On this day (November 2) in 1945, JD Souther was born in Detroit, Michigan. He moved to Los Angeles in his 20s and became part of the growing country rock scene. He was close with the members of the Eagles and wrote some of their biggest hits but never became a member of the band. Instead, he embarked on a solo career. In the late 1980s, he began appearing in films and TV shows.
Souther grew up in Amarillo, Texas, surrounded by a wide range of music. His father sang in a jazz band and his grandmother was an opera singer. The first song he learned to sing was “Nessun Dorma,” an aria from Puccini’s Turandot. He also learned to play several instruments as a child, including violin, clarinet, saxophone, guitar, and drums. Souther dropped out of college to play drums in his first band, The Cinders. In 1969, he moved to Los Angeles. There, he formed Longbranch Pennywhistle with his roommate, Glenn Frey.
JD Souther and the Eagles
In 1971, JD Souther’s girlfriend, Linda Ronstadt, and her manager, John Boylan, recruited Frey and Don Henley for her touring band. Then, they added Randy Meisner and Bernie Leadon. While on tour, Frey and Henley found that they had great chemistry and decided to start a band. Eventually, they signed with Asylum Records, a new label founded by David Geffen.
Geffen wanted Souther to join the band. However, he had no desire to do so. When American Songwriter asked him why he didn’t join the band, he gave a simple answer. “Because I am a terrible team player,” he said. “We actually rehearsed a set and played it for [Geffen]. I remember looking down the stage thinking, ‘Man, this is an awful lot of singers and acoustic guitar players all in the same band.’ I felt, ‘I’m not necessary here.’ And I don’t really like being told what to do in any sense anyway,” he added.
While he passed on joining the band, he collaborated with them and co-wrote some of their biggest hits. “Glenn had the best rock & roll sensibility. Henley had the best blues sensibility. I had the best jazz sensibility,” Souther explained. “Don and I are both inveterate readers. We never stop reading. And Glenn is just one of the most rhythmic human beings I have ever met.”
Souther co-wrote several of their biggest hits, including their first and last No. 1 singles, “Best of My Love” and “Heartache Tonight,” respectively. He also shares writing credits on “New Kid in Town,” “James Dean,” and “Doolin-Dalton,” among others.
Souther’s Solo Career
JD Souther released his debut album, John David Souther, in 1972. Four years later, he released Black Rose. The title track from his 1979 album You’re Only Lonely went to the top of the Adult Contemporary chart and reached No. 7 on the Hot 100.
He also collaborated with several artists, including Linda Ronstadt and James Taylor. The song “Her Town Too” from Taylor’s Dad Loves His Work peaked at No. 5 on the AC chart and No. 11 on the Hot 100.
While Souther had the songwriting talent to become a superstar in his own right, as Frey put it, he sacrificed some of his solo success by giving many of his best songs to others.
“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,” Frey said, via Variety.
[RELATED: JD Souther: A Legendary Journey]
Souther briefly retired from the music business at the end of the 1980s. He came back in 2009 with If the World Was You and released three more studio albums and two live LPs before he died in 2024.
According to IMDb, Souther took his first acting role, playing Jonn Dunaway in Thirtysomething in 1989. He also appeared in Postcards from the Edge, Purgatory, My Girl 2, Deadline, and Nashville.
Featured Image by Gijsbert Hanekroot/Redferns
The post Born 81 Years Ago Today in the Motor City, the Songwriting Mastermind Who Sacrificed Solo Success by Giving the Eagles and Linda Ronstadt His Best Songs appeared first on American Songwriter.