Eric Clapton, Brian May, Billy Gibbons & Ronnie Wood for posthumous Steve Cropper album
'Watching the Tide' is released this summer
A posthumous album from Steve Cropper & The Midnight Hour is being released this summer featuring guest appearances from Eric Clapton, Queen’s Brian May, ZZ Top’s Billy Gibbons and The Rolling Stones’ Ronnie Wood.
Legendary guitarist Steve Cropper, whose work as a musician, producer and songwriter at Stax Records changed the face of music forever, died aged 84 at his Nashville home in December 2025.
Prior to his passing, The Colonel had been working on his new record ‘Watching the Tide’ with songwriter/producer Jon Tiven, and it will be released posthumously on Friday 28th August 2026 via Provogue/Artone Label Group.
The first single from the album, ‘Ticket First’ featuring Eric Clapton, has premiered today. You can watch the lyric video here:
‘Watching The Tide’ – a reference to the lyrics from the lyrics of the Otis Redding song Cropper wrote, ‘(Sittin' On) the Dock of the Bay’ – was recorded at Nashville’s historic RCA Studio C.
"Making music was Steve's greatest joy," notes long-time collaborator and friend Jon Tiven. "Steve was so encouraged by (2024 album) ‘Friendlytown’. He was adamant he wanted to do another record."
Queen’s Brian May and ZZ Top’s Billy F Gibbons both play on the valedictory ballad ‘My Angels Are Calling’, while Gibbons also plays on album track ‘Stand Right Here’ alongside vocalist Ana Grosh.
Elsewhere, ‘Until Now’ makes stellar use of Rolling Stone Ronnie Wood’s stinging slide.
“I finished the mixes about a week-and-a-half before Steve passed and we brought a CD to him at the medical facility,” remembers Tiven. “He called me the night before he passed to tell me how much he loved it. He was playing it for everyone who came to visit him, telling them it was the best record he’d ever made.”
You can pre-order the album here.
As a pivotal member of Stax's house band Booker T. & the M.G.'s, Steve Cropper played guitar on and co-wrote seminal songs including Otis Redding's ‘(Sittin' On) the Dock of the Bay’ and Wilson Pickett's ‘In the Midnight Hour’.
Nicknamed The Colonel, Cropper worked with an array of rock musicians throughout his illustrious career including The Jeff Beck Group, The Beatles’ Ringo Starr and John Lennon, Rod Stewart, Jimmy Barnes, Peter Frampton, and B.B. King to name but a few.
He also joined John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd’s band The Blues Brothers in 1978 and played on their hit covers of ‘Soul Man’ and ‘Gimme Some Lovin’.
Steve Cropper & The Midnight Hour's 'Watching the Tide' track-listing:
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