STEVE CROPPER
''PLAYIN' MY THANG''
1980
35:01
1 /Give 'Em What They Want
Steve Cropper/4:20
2 /Let the Good Times Roll
Leonard Lee/3:57
3 /Playin' My Thang
Steve Cropper/4:43
4 /Fly
Steve Cropper/3:10
5 /Sandy Beaches
John Jarvis / Delbert McClinton/3:35
6 /With You
Steve Cropper / John Jarvis/3:25
7 /Feet
Danny Kortchmar/2:58
8 /Why Do You Say You Love Me
Steve Cropper/4:53
9 /Ya Da Ya Da
Steve Cropper / Donald "Duck" Dunn/4:00
Acoustic Guitar – Trevor Veitch (track 7)
Backing Vocals – Bobby Kimball (tracks 1, 4), Bruce Robb (track 1), Joe Robb (track 1), Steve Robb (track 1)
Bass – Duck Dunn (tracks 2 to 4, 7 to 9), Neal Stubenhaus (tracks 1, 5, 6)
Drums – Craig Krampf (tracks: A2), Rick Schlosser* (tracks: A1, A3, A4, B1 to B3), Willy Hall (tracks 8, 9)
Electric Piano – Bill Payne (tracks 8, 9)
Flute – Jim Horn (track 5)
Horns – Memphis Horns, The (tracks 1 to 3, 7, 9)
Keyboards – David Paich (tracks 1, 3), John Jarvis (track 6)
Organ – David Paich (track 9), William D. Smith (track 7)
Percussion – Steve Cropper (tracks 1, 5, 7), Steve Forman (tracks 4, 9)
Piano – David Paich (track 2), John Jarvis (track 5)
Rhythm Guitar – Dan Ferguson (track 4)
Saxophone – Andrew Love (tracks 1 to 3, 7, 9), James Mitchell (tracks 1 to 3, 7, 9), Jim Horn (tracks 1 to 4, 7 to 9)
Strings [Fake] – Kron (track 6)
Trombone – Jack Hale (tracks 1 to 3, 7, 9)
Trumpet – Jerry Hey (tracks 1 to 3, 7, 9)
Vocals, Guitar – Steve Cropper
Review
by Eugene Chadbourne (AllMusic)
The man whose reputation is well established as a stellar guitar sideman has a big challenge stepping out front, especially considering the decision to take on lead vocal responsibilities. As a result, Playing My Thang is not so much about Steve Cropper's guitar playing as his singing, the obvious reason the early-'80s release hasn't exactly achieved classic status.
Not that he is a bad singer, not by any means. The title track manages to merge a story told by the singing voice with lead guitar playing, along the lines of the classic "Guitar Man" song and others of its ilk. "Give 'Em What They Want" is a surprising, thought-provoking opener, although it also presents the first ample evidence that this is going to be a dull album. The cynicism of the lyrics, as well as a somewhat morose groove, make it seem like a self-confessional opus from a singer/songwriter is underway -- basically the truth, since Cropper wrote or co-wrote many of these titles. In that case, are the musings of a jaded session man really such an attractive basis for lyrical philosophy? Certainly whoever designed the album cover didn't think so -- Cropper's axe is given priority. "Fly" is a bit more of a Stevie Wonder thing; which, along with an aggravated and strange brass arrangement of "Let the Good Times Roll," are examples of material related to, but not exactly in, what is considered to be Cropper's forte.
A Delbert McClinton cover, entitled "Sandy Beaches," complete with Jim Horn on flute, brings to mind the Herbie Mann Memphis Underground recordings as well as the prospect that a guitarist could take advantage of such a setting for some picking. Cropper's main business seems to be trying to pull off the vocal, complete with "I'll be loving you, loving you" chorus. Any chord Cropper played on any Booker T. & the MG's album is better than this entire album -- a realization that, although highly complimentery to the genius of Steve Cropper, is of little help when it comes to concieving just how he could have made a better solo album.
Biography
by Cub Koda (AllMusic)
Probably the best-known soul guitarist in the world, Steve Cropper came to prominence in the early '60s, first with the Mar-Keys ("Last Night"), then as a founding member of Booker T. & the MG's. A major figure in the Southern soul movement of the '60s, Cropper made his mark not only as a player and arranger (most notably on classic sides by Otis Redding, Sam & Dave, and Wilson Pickett) but as a songwriter as well, co-writing the classic "In the Midnight Hour." After the breakup of the MG's, Cropper spent most of the '70s producing Jeff Beck and Mitch Ryder, among others. In the '80s, he rode the classic Stax sound (which he helped shape) back to popularity with a new audience when actors John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd tapped him for service in the Blues Brothers, a Saturday Night Live skit that stretched into several albums and a movie. Cropper remained in demand as a session man, producer, and collaborator into the new century, although very little appeared under his actual name as a recording artist. That changed in 2008 with the release of the affirming Nudge It Up a Notch, a project recorded with former Rascals frontman Felix Cavaliere and tracked at Jon Tiven's Hormone Studio in Nashville, on the revitalized Stax Records imprint. A second collaboration between Cropper and Cavaliere, Midnight Flyer, appeared in 2010. In 2011, Cropper released Dedicated: A Salute to the 5 Royales on 429 Records. The concept album was an all-star celebration and acknowledgment of the influence of seminal soul guitarist Lowman “Pete” Pauling and his mid-'50s to early-'60s group the “5” Royales on his playing. Co-produced with Tiven, some of Dedicated's guests included, B.B. King, Brian May, Steve Winwood, John Popper, Bettye LaVette, Lucinda Williams, Sharon Jones, Shemekia Copeland, Delbert McClinton, Willie Jones, Buddy Miller, and 21-year-old Louisiana singer/songwriter Dylan LeBlanc.
OFFICIAL SITE
''PLAYIN' MY THANG''
1980
35:01
1 /Give 'Em What They Want
Steve Cropper/4:20
2 /Let the Good Times Roll
Leonard Lee/3:57
3 /Playin' My Thang
Steve Cropper/4:43
4 /Fly
Steve Cropper/3:10
5 /Sandy Beaches
John Jarvis / Delbert McClinton/3:35
6 /With You
Steve Cropper / John Jarvis/3:25
7 /Feet
Danny Kortchmar/2:58
8 /Why Do You Say You Love Me
Steve Cropper/4:53
9 /Ya Da Ya Da
Steve Cropper / Donald "Duck" Dunn/4:00
Acoustic Guitar – Trevor Veitch (track 7)
Backing Vocals – Bobby Kimball (tracks 1, 4), Bruce Robb (track 1), Joe Robb (track 1), Steve Robb (track 1)
Bass – Duck Dunn (tracks 2 to 4, 7 to 9), Neal Stubenhaus (tracks 1, 5, 6)
Drums – Craig Krampf (tracks: A2), Rick Schlosser* (tracks: A1, A3, A4, B1 to B3), Willy Hall (tracks 8, 9)
Electric Piano – Bill Payne (tracks 8, 9)
Flute – Jim Horn (track 5)
Horns – Memphis Horns, The (tracks 1 to 3, 7, 9)
Keyboards – David Paich (tracks 1, 3), John Jarvis (track 6)
Organ – David Paich (track 9), William D. Smith (track 7)
Percussion – Steve Cropper (tracks 1, 5, 7), Steve Forman (tracks 4, 9)
Piano – David Paich (track 2), John Jarvis (track 5)
Rhythm Guitar – Dan Ferguson (track 4)
Saxophone – Andrew Love (tracks 1 to 3, 7, 9), James Mitchell (tracks 1 to 3, 7, 9), Jim Horn (tracks 1 to 4, 7 to 9)
Strings [Fake] – Kron (track 6)
Trombone – Jack Hale (tracks 1 to 3, 7, 9)
Trumpet – Jerry Hey (tracks 1 to 3, 7, 9)
Vocals, Guitar – Steve Cropper
Review
by Eugene Chadbourne (AllMusic)
The man whose reputation is well established as a stellar guitar sideman has a big challenge stepping out front, especially considering the decision to take on lead vocal responsibilities. As a result, Playing My Thang is not so much about Steve Cropper's guitar playing as his singing, the obvious reason the early-'80s release hasn't exactly achieved classic status.
Not that he is a bad singer, not by any means. The title track manages to merge a story told by the singing voice with lead guitar playing, along the lines of the classic "Guitar Man" song and others of its ilk. "Give 'Em What They Want" is a surprising, thought-provoking opener, although it also presents the first ample evidence that this is going to be a dull album. The cynicism of the lyrics, as well as a somewhat morose groove, make it seem like a self-confessional opus from a singer/songwriter is underway -- basically the truth, since Cropper wrote or co-wrote many of these titles. In that case, are the musings of a jaded session man really such an attractive basis for lyrical philosophy? Certainly whoever designed the album cover didn't think so -- Cropper's axe is given priority. "Fly" is a bit more of a Stevie Wonder thing; which, along with an aggravated and strange brass arrangement of "Let the Good Times Roll," are examples of material related to, but not exactly in, what is considered to be Cropper's forte.
A Delbert McClinton cover, entitled "Sandy Beaches," complete with Jim Horn on flute, brings to mind the Herbie Mann Memphis Underground recordings as well as the prospect that a guitarist could take advantage of such a setting for some picking. Cropper's main business seems to be trying to pull off the vocal, complete with "I'll be loving you, loving you" chorus. Any chord Cropper played on any Booker T. & the MG's album is better than this entire album -- a realization that, although highly complimentery to the genius of Steve Cropper, is of little help when it comes to concieving just how he could have made a better solo album.
Biography
by Cub Koda (AllMusic)
Probably the best-known soul guitarist in the world, Steve Cropper came to prominence in the early '60s, first with the Mar-Keys ("Last Night"), then as a founding member of Booker T. & the MG's. A major figure in the Southern soul movement of the '60s, Cropper made his mark not only as a player and arranger (most notably on classic sides by Otis Redding, Sam & Dave, and Wilson Pickett) but as a songwriter as well, co-writing the classic "In the Midnight Hour." After the breakup of the MG's, Cropper spent most of the '70s producing Jeff Beck and Mitch Ryder, among others. In the '80s, he rode the classic Stax sound (which he helped shape) back to popularity with a new audience when actors John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd tapped him for service in the Blues Brothers, a Saturday Night Live skit that stretched into several albums and a movie. Cropper remained in demand as a session man, producer, and collaborator into the new century, although very little appeared under his actual name as a recording artist. That changed in 2008 with the release of the affirming Nudge It Up a Notch, a project recorded with former Rascals frontman Felix Cavaliere and tracked at Jon Tiven's Hormone Studio in Nashville, on the revitalized Stax Records imprint. A second collaboration between Cropper and Cavaliere, Midnight Flyer, appeared in 2010. In 2011, Cropper released Dedicated: A Salute to the 5 Royales on 429 Records. The concept album was an all-star celebration and acknowledgment of the influence of seminal soul guitarist Lowman “Pete” Pauling and his mid-'50s to early-'60s group the “5” Royales on his playing. Co-produced with Tiven, some of Dedicated's guests included, B.B. King, Brian May, Steve Winwood, John Popper, Bettye LaVette, Lucinda Williams, Sharon Jones, Shemekia Copeland, Delbert McClinton, Willie Jones, Buddy Miller, and 21-year-old Louisiana singer/songwriter Dylan LeBlanc.
OFFICIAL SITE
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