J.D. Souther, born John David Souther on November 3, 1945 in Detroit, Michigan and raised in Amarillo, Texas, is a singer-songwriter country rock singer and actor.

Souther was greatly influenced by fellow Texan, Roy Orbison, whose sound he tried to emulate. After moving to Los Angeles in the late sixties, he met a young guitarist from Detroit named Glenn Frey. They bonded over their Detroit roots and a common love of country and R&B music. In short order, they began working together while sharing a small apartment in L.A.'s Silverlake area (their downstairs neighbor was Jackson Browne with whom both Souther and Frey would collaborate on numerous projects).

Shortly after meeting, Souther and Frey formed a folk duo called Longbranch Pennywhistle. Their lone album, released in 1970 on Jimmy Bowen's Amos Records, featured significant contributions from guitarists James Burton and Ry Cooder, fiddler Doug Kershaw, drummer Jim Gordon, pianist Larry Knechtel and bassist Joe Osborn.

After recording an eponymous solo album in 1972, Souther formed the Souther Hillman Furay Band with Chris Hillman and Richie Furay. The group released two albums, but creative tensions and lack of record sales, not to mention Furay's discomfort at playing secular music after a conversion to Christianity, led to the band's demise.

Souther is probably best known in his songwriting capacity, having co-written some of the biggest hits for The Eagles, including "Best of My Love", "Victim of Love", "Heartache Tonight", and "New Kid in Town". He also wrote songs for ex-girlfriend Linda Ronstadt, who once had The Eagles as her backing band ("Faithless Love"), and recorded several hits with her ("If You Have Crying Eyes", "Prisoner in Disguise" etc.)

His biggest hit as a solo artist was his 1979 Orbison-influenced song "You're Only Lonely" from the album of the same name, which reached the top 10 of the Billboard charts. A collaboration with James Taylor called "Her Town Too" from Taylor's Dad Loves His Work album, reached number 11 on the Billboard Pop Singles chart.

He was a contributor on the Roy Orbison and Friends, A Black and White Night 1987 concert and video, and sang The Platters' "Smoke Gets In Your Eyes" in the 1989 movie Always.

As an actor, he has played several roles including John Dunaway in the (1989–1990) third season of the television drama thirtysomething and Ted in the film Postcards from the Edge (1990) .

Discography

• John David Souther (1972)
• Black Rose (1976)
• You're Only Lonely (1979)
• Home by Dawn (1984) (reissued 2002)

External links

• Debbie Kruger interview

1946 births | Living people | American rock singers | American songwriters | People from Michigan | Rock musicians | J.D.サウザー