JD Souther, pivotal figure in Californian country rock who wrote a string of hits for the Eagles
JD Souther, the singer, songwriter and actor, who has died aged 78, crafted a uniquely Californian country rock sound in the 1970s through his work with the Eagles and Linda Ronstadt.
Although his solo career never reached the heights of the artists he wrote for – he reached the top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100 only once, with the 1979 ballad You’re Only Lonely – Souther was a pivotal figure in shaping modern country rock and the southern California sound that is now synonymous with the Eagles.
John David Souther was born in Detroit, Michigan, on November 2 1945, and brought up in Amarillo, Texas. His father was a singer, performing as Johnny Warren, until his wife, Loty Finley, grew tired of him being away on tour and persuaded him to get a job with MCA as an agent. There, he worked with jazz legends of the day such as the Three Sounds, the Mills Brothers and Victor Borge, who baby-sat young John.
A shy child, John had an early interest in music, learning to play jazz drums before taking up the guitar. After graduating in the late 1960s from Amarillo College, where he dabbled in carpentry and music theory, he moved to Los Angeles and formed a short-lived duo called Longbranch/Pennywhistle with Glenn Frey, the future Eagle.
In a matter of months, they had amassed a loyal following at West Hollywood’s fashionable Troubadour club and various venues dotted around the bohemian Hollywood Hills. It was in the dark and smoky surroundings of the Troubadour that Souther met, and was inspired by, the likes of Kris Kristofferson, Randy Newman, Elton John, Carole King, and James Taylor, with whom he later collaborated on the song Her Town Too, which appeared on Taylor’s 1981 album Dad Loves His Work.
While living with Frey, Souther was going out with Linda Ronstadt, with whom he wrote and duetted on her successful singles Prisoner in Disguise, Sometimes You Can’t Win and Hearts Against the Wind. He persuaded his girlfriend to enlist the services of his roommate for her back-up band, and after two more members of Linda Ronstadt’s ensemble, Bernie Leadon and Randy Meisner, were persuaded to join Frey and Don Henley in their new musical endeavour, the Eagles were born.
At that time, playing gigs across Los Angeles as a soloist, Souther was “sort of” asked by David Geffen, the head of Asylum, to join the Eagles after they had released their first LP in 1972.
“I considered it, and we rehearsed a set and played it for David and [the Eagles’ managers] Elliot Roberts and Ron Stone at the Troubadour one afternoon,” he recalled. “Truthfully, it took all of a minute to say no – the band was exceptional as it was, and I was quite happy to stay home and write. I think they were relieved, as well.”
It was a tempestuous time in Souther’s personal life: he had called it quits on his relationship with Linda Ronstadt and had gone on to date Stevie Nicks of Fleetwood Mac and Judee Sill, who said her celebrated 1971 single Jesus Was a Cross Maker was penned for Souther after he broke her heart during an ill-fated affair.
Never one to embrace fame, he deplored questions about what his life might have been like had he become the fifth Eagle, saying in 2019 that he usually replied, “Would you like to see the checks?”: the songs he co-wrote for the band included The Best of My Love, New Kid in Town and Heartache Tonight.
Content with his riches, Souther built homes in the Hollywood Hills and in Tennessee, adopted two dogs, and spent his evenings drinking martinis and watching films – he had a brush with the A-list in 1989 when he played a pianist and singer in Steven Spielberg’s romantic fantasy Always – and travelled extensively, from skiing in New Zealand to meditation retreats in Japan.
A two-time Grammy nominee, Souther was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2013 and enjoyed a late-career resurgence as an actor, appearing in ABC’s popular soap opera Nashville (2012-18) as the fictional country music legend, Watty White.
At the time of his death, Souther was about to embark on a tour with his fellow singer-songwriter Karla Bonoff.
JD Souther was divorced from his first wife, Alexandra Sliwin, and his second, Sarah Nicholson.
JD Souther, born November 2 1945, died September 17 2024
