RIP: JD Souther

[Anybodyhome]

Perhaps one of the more underrated singer/songwriters of the last 50 years, he passed last week at 78.

One of the architects of the California folk-country-rock sound, he co-wrote huge hits for the Eagles and Linda Ronstadt. Best of My Love, Victim of Love, How Long, Heartache Tonight and New Kid in Town are but a few. He and fellow Detroit native Glenn Frey were roommates in SoCal in the late 60s and recorded an album together under the name Longbranch Pennywhistle (which I own a mint copy). He later put together the Souther-Hillman-Furay Band (SHF Band, for some), with Chris Hillman from the Byrds and Richie Furay from Buffalo Springfield.

He was instrumental in getting Don Henley and later, Glenn Frey in the studio as backing musicians for Linda Ronstadt and then brought in Bernie Leadon from the Flying Burrito Brothers and Randy Meisner, the bass player from Poco. With Linda Ronstadt's full support, the foursome of Henley, Frey, Leadon and Meisner launched the Eagles. I'm very fortunate to have been able to see all of these people perform either solo or with their bands, the Eagles, Ronstadt, Poco, the list goes on.

He worked extensively with Linda Ronstadt, contributing songs and worked on the production side with some of her albums. They dated through the early to mid-70s. He also worked with Don Henley, James Taylor, and was dating Stevie Nicks after he and Ronstadt broke up. He was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2013.

I'll be listening to both of my SHF Band albums as well as Longbranch Pennywhistle.