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ARAB TIMES, TUESDAY, JANUARY 5, 2021 NEWS/FEATURES 13 People & Places This image released by Roadside Attractions shows Federico Ielapi, (center), and Teco Celio, (right), in a scene from ‘Pinocchio.’ ‘Pinocchio’ debuted in US theaters and on the streaming service on Dec 25, 2020. (AP) Obit Music ‘A legend, good friend’ A low-key Memphis guitar legend ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone:’ singer Marsden dies at 78 Cropper builds on a musical legacy LONDON, Jan 4, (AP): Gerry Marsden, lead singer MEMPHIS, Tenn., Jan 4, (AP): It’s cials and movies: “It’s like thunder per said. “My hair stood up on my of the 1960s British group Gerry and the Pacemakers 1966 and a thunderstorm illuminates and lightning, the way you love me is arms. I said, ‘Stop right there.’ He said, that had such hits as “Ferry Cross the Mersey” and the night sky in Memphis, Tennessee. frightening. I better knock, on wood, ‘What you don’t like it?’ I said, ‘No, I the song that became the anthem of Liverpool Foot- Two Stax Records musicians, guitarist baby.” love it.” ball Club, “You’ll Never Walk Alone,” has died. He Steve Cropper and singer Eddie Floyd, Cropper draws a lean, precise, un- The song became Redding’s fi rst hit was 78. sit in a room inside the Lorraine Motel, derstated-yet-signature sound from his for Stax, and the beginning a string of His family said that Marsden died Sunday “after a struggling to fashion a song about love guitar. “In the Midnight Hour,” “Soul hits. In 1967, Cropper and Redding sat short illness in no way connected with COVID-19” and superstition. Man,” and “Time is Tight” feature ir- down to write “(Sittin’ On) The Dock and that his wife, daughters and grandchildren are The pair try many references to resistible intros. Cropper mastered the “devastated.” of the Bay.” good and bad luck - rubbing rabbit’s art of fi lling gaps with an essential lick As they worked, Cropper decided His friend Pete Price said on Instagram after speak- feet, breaking mirrors - but nothing or two, then stepping aside as organ- ing to Marsden’s family that the singer died after a the song needed something. He went to Guitarist, songwriter and record pro- fi ts. Then, as the lightning fl ashes and ist Booker T. Jones, bassist Donald a Memphis studio known for produc- short illness related to a heart infection. the thunder roars, Cropper asks Floyd: “Duck” Dunn and others led the way. “I’m sending all the love in the world to (his wife) ducer Steve Cropper poses Dec 2, ing jingles and recorded sound effects 2020, in Nashville, Tenn. Cropper has “What do people usually do for good “I listen to the other musicians and of sea gulls and ocean waves. Pauline and his family,” he said. “You’ll Never Walk been in the music business for more luck?’” the singer,” Cropper said. “I’m not lis- Alone.” The song became Redding’s biggest than six decades. (AP) “And Eddie goes, knock, knock, tening to just me.” hit. Marsden was the lead singer knock,” Cropper told The Associ- On a YouTube instructional video, of the band that found fame Cropper left Stax in September ated Press. “I said, ’There’s our song, guitar virtuoso Joe Bonamassa says 1970. He has has lived in Nashville for in the Merseybeat scene in ‘Knock on Wood.’” Cropper’s moves are often copied. the 1960s. Though another more than 30 years. He still cuts guitar At a time when it was common for “If you haven’t heard the name dubs at RCA Studio 3, and has a new Liverpool band - The Beatles white musicians to co-opt the work of Steve Cropper, you’ve heard him in - reached superstardom, Gerry album set for release in April. Black artists and make more money song,” Bonamassa said. The last time he saw Redding was and the Pacemakers will al- from their songs, Cropper was that rare As a teenager new to Memphis, ways have a place in the city’s on a Friday at the studio as he was put- white artist willing to keep a lower Cropper fell in love with music ema- ting the fi nishing touches on “Dock of consciousness because of profi le and collaborate. That may ex- nating from churches, clubs and car “You’ll Never Walk Alone.” the Bay.” plain why now, more than half a cen- radios. He bought his fi rst guitar from “He popped his head into the con- “I thought what a beauti- tury later and still making music at 79 a Sears catalog at age 14. Marsden ful song. I’m going to tell my years old, he can walk through an air- trol room. At the time, I was setting band we’re going to play that port or a grocery store without being Soulful up to do the guitar licks,” said Crop- song,” Marsden told The Associated Press in 2018 per. “Otis said, ’I’ll see you Monday. I Prince Lima recognized, while the original songs Formed by Jim Stewart and Estelle when recalling the fi rst time he heard the song at the Axton, Stax Records became a soul- said, ‘Ok, I’ll see you Monday.’ That’s cinema. “So I went back and told my buddies we’re he co-wrote - played on sound systems in those same public spaces - remain ful, gritty counterpoint to Detroit’s the last word I heard from him.’” doing a ballad called ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone.’” Motown. Booker T. and the MGs, with Redding, 26, and four members of Marsden is best known for his band’s rendition of instantly familiar. Variety From “In the Midnight Hour” to Cropper, Dunn, Al Jackson and Jones, his band died in a plane crash on Sun- the song from “Carousel,” which was a 1945 Rodgers day, Dec. 10, 1967. They were headed and Hammerstein musical that became a feature fi lm “(Sittin’ On) The Dock of the Bay” to became the lead house band. When “Soul Man,” Cropper worked along- trumpeter Wayne Jackson and saxo- to a show in Madison, Wisconsin, in 1956. The Pacemakers’ cover version was released MINNEAPOLIS: The ongoing controversy when their plane plummeted into a in October 1963 and became the band’s third No. 1 hit side the likes of Otis Redding, Wilson phonist Andrew Love joined them, over the money left behind by Prince when Pickett, Isaac Hayes, Sam and Dave, they called themselves the Mar-Keys. frigid lake. on the British singles chart. he died without a will is heating up again Cropper and his bandmates were It was adopted by fans of the soccer club Liverpool Eddie Floyd and many others to leave Cropper, Dunn and Wayne Jackson after Internal Revenue Service calculations an indelible imprint on the American were white. Jones, Al Jackson and in an Indianapolis airport when they and is sung with spine-tingling passion before each showed that executors of the rock star’s heard Redding died. Songwriter David home game of the 19-time English champion - before estate undervalued it by 50%, or about $80 songbook. Love were Black. Missouri-born and Memphis-raised, “When you walked in the door at Porter had called his wife, who broke coronavirus restrictions meant many matches being million. the news to her husband. played in empty stadiums. The IRS determined that Prince’s estate Cropper joined the Stax Records team Stax, there was absolutely no color,” is worth $163.2 million, overshadowing as a 20-year-old. Working as a song- Cropper said. “David Porter looked like he had “I was saddened by Gerry Marsden’s passing. His the blood drained out of him. We said, voice will always lead the way at Anfi eld, in times the $82.3 million valuation submitted writer, producer, and guitarist in the In 1962, when Johnny Jenkins and by Comerica Bank & Trust, the estate’s bi-racial house band Booker T. and the Pinetoppers arrived at Stax to re- ‘David are you alright, what’s the mat- of celebration or lament,” singer Elvis Costello said, ter?’ So, he said, his wife just told him referring to Liverpool’s stadium. administrator. The discrepancy primarily the MGs, Cropper laid the foundation cord, a valet named Otis Redding was involves Prince’s music publishing and for songs that have outlasted the studio with them. that Otis’ plane had gone down, and Faithful recording interests, according to court that created them. As Cropper tells it, Redding pes- he had died,” said Cropper, his voice The song’s lyrics, showcasing unity and persever- documents. “Knock on Wood” featured Crop- tered Al Jackson to ask Cropper to hear cracking. “Pretty heavy duty.” Documents show the IRS believes that per’s catchy, hip-moving guitar and him sing. Redding never got to hear Cropper’s ance through adversity - including “When you walk Prince’s estate owes another $32.4 million through a storm, Hold your head up high, And don’t rousing horns, setting the stage for “He starts singing, ‘These Arms of fi nal version of “(Sittin’ On) the Dock in federal taxes, roughly doubling the tax lines still heard heard in TV commer- Mine.’ And I went ‘Holy ----,’” Crop- of Bay.” be afraid of the dark” - have been a rallying cry for bill based on Comerica’s valuation, the Star the Liverpool faithful and the song’s title are on the Tribune reported. Liverpool club crest. The IRS also has ordered a $6.4 million The song has also been adopted by supporters of was posthumously honored with a Doctor Prince’s backing band The Revolution dinner.

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