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JD Souther, Eagles and Linda Ronstadt Songwriter, Dies at 78
The cowriter of ‘Best of My Love’ and ‘New Kid in Town’ was a driving force of 1970s Southern California country rock
Mark Davis/Getty Images
John David Souther, who called himself JD Souther (inspired by J.S. Bach), a prolific songwriter and musician who helped shape 1970s country rock with the Eagles and Linda Ronstadt, died peacefully Sept. 17 at 78 in his New Mexico home.
Souther, who cowrote the Eagles tunes “Best of My Love,” “James Dean,” “New Kid in Town” and the No. 1 hit “Heartache Tonight,” also worked with James Taylor, Bob Seger and Bonnie Raitt, and had a Top 10 solo hit with the Roy Orbison-like “You’re Only Lonely.” He was about to start a tour with Karla Bonoff, 72. When he was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2013, Souther was described as “a principal architect of the Southern California sound and a major influence on a generation of songwriters.”
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He was also at the heart of the social scene, with girlfriends including Ronstadt, Joni Mitchell and Stevie Nicks, who told High Times she remembered him as “very, very, very male chauvinistic, and very sweet and cute and wonderful, but very Texas.” Famously handsome, he was a TV and movie actor, too, in Thirtysomething, Postcards from the Edge and Nashville. He sang “Smoke Gets in Your Eyes” in Steven Spielberg’s Always and played Jesse James in Purgatory.
Born in Detroit, Souther grew up in Amarillo, Texas, and moved to Los Angeles in the late 1960s, where he met fellow Michigan native Glenn Frey, a founding member and guitarist of the Eagles. Their longtime partnership began with the band Longbranch Pennywhistle. Souther fatefully introduced Frey to country music.
“His amazing capacity for the big joke and that brilliant groove that lived inside him are with me, even now, in this loss and sorrow,” Souther said after Frey died in 2016.
Souther was so close with the Eagles, he appeared on the back cover of their 1973 album Desperado, joining the band in a photo reenacting the capture of the 1890s Dalton Gang. He started out with Frey at L.A.’s Troubadour nightclub, a legendary launchpad to stardom. “So many great songwriters came through — Laura Nyro, Kris Kristofferson, Randy Newman, Elton John, James Taylor, Tim Hardin, Carole King, Rick Nelson, Joni Mitchell, Neil Young, Waylon Jennings, Tim Buckley, Gordon Lightfoot, Taj Mahal and more,” he recalled. “It seems impossible now to imagine that much music in a year and a half or so, but that was my life and the Troubadour was our university.
JD Souther with Linda Ronstadt (middle) and Emmylou Harris (left) in Los Angeles in 1977.
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“It’s also where I met Linda Ronstadt, and where Don Henley and Glenn Frey met to form this little country rock band called the Eagles that would go on to make musical history.”
Souther recorded a 1972 solo album, John David Souther, then formed the Souther-Hillman-Furay Band with former Byrds member Chris Hillman and Poco’s Richie Furay. On 1976’s Black Rose, his second solo effort, he dueted with Ronstadt on “If You Have Crying Eyes” and sang with her on “Prisoner in Disguise,” “Sometimes You Can’t Win” and “Hearts Against the Wind,” featured in the 1980 film Urban Cowboy.
He wrote “Run Like a Thief” for Bonnie Raitt, “Faithless Love” and “White Rhythm & Blues” for Ronstadt, and cowrote and dueted with James Taylor on “Her Town Too.” He sang with Don Henley, Christopher Cross, Dan Fogelberg and Roy Orbison.
Souther was actually in the Eagles for about one day but decided it would be better if he just wrote songs with them instead. “People would occasionally say to me, ‘Doesn’t it piss you off that the Eagles have these big hits off your songs?’ ” Souther told The Creative Independent. “I would usually start saying, ‘Would you like to see the checks?’ ”
Tim Appelo contributed to this story.
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