limited to the United States. The Beatles favoured Cropper's playing, and his production on Otis Redding records. John Lennon and Paul McCartney made tentative plans to record in Memphis, and to work with the guitarist. However Brian Epstein cancelled the sessions, citing security problems.^[4] Regarding this period, Rob Bowman, in his book Soulsville U.S.A.: The Story Of Stax Records, quoted Booker T. Jones as saying:

Along with influential work with Booker T & The MG's, Cropper co-wrote "Knock On Wood" with Eddie Floyd, "In the Midnight Hour" with Wilson Pickett and "(Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay" with Otis Redding. In 1969, Cropper released his first solo album, With a Little Help From My Friends.

Steve Cropper at the Hamar Music Festival, 2007

When Cropper left Stax in the fall of 1970,^[5] the label lost one of its most successful producers and songwriters. Cropper then set up TMI Studios with Jerry Williams and former Mar-Key Ronnie Stoots. There he played guitar and produced various musicians including Tower Of Power, Rod Stewart, John Prine, José Feliciano, The Jeff Beck Group, Ringo Starr and John Lennon. It's little-known that Cropper also played guitar on the cover of The Velvet Underground's "Femme Fatale" that appears on fellow Memphians Big Star's Third/Sister Lovers.

By 1975, Cropper had moved to Los Angeles and along with Jackson and Dunn, reformed Booker T. & the M.G's. Jackson, whom Cropper called "the greatest drummer to ever walk the earth," was murdered in his Memphis home before the group could make their comeback. In 1978, Cropper and Dunn became members of Levon Helm's RCO All-Stars, and then went on to figure prominently in the Blues Brothers Band with the drummer Willie Hall. This led to two albums and two movie soundtracks. Cropper also re-recorded "(Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay" (1979) for Sammy Hagar. Cropper lived in Los Angeles for the next thirteen years before moving to Nashville and reuniting with the Blues Brothers Band in 1988.

In 1992, Booker T. & the M.G.'s were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and Cropper appeared with a new line-up of the group for the Bob Dylan 30th Anniversary concert, on October 1992 at Madison Square Garden, performing songs by and backing Dylan, Eric Clapton, George Harrison, Tom Petty, Johnny Cash, Chrissie Hynde, Sinéad O'Connor, Stevie Wonder and Neil Young. The concert was recorded and later released as The 30th Anniversary Concert Celebration (1993). Young later recruited this line up of Booker T. and the M.G's, to tour with him and record as his studio band.

In 1996, Cropper was named "the greatest living guitar player" by Britain's Mojo magazine. When asked what he thought of Cropper, the guitarist Keith Richards said, "Perfect, man."^{[citation needed]} In February 1998, Cropper released Play It, Steve! which included some of soul music's most enduring songs. The album title came from the "shout" of the title phrase by Moore on Sam & Dave's "Soul Man," and later by John Belushi (with the Blues Brothers).

In June 2004, Cropper appeared with Dunn and Jones as the backing band for Eric Clapton's Crossroads Guitar Festival, held at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas. Others who appeared included Joe Walsh and David Hidalgo.^[6] On June 9, 2005, Cropper was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame.

Cropper toured Australia with Guy Sebastian, playing on Sebastian's The Memphis Album tour in March 2008

He co-produced The Memphis Album (2007), recorded by Australian soul singer Guy Sebastian. Cropper also played guitar on the following promotional tour, which was recorded and released two years later as The Memphis Tour. On March 2, 2008 Cropper and Sebastian were guests on the Vega Sunday Session with host Mark Gable from the rock band the Choirboys.^[7] On July 29, 2008, Cropper and Felix Cavaliere released the album Nudge It Up A Notch. In August 2008, Cropper appeared at the Rhythm Festival alongside the Animals.^[8]

On November 12, 2009, EMP/SFM presented Cropper with their "Founders Award." On October 17, 2010, Cropper was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame.^[9]

On August 9, 2011, Cropper released the album Dedicated which was his tribute to the "5" Royales.

Personal life[link]

Cropper married his second wife, Angel, in the late 1980s. They have two children, Andrea and Cameron. The Croppers currently live in Nashville, Tennessee,^[10].

Filmography[link]

• 1980: The Blues Brothers as the Colonel
• 1988: Satisfaction as Sal
• 1999: Blues Brothers 2000 as the Colonel

References[link]

External links[link]

• Soulsville USA: The Story of Stax Records, Rob Bowman
• Cropper's official website
• The official Steve Cropper MySpace page
• http://www.tennesseeconcerts.com/stevecropper.html
• http://www.tennesseeconcerts.com/beatles.html
• http://www.discogs.com/artist/Steve+Cropper
• http://www.empsfm.org/press/index.asp?articleID=1426