JD Souther RIP
Quite a back catalogue
Arriving in Los Angeles from Texas in the late 1960s, the singer-songwriter JD Souther became part of the burgeoning California music revolution that would include Joni Mitchell,
Crosby Stills and Nash, the Eagles, Jackson Browne, James Taylor and Linda Ronstadt.
When he was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame half a century later, Souther, who has died aged 78, was declared “a principal architect of the Southern
California sound and a major influence on a generation of songwriters”.
Many of those artists found a home at David Geffen’s Asylum record label, and Souther was one of its earliest signings. In 1972 Asylum released his debut solo album, John David Souther (subsequently he would bill himself as JD Souther, in homage to JS Bach). This was not a commercial success, though the song How Long would eventually win a Grammy award when it was recorded by the
Eagles for their 2007 album Long Road Out of Eden.
Souther would enjoy his greatest success with his songwriting work, especially his close collaboration with the Eagles. He was among the songwriting credits on their second album, Desperado (1973), and played a more significant role on On the Border (1974), co-writing the songs James Dean, You Never Cry Like a Lover and their first US No 1 single, Best of My Love.
On the band’s finest hour, Hotel California (1976), he co-wrote the chart-topping
New Kid in Town as well as Victim of Love. He was part of the Eagles’ final No 1 single when he helped write Heartache Tonight, from The Long Run (1979). In addition, he co-wrote several songs for the solo albums of the Eagles’ Don Henley, including the Top 30 hit
The Heart of the Matter from The End of the Innocence (1989).
In 1973, Souther joined with Chris Hillman (formerly with the Byrds, Flying Burrito Brothers and Stephen Stills’s Manassas) and ex-Buffalo Springfield and Poco member Richie Furay in the Souther-Hillman-Furay Band. Their first eponymous album reached 11 on the US chart, and also produced a Top 30 single with Fallin’ in Love, but the follow-up, Trouble in Paradise, barely scraped into the Top 40.
Souther dated Stevie Nicks and the singer-songwriter Judee Sill, but had an especially close romantic and professional relationship with Ronstadt, who recorded many of his songs including Faithless Love, White Rhythm and Blues, and Simple Man, Simple Dream. He duetted with Ronstadt on his song
Prisoner in Disguise, the title track of her million-selling 1975 album that reached No 4 on the US album chart. They also duetted on
Hearts Against the Wind, which was featured in the film Urban Cowboy (1980). The Eagles’
Glenn Freyonce joked that “one of the reasons JD didn’t have a bigger solo career is because he gave us or Linda Ronstadt most of his best songs”.