J.D. Souther (1945-2024) R.I.P.
Only just recently heard the news that singer-songwriter John David "JD" Souther passed away a couple weeks ago now (9/17/24) at the age of 78. J.D. was a wonderful performer, and did have a couple hits of his own, but he was best-known as a songwriter, writing songs with and for The Eagles, Linda Ronstadt, Bonnie Raitt, Don Henley, and others. A notable voice of the early-seventies country-rock scene and the "California sound" of those artists. He met up and roomed with Glenn Frey in the late sixties, and they formed the duo Longbranch Pennywhistle before Frey and Don Henley formed the Eagles. Souther released his first solo album John David Souther in 1972. After that and some songwriting credits with The Eagles and Linda Ronstadt, and making a name for himself in country rock, he joined up with a couple other country rock legends, Chris Hillman (The Byrds, The Flying Burrito Brothers) and Richie Furay (Buffalo Springfield, Poco) to form the short-lived country rock supergroup Souther Hillman Furay Band, which released a couple of GREAT albums before disintegrating under conflicting personalities. Following the demise of SHF Band in 1975, J.D. returned to solo work, releasing Black Rose in 1976, an underrated gem that featured many of his celebrated friends and colleagues (such as Don Henley, Glenn Frey, Linda Ronstadt, David Crosby, Lowell George, Art
Garfunkel, Andrew Gold, Joe Walsh, Waddy Wachtel, and Stanley Clarke) helping out. Over the next several years, Souther released 2 more albums (You're Only Lonely, 1979 and Home By Dawn,
1984), and in this period he had his only two 'hits', You're Only Lonely in 1979 and a duet with James Taylor, Your Town Too in 1981, before somewhat disappearing from music in the late 1980's. He
did some acting in movies and TV in the 1990's, but wasn't heard from
much after that. But then in 2008, he returned (after 24 years since his
last album) with a new album, If the World Was You, which was recorded live with a 5-piece Jazz group (including Bela Fleck). In 2011, he released Natural History, which featured new versions of some of his songs that were recorded by other artists. He was inducted into the Songwriter's Hall of Fame in 2013 and called "a principal architect of the Southern California sound and a major influence on a generation of songwriters." In 2015, he released his final album, Tenderness, which consisted of all new, original songs. Some of the great songs he wrote or co-wrote included Doolin-Dalton, Best of My Love, Victim of Love, New Kid in Town, Heartache Tonight, and How Long, all recorded by the Eagles; Faithless Love, Prisoner in Disguise, White Rhythm and Blues for Linda Ronstadt; Heart of the Matter for Don Henley, Run Like a Thief for Bonnie Raitt, etc. and of course, the great songs with SHF and solo albums, such as Border Town, Pretty Goodbyes, Trouble in Paradise, Somebody Must Be Wrong, Mexico, You're Only Lonely, Go Ahead and Rain, among many others. A great and underrated talent.
I have previously featured several rare live recordings from JD, including multiple SHF Band shows and a solo show from 1975. Some of the links for those have died, but several are still available, and I will get the broken links fixed for those that want check out more from the great talent that was J.D. Souther.
Check out those previous J.D. Souther posts and shows here.
