Fire it up

Description

Hard to surprise after a rich 7-decade musical career? Then listen quickly to Fire It Up, the first solo album billed to Steve Cropper since 1967. Steve Cropper is the guitar on “Green Onions,” the first of his many hits with Booker T & the MGs. The MGs became THE house band at Stax Records and Cropper one of Stax’s leading producers, songwriters and guitarists. Wilson Pickett’s “Midnight Hour,” Otis Redding’s “(Sittin’ On) The Dock of the Bay,” Eddie Floyd’s “Knock on Wood,” “Soul Man” and “Hold On I’m Coming” — so many hits bear his signature; you can’t talk about soul music without talking about Steve Cropper. A founding member of the Blues Brothers, Steve reintroduced classic soul to the general public. So it is no coincidence that Rolling Stone magazine ranked him in the top 40 of its 100 greatest guitarists of all time. This album is unlike anything currently out there because it is made of old grooves. During lockdown, Cropper worked on things he had had in mind for years. Fire It Up has its roots in sessions with Felix Cavaliere. Some tracks were not kept for their two albums, but had very good grooves, which were recovered by the albums’ producer, Jon Tiven. “Jon would pull out these tracks and call me saying: ‘You know, this thing is pretty good,’” Cropper adds. “From there, Jon and I reworked the songs and came up with song ideas.” Cropper is both guitarist and producer on this album. This album echoes the sounds of yesterday combined with eternally contagious grooves, and Fire It Up is an instant classic!