Talking to him more recently, I run through some of his achievements, including that he was number 36 in Rolling Stone magazine’s 100 best guitarists of all time (Mojo magazine named him ‘the greatest living guitarist’); he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the Songwriters’ Hall of Fame and won a couple of Grammys as well. Other musicians have esteemed him highly; when introduced to him, The Beatles collectively bowed. He himself has stated, ‘I would hate to be a star. I just want to do the best job for the music we’re making.’

I mention Buddy Holly. ‘Oh, he was great,’ says Steve. ‘We grew up on Buddy Holly’s music in the 1950s,’ and he sings a few bars of ‘That’ll Be the Day’. We talk about his first success, the huge Mar-Keys hit ‘Last Night’, and he points out that Buddy Holly had recorded a song with that title a couple of years earlier. ‘I like to think that I’m always the first to do things, but he beat me there.’

Of course, Steve was the guitarist of Booker T. and the M.G.’s, hit-makers of ‘Green Onions’ and so many more, and in effect the Stax Records house band, who played on hits by Otis Redding, Sam and Dave, Rufus Thomas, Carla Thomas, Eddie Floyd and Albert King – and on a baker’s dozen albums of their own.

As a guitarist he is the master of measurement – never too little, never too much – which goes some way to explaining the vast list of artists he has collaborated with, as guitarist, keyboardist, songwriter and record producer. This includes most famously the Blues Brothers Band, as well as Etta James, John Lennon, Roy Orbison, Eric Clapton, Ringo Starr and Rod Stewart, to name a handful. 

He’s still at it. On 6 August 2022 at Buddy Holly Hall in Lubbock, Texas, Steve took part in Buddy Holly’s 85th Birthday Bash – along with Peter Frampton and Albert Lee, among others. 

Paul Jones