Watching The Tide Steve Cropper & The Midnight Hour

• 1 Tandoori Chicken 03:11
• 2 Ticket First 04:22
• 3 My Angels Are Calling 05:09
• 4 Until Now 03:23
• 5 Blood From A Stone 04:02
• 6 Here & Gone 02:59
• 7 It's Gonna Get Worse 03:37
• 8 Down & Out 04:20
• 9 Stand Right Here 02:34
• 10 Tip Off To The Rip Off 03:33
• 11 House Of Cards 03:49
• 12 Tandoori Chicken Pt. 2 00:48
• Total Runtime 41:47

Info for Watching The Tide

To anyone who knows the roots and branches of American music, the passing of Steve Cropper in December 2025 was seismic. As guitarist, songwriter, producer and engineer – not just for the iconic Stax record label but on a forest of sessions and solo releases – the Tennessee soul man was the DNA that coursed through the post-war era. Little did we know this towering figure had one last ace to play in his lifetime, with Watching The Tide gathering A-list names including Eric Clapton, Brian May, Ronnie Wood and Billy Gibbons for 12 brand-new songs that Cropper ranked amongst the best of his career. "I know this record provided great joy to Steve in the last year of his life," says project leader Jon Tiven. "And I'm so glad he was able to have one last great creative burst…"

The album is a huge statement for a musical colossus who towered over the rock ‘n’ roll age. Yet to play this posthumous release is to hear an all-time-great still at the top of his game, blending the burning passion of youth with the wisdom of an old master. Steve Cropper might have left us, but with ‘Watching The Tide,’ the ripples continue to spread.

Roger C. Reale, vocals
Ana Grosh, vocals (tracks 6, 9)
Nioshi Jackson, drums
Eddie Gore, keyboards, percussion
Guests:
Eric Clapton, guitar (track 2)
Billy Gibbons, (tracks 3, 9) guitar
Brian May, guitar (track 3)
Ronnie Wood, (track 4) slide guitar

Steve Cropper
One of the most influential session guitarists and R&B songwriters of our time, Steve Cropper rose to prominence in the studios of Memphis. He was a guitarist, producer, engineer and songwriter at Stax Records.

Born on a Missouri farm, Cropper and his family moved to Memphis when he was nine years old. He began playing guitar at age 14. His first successes were instrumentals he wrote for the Stax band he performed in, the Mar-Keys.

His work in the Mar-Keys, plus recording-session experience for other Memphis labels, led to him becoming the house session guitarist at Stax. Cropper was soon contributing to hits by Sam & Dave, Carla Thomas, Eddie Floyd, Johnnie Taylor, Rufus Thomas, Wilson Pickett and Otis Redding. He also co-wrote a series of hit instrumentals for the Stax instrumental quartet Booker T. & the MGs, for whom he served as guitarist, with an elegant, concise style.

His biggest songwriting hits include "Knock on Wood," "In the Midnight Hour," "Dock of the Bay," "See Saw" and "634-5789." These were all pop and soul hits but were also songs frequently covered by Nashville artists.

In the 1970s and '80s, Steve Cropper recorded and toured with Levon Helm and the Blues Brothers. He moved to Nashville in 1988 and eventually founded his own recording studio and record label.

Along with the other MGs, he was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1992. The group received a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2007. In 2008, Cropper teamed up with fellow Nashvillian Felix Cavaliere to record Nudge It Up a Notch. Nominated for a Grammy Award, the album consists of songs the two co-wrote.

His classic song "Dock of the Bay," co-written with Otis Redding, has been certified as having been broadcast more than six million times.

This album contains no booklet.