The Ball and All

Jeanie & Steve at the Blues Ball in Memphis, 2007

I was invited to go to the Blues Ball in Memphis in the spring of 2007 with my friends, Bill and Francine Luckett. They had a table with Delta Magazine publisher, Scott Coopwood and his beautiful wife, Cindy, and editor, Melissa Townsend (one of my favorite Delta girls!) and her husband, Hue. We were at a table with Bill's business partner and best friend, Morgan Freeman, and I think every photographer at the ball, both professional and amateur, came over to get a picture of Morgan. About an hour into the festivities, I noticed a man in black with the most gorgeous woman alive (his wife!), and whispered to Melissa, "Oh my God! There's Steve Cropper!" She (being much younger than I) said, "Who's Steve Cropper?" Well, music fan that I am, it is always my job to share the enthusiasm about the music that I love. So you can Google him, if you don't know...but if you're a huge music fan, like me, you'll already know that Steve Cropper either wrote, or co-wrote some of the most fabulous songs in both soul and rock 'n roll history: Knock on Wood, Midnight Hour, Sittin' on the Dock of the Bay, Green Onions and many, many more.

Steve "The Colonel" Cropper (born October 21, 1941) is a guitarist, songwriter and producer. As part of the Stax Records house band Booker T. & The MG's, he played on hundreds of recordings by Stax artists such as Otis Redding, Sam & Dave, Carla and Rufus Thomas and Johnnie Taylor, also acting as producer on many of these records. He has been described as "probably the best-known soul guitarist in the world" and was ranked #36 on Rolling Stone Magazine's Top 100 Guitarists of All Time.

Anyway, back to the Blues Ball, Melissa "made" me pose with Steve for this picture for Delta magazine. A good time was had by all!

"Play it, Steve!"