There’s a reason why Sam Moore shouted out, “Play it, Steve!” midway through Sam & Dave’s searing smash “Soul Man”. Steve Cropper was precisely the person who soul men (and women) shouted out for just about anything they needed done right. The founding guitarist of Booker T. & The M.G.’s didn’t just play on hundreds of timeless tracks; he co-wrote a whole bunch of them, too: “(Sittin’ On) The Dock of the Bay” with Otis Redding, “In the Midnight Hour” with Wilson Pickett and “Knock on Wood” with Eddie Floyd, for starters. And when he wasn’t writing, he was producing. And when he wasn’t producing, he could be found wearing a suit and tie as Stax Records’ resident A&R man. What did we lose when The Colonel, as he was known down in Soulsville, U.S.A., passed away at 84? An architect of sweet soul music itself.