“I feel so removed from it”: Steve Cropper admits he only plays Green Onions at shows to keep fans happy
The question of whether or not artists should play their most popular songs at shows is a polarising one.
Some, like Billy Idol guitarist Steve Stevens, are happy to perform those hits, believing that artists should be grateful for the tracks that made their career and “bought you your house”. While others, like Steve Cropper of Booker T. & the M.G.’s, admits that he only plays classics such as Green Onions to avoid the ire of passionate fans.
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Speaking on the latest issue of Goldmine, the 82-year-old musician says that despite its popularity, Green Onions is a song he now struggles to connect with given how young he was when he first performed it.
“I know it’s a classic, but I feel so removed from it because I was just a young guy when I played it,” Cropper explains. “I still play that song every night, and if I don’t, the fans will get mad at me. I don’t want that. So I play the hits, and they’re happy.”
“If you don’t do the classics like Midnight Hour or Knock on Wood, the fans are going to retaliate [laughs],” he adds. “The new stuff has to make it on its own merit because there aren’t any disc jockeys promoting it. It’ll just be in a playlist rotation, and that’s about it.”
Released in 1962, Green Onion has long cemented its place in the R&B canon, having been added to the Library of Congress’ National Recording Registry, a list of “culturally, historically, or aesthetically important” American sound recordings, in 2012.
During the chat, Cropper also talks about how the band’s success came as a surprise for him, and the importance of getting a good manager to help navigate the music business.
“We got lucky, is all I can say. But if you surround yourself with good, talented people and put yourself in the right place at the right time, it’ll work,” says the guitarist.
“When someone asks for advice for their son or daughter playing guitar, I tell them to learn the business, too. If you can’t learn it, find someone who knows it, like a manager or a lawyer. That separates a good manager from a bad one. If a manager doesn’t know the business, he might motivate you to play better, but he won’t get you hits.”
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