{"id":887182,"date":"2026-09-07T21:28:21","date_gmt":"2026-09-07T21:28:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/887182\/"},"modified":"2026-09-07T21:28:21","modified_gmt":"2026-09-07T21:28:21","slug":"the-very-day-when-im-supposed-to-go-into-the-studio-to-record-this-song-i-hear-that-hes-passed-away-immediately-i-thought-this-song-has-to-be-a-memorial-for-steve","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/887182\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cThe very day when I’m supposed to go into the studio to record this song, I hear that he’s passed away. Immediately I thought, \u2018This song has to be a memorial for Steve\u2019\u201d: Brian May on his heartfelt tribute to Steve Cropper"},"content":{"rendered":"

Brian May has revealed how a guest appearance on a track by Steve Cropper turned into a tribute from one legendary guitarist to another.<\/p>\n

Speaking on his YouTube channel<\/a>, May says that he developed the song My Angels Are Calling as a eulogy following Cropper\u2019s death at the age of 84 on 3 December 2025.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t usually explain songs,\u201d May states. \u201cBut I kind of wanted to tell you the story about this one because it means a lot to me, this particular song.\u201d<\/p>\n

Latest Videos FromMusicRadar<\/p>\n

Steve Cropper & The Midnight Hour – My Angels Are Calling (feat Brian May & Billy F Gibbons) – YouTube
\n\"Steve<\/p>\n

Watch On <\/a><\/p>\n

May begins by acknowledging the huge influence that Cropper has had on generations of guitarists.<\/p>\n

As a member of Booker T. & The M.G.\u2019s, Cropper backed a host of major stars including Otis Redding, Wilson Pickett and Sam & Dave. Cropper also co-wrote several iconic hit songs \u2013 most notably Redding\u2019s (Sittin\u2019 On) The Dock Of The Bay, Booker T. & The M.G.\u2019s\u2019 Green Onions, Pickett\u2019s In The Midnight Hour and Eddie Floyd\u2019s Knock On Wood.<\/p>\n

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Says May: \u201cSteve Cropper, of course, is a seminal white blues guitarist. One of the people who influenced everybody who\u2019s playing rock \u2019n\u2019 roll today. One of the very first people to bend strings that way, and we were all like, \u2018Whoa!\u2019 I mean, I was a kid, and for us it was like making a guitar talk.\u201d<\/p>\n

The 2024 album Friendlytown, credited to Steve Cropper & The Midnight Hour, featured a guest appearance from May on the track Too Much Stress, with another famous player, ZZ Top<\/a>\u2019s Billy Gibbons, contributing throughout the album.<\/p>\n

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May says of Too Much Stress: \u201cIt\u2019s part of Steve Cropper\u2019s lineage. And I\u2019m proud to be part of that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Steve Cropper &The Midnight Hour (feat. Brian May) – “Too Much Stress” – YouTube
\n\"Steve<\/p>\n

Watch On <\/a><\/p>\n

Nevertheless, May admits that when he was sent a demo track for Cropper\u2019s following album he was initially reluctant to collaborate on it.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was like, \u2018Well, I’m not sure if I can do it right now. I\u2019m not really in the mood. I\u2019m not really hearing it. I don\u2019t relate to what you\u2019re saying. It doesn\u2019t quite click with me, so maybe I have to pass on this one.\u201d<\/p>\n

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However, when May received a second track \u2013 featuring Gibbons \u2013 he was immediately intrigued by the rhythm parts played by Cropper.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019d done these wonderful little riffs,\u201d May says, \u201cand it\u2019s a very odd chord sequence. It goes all the way up, and it goes all the way back down again.\u201d<\/p>\n

May was working on a new arrangement for this song when he received the news of Cropper\u2019s death.<\/p>\n

He recalls: \u201cThe very day, like the following week, when I\u2019m supposed to go into the studio to record this song, I hear that Steve\u2019s passed away. Very sad to hear, and immediately my brain clicked into a different place \u2013 I thought, \u2018This song has to be a memorial for Steve.\u2019 If I can do it\u2026 I\u2019m going to sing it as if I were him. He\u2019s already played on the track, which is great.\u201d<\/p>\n

He continues: \u201cAs soon as he\u2019d gone, I could feel it, and in just a few hours I had the thing written out. And my idea was, \u2018Okay, Steve had a great life.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201cI knew him a little. I wish I\u2019d known him better. But he was a very accepting guy, a very philosophical guy, very spiritual, and I figured he\u2019s he\u2019s thinking, \u2018I\u2019ve had a great life and I\u2019ve done some great stuff. You know, I\u2019m really grateful\u2026 but I\u2019m realising now I\u2019m hearing my angels calling me, so I\u2019m really realising it’s time for me to go. But I\u2019m okay. I\u2019m all right about that. I\u2019m ready to go. I\u2019ve done great stuff, and I\u2019m hearing my angels. They can take me away. They\u2019re going to take me to heaven. So what could be bad about that? So this is a happy song, really.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

The result is My Angels Are Calling. It features on the recently released Steve Cropper & The Midnight Hour album Watching The Tide. The album\u2019s title quotes the lyric to (Sittin\u2019 On) The Dock Of The Bay, as do the lyrics May wrote for My Angels Are Calling.<\/p>\n

Otis Redding – (Sittin’ On) The Dock Of The Bay (Official Music Video) – YouTube
\n\"Otis<\/p>\n

Watch On <\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cI figured he would be taken away to the place where he feels like he\u2019s in heaven,\u201d May says. \u201cHe\u2019s back at his favourite moment in time, sitting on the dock of the bay.\u201d<\/p>\n

Speaking on behalf of countless guitarists, May concludes with a smile: \u201cSteve, oh boy! If it hadn\u2019t been for you, I don\u2019t think any of us would really have been here doing what we’re doing.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Brian May has revealed how a guest appearance on a track by Steve Cropper turned into a tribute…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":887183,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[49,48,75,341],"class_list":["post-887182","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-music","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-entertainment","tag-music"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/887182","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=887182"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/887182\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/887183"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=887182"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=887182"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=887182"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}