Steve Cropper’s final recordings bring together an exceptional group of guitarists, with Brian May and Billy F. Gibbons joining Cropper on the soulful tribute My Angels Are Calling.
by Paul Cashmere
Steve Cropper’s posthumous album Watching The Tide has been released through Provogue / Artone Label Group, bringing together the late Stax Records guitarist with a remarkable cast of collaborators including Brian May, Billy F. Gibbons, Eric Clapton and Ronnie Wood. The album, completed before Cropper’s death in December 2025, documents one of American music’s most influential guitarists during the final period of his recording career.
The centrepiece of the release is My Angels Are Calling, a soulful ballad featuring Queen guitarist Sir Brian May on lead vocals and ZZ Top’s Billy F. Gibbons on guitar. May wrote the lyrics and co-wrote the music, approaching the song from Cropper’s perspective and reflecting on a lifetime spent making music.
Gibbons contributes the closing guitar solo, giving the recording a connection between three generations of blues, rock and soul guitar. May said he viewed the song as an opportunity to imagine Cropper contemplating the end of his life while retaining the optimism that characterised his work.
The song also carries a direct connection to Cropper’s best-known songwriting achievement. The album title references (Sittin’ On) The Dock Of The Bay, the 1967 Otis Redding classic co-written by Cropper. May’s lyrics imagine the guitarist returning to that setting as he considers his life and legacy.
Watching The Tide was recorded at Nashville’s historic RCA Studio C, with Cropper working alongside songwriter and producer Jon Tiven and Midnight Hour vocalist Roger C. Reale. The sessions included vocalist Ana Grosh, drummer Nioshi Jackson and engineer Eddie Gore on keyboards and percussion.
The album also preserves Cropper’s collaborations with other major guitarists. Ticket First, the first song released from the project, features Eric Clapton. According to Tiven, the track began with humour before Clapton delivered a guitar performance that prompted Tiven to suggest he deserved a songwriting credit. Clapton reportedly responded that he was happy simply to have his name associated with Cropper’s.
Until Now features Ronnie Wood of The Rolling Stones. Tiven recalled that Wood responded quickly when invited to participate, describing the project as something he wanted to join. His contribution includes a distinctive slide guitar part.
Cropper’s death in December 2025 closed the career of a musician whose influence extended far beyond his work as a member of Booker T. & the M.G.’s. At Stax, his economical guitar style became fundamental to the label’s Memphis soul sound. He also worked extensively as a songwriter, producer, engineer and session musician.
His songwriting partnership with Otis Redding produced (Sittin’ On) The Dock Of The Bay, while his wider Stax credits connected him with some of the defining recordings of American soul. His guitar playing, meanwhile, influenced generations of rock, blues and rhythm and blues musicians.
Watching The Tide therefore functions as both a new album and a final document of Cropper’s creative work. Rather than presenting archival material from an earlier period, the record captures the 83-year-old guitarist working with contemporary collaborators while drawing directly on the musical language he helped establish.
The full album places those collaborations alongside Cropper’s own songs, with My Angels Are Calling providing its most explicit reflection on mortality and legacy. With May interpreting Cropper’s imagined final thoughts and Gibbons supplying the concluding guitar statement, the recording gives the album a particularly personal centre.
Watching The Tide is now available through Provogue / Artone Label Group.
Tracklisting
Tandoori Chicken
Ticket First ft. Eric Clapton
My Angels Are Calling ft. Brian May & Billy F. Gibbons
Until Now ft. Ronnie Wood
Blood From A Stone
Here & Gone ft. Ana Grosh
It’s Gonna Get Worse
Down & Out
Stand Right Here ft. Billy F. Gibbons & Ana Grosh
Tipoff To The Ripoff
House Of Cards
Tandoori Chicken Part 2
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