Talking To...Steve Cropper

For many British Soul fans though there's one name that stands out above them all. Otis Redding was never allowed to sully his reputation by making a dodgy disco album in the mid-70s, or turning out a lightweight hotel lounge cabaret act for rich tourists, or succumb to drink or drugs. Otis Redding remains frozen in time, his sweat drenched brow atop tight shut eyes, a mic in one hand, the other extended towards the audiences as he implores it to Try a Little Tenderness, or confesses I've Been Loving You Too Long, or offers These Arms of Mine.

It's a question Steve Cropper has fielded a thousand times before and he's gracious enough to do so again for my benefit. What if Otis had been spared?

"I used to get to wondering what might have been had Otis lived. What I do know is that he would have been king of something. If Aretha is the Queen of Soul, then Otis had to be King. Where that left James Brown or Little Richard I don't know, perhaps they're the architects, but Otis would have been King.

"He was a country boy from Georgia and I was a country boy from Missouri, growing up on the farm, in the outdoors. Otis and I were like brothers. I mean, really that close. The funny thing is I didn't find out for years that he and I were the same age - he just always seemed older to me. He had this streetwise thing, didn't matter if we were hanging out in New York or hanging out in Memphis, he just seemed to be older than me.

"His sons, Dexter and Otis III, are still working and Dexter sounds a lot like Otis did, so I reckon Otis would have gotten old but he still would have been singing, that voice would not have diminished with age. It happens that way sometimes, I was working with Roy Orbison right up until not long before he passed away and he still sounded as good if not better than ever."

The songs Steve co-wrote, played on and produced are like public property now, part of our human DNA - and he's still working.

"People come up to me and ask if I'm still writing, of course I'm still writing, I've always been writing - not sure people get to hear them though!

"I guess it gets harder to get airplay when you're older, even the Stones and those guys have to live on their concerts. Guys like Jimmy Buffet, James Taylor, even Neil Young, they're still playing and writing great songs but they struggle to get airplay.

It comes down to age rather than the quality of the songs, but if you like an artist and you pick up an album and you get to looking at the songwriting credits you might come across a Steve Cropper from time to time."

We hear the influence of those songs all the time, but I wonder what makes them the songs they are and renders most of the countless covers as nothing more than pale imitations.

"Well, you got to have the energy, that real live energy. Even if it's recorded in the studio, you have to have that energy of everything being played live. When we used to record, like with Otis or whoever, we'd have the horns played live and all the instruments, vocals, everything, that's where the performance comes from and you just don't have that performance these days.

"Oh, everything might be all beautifully played and perfectly recorded and separated out, but it's fragmented, you know. It doesn't have that power.

"Then I ask the kids who listen to the garage bands why they like it and they say they have to hear the imperfections to know it's real. They like it a bit out of tune then they know it's a real band, but in my day we had to be real and be good and be in tune!"

Real good and in tune… sounds like a pretty good summary of the genius of Steve Cropper.

Nick Churchill
www.thegranvillechambers.co.uk

Animals & Friends with Steve Cropper Tour
January
22: Rock City, Nottingham
23: University of East Anglia, Norwich
24: The New Morning, Paris, France.
25: The Stables, Milton Keynes
26: The Assembly Rooms, Islington, London.
27: The Great British Rock and Blues Festival, Skegness.
28: O2 Academy Glasgow.
29: Hall for Cornwall, Truro.
30: Tivoli Theatre, Wimborne.
31: The Robin 2, Bilston.
February
1: The Picture Dome, Holmfirth.
3: The Grand, Clitheroe (live recording).
5: The Cheese & Grain, Frome.
6: The Cavern, Liverpool.
7: The Astor Theatre, Deal.
8: Town Hall, Ripley.
9: Alnwick Playhouse and Arts Centre.
10: Gala Theatre, Durham.
11: The Box, Crewe.
12: Cardiff Globe.
13: Civic Theatre, Doncaster.
14: Corn Exchange, Kings Lynn.
15: Theatre Royal, Winchester.
16: Cranleigh Arts Centre.
17: Platform Theatre, Morecambe.
18-19: Bilbao, Spain.