Watching The Tide (Blue/Red Marble)

The late and great Steve Cropper had another ace up his sleeve before his tragic passing in December 2025. To anyone who knows the roots and branches of American music, the loss of The Colonel 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, his fabled right hand setting the pace of rock 'n' roll for 60-plus years.

The legendary musician was working on this new record, and with Watching The Tide, he has left a beautiful gift to the world, featuring an all-star cast including Eric Clapton, Brian May, Billy Gibbons and Ronnie Wood.

Appropriately for an album whose title references the guitarist’s most famous co-write (Otis Redding’s 1967 standard ‘(Sittin’ On) The Dock Of The Bay’), Watching The Tide saw Cropper roll back the years. Writing alongside songwriter/producer Jon Tiven and Midnight Hour vocalist Roger C. Reale, then tracking at Nashville’s historic RCA Studio C with an ace band including Ana Grosh (vocals), Nioshi Jackson (drums), engineer Eddie Gore (keys/percussion), and a wishlist of guitar heroes (Eric Clapton, Billy Gibbons, Brian May, Ronnie Wood) – the 83-year-old sounds ageless and energised.

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.

Watching The Tide will be released on 28 August via Provogue/Artone Label Group.