We Are the Lonely: A San Diego Appreciation for J.D. Souther

JD Souther

On September 17, 2024, the day started like any other in a typically fast-paced, weary world. The news that singer-songwriter J.D. Souther died made it to the national press that day. The headlines identified him as a co-founder and pioneer of the country rock movement. But he was much more. He was an artist who brought something more than hit songs for so many popular artists like the Eagles and Linda Ronstadt. He crafted a singular voice through a series of solo albums and collaborations over the decades. His fans included the likes of Jimmy Webb, Carole King, and Stephen Bishop.

While he was not an icon like so many of his friends and peers, his influence and innovation as a musician and pioneer of country rock was certainly the stuff of legend. He was one of the key artists who grew the sound today has become known as Americana music. Generations of music fans found his music first-hand while others stumbled onto him years later based on songwriting credits and associations with artists like the Eagles, Jackson Browne, Linda Ronstadt, and James Taylor. All of them were inspired by his brilliant way with lyric, melody, and style. He was simply like no other.

So, the quiet man—the singer-songwriter who was able to echo influence from Roy Orbison and Hank Williams—left such a mark that his sudden death last month generated an unsurpassable stream of tributes and influences in the press. His peers wrote touching tributes.

The Eagles, for whom Souther wrote hits like “New Kid in Town” and “Best of My Love,” posted this tribute on their website:

We have lost a brother, a friend, and a brilliant collaborator, and the world has lost a great songwriter, a pioneer of the Southern California sound that emerged in the 1970s. J.D. Souther was smart, talented, well-read, and in possession of a wicked sense of humor. He loved a good meal, a good movie, and a good Martini … and he loved dogs, adopting many over the course of his lifetime. Born in Detroit and raised in the Texas Panhandle, he was a student of the deep roots of the best American music—from country, to jazz, to classical, as well as Standards from the Great American Songbook—and that knowledge and appreciation informed his work. He was a crucial co-writer on many of our most popular songs, including “The Best of My Love,” “New Kid in Town,” and “Heartache Tonight.” J.D. also collaborated on many of Don Henley’s solo works, including “The Heart of the Matter,” “Little Tin God,” “If Dirt Were Dollars,” and “Talking to the Moon.” We mourn his loss, and we send our condolences to his family, his friends, and his many fans around the world. He was an extraordinary man and will be greatly missed by many. Adios, old friend. Travel well.

In 1971, it was through his best friend and roommate—the late Glen Frey—and their downstairs neighbor, Jackson Browne, that JD Souther was able to audition for David Geffen, which resulted in being signed to Geffen’s fledging Asylum Records. His first release, the eponymous 1972 release, is today an often overlooked classic of country rock. It includes the classic “How Long,” which was a hit song for the latter-day reunited Eagles.

His old friend, San Diego’s own, Jack Tempchin, who co-wrote “For Love” with Souther in the 1980s, posted this comment to his Facebook page;

“I knew J.D. for 54 years and we were best of friends all that time. It really hurts to lose him….”  He posted this newly written lyric:

FOR J.D. SOUTHER

ME AND YOU

September 17, 2024

I know you can’t go back again
but sometimes it’s nice
to remember when
we smoked some joints
and played guitar
and for a minute
the world was ours

we never said
words like love
but the angels smiled on us
from above
every moment was forever
in the songs we’d sing
I guess back then
we had everything

we saw each other
every day
but you know how time
just slips away
and our lives change
as the river flows
and the years they come
and the years they go

Still I called you just
the other day
and I said I Iove you
in my way
and we said hey let’s get together again
and we laughed the way we did back then
But the chance is gone
and the world is blue
and there is nothing I can do
but just remember
me and you

Those good old times
Old friend of mine
when it was me and you

—Jack Tempchin

Throughout his career JD Souther would release several critically acclaimed solo albums including Black Rose and the 1979 classic, You’re Only Lonely, which brought him notoriety with the hit Roy Orbison-inspired title song.

The Souther HIllman Furay Band

In 1974, at David Geffen’s behest, he joined with two proven veterans of the country rock movement of the 1960s—Chris Hillman and Richie Furay—to form The Souther-Hillman-Furay Band. The idea was to reproduce the success of Crosby, Stills & Nash with a collaborative super group. Their debut self-titled album on Asylum would hit the charts, scoring them a certified gold album. It included the Top 40 hit song “Falling in Love.” But they never came together as a band in a way that would sustain their success. They disbanded after their second, aptly titled, 1975 album Trouble in Paradise.

However, Hillman, who would nearly eclipse his Byrds’ fame with the Americana pioneer country rock band Desert Rose, in the ’80s, recently posted this note for his former band-mate and friend:

I lost my friend, John David. A sad day that continually leaves me feeling numb. We were close and I count him as a great blessing in my life. He possessed a great sense of humor and was one of the most intelligent people that ever crossed my path. The voice, the songs he wrote will forever be in my heart. Rest, my friend. 

For Richie Furay, former co-founder of the Buffalo Springfield and Poco, whose successful solo career has deepened his roots in country rock-Americana music, J.D. Souther’s departure is bittersweet. As he said in a recent email:

The last time we saw each other was when he came to Blackbird Studio in Nashville to do an interview—it was terrific; we had a great visit, he was relaxed and we even made “plans” to look to the future with a possibility of Chris and us doing “something.” Of course, it never materialized because time took its course. 

At the time of the Souther-Hillman-Furay Band, Richie Furay was going through difficult times that would result in his conversion to Christianity and eventually to the ministry. However, in his recent comments to Mark Gould for his interview with Sound Waves Magazine, he said:

Our lives crossed at a very difficult time in my life and consequently our friendship didn’t have a lot of time to develop, but we remained friends, for which I am forever grateful. He was a dynamic personality with a great sense of humor but mysterious at the same time. JD was one of contemporary music’s most gifted songwriters. I am very thankful for the time we had together on this part of life’s journey.

Souther with Linda Ronstadt

J.D. Souther’s career allowed him to be one of the key figures in the L.A. based country rock music scene in the ’70s. However, this influence went beyond simply being identified with hit songs and iconic figures like the Eagles, Jackson Browne, and Linda Ronstadt. He was a brilliant, true gentle man who saw beneath the surface of any given genre of song and into the soul of the life and times he lived in. The artist that emerges from his solo albums portrays a singer-songwriter who could easily navigate the waters of many varied streams of American music including folk, country, soul, rock, blues, and jazz. He did this seamlessly without allowing any limitations to define the results. If he was rooted in country rock, he emerged restless and, like many other great artists, unwilling to let the label confine him.

Even though he is gone now, the music he has left behind for us is ready to explore. A chronological review of his albums will reveal who he was as an artist beyond the country rock label.

His 2011 release, Natural History, includes revisions of familiar songs like “New Kid in Town,” “Sad Café,” “You’re Only Lonely,” and “Faithless Love” and brings a unique context to the solo artist he became. To be acquainted with the soulful beauty of his song artistry, his final album of original songs, 2015’s Tenderness is the place to go. Beyond all the hit songs, the amazing collaborations and the impact of his influence, this album is one to allow the listener to turn down the lights on some lonely night, pour a glass of wine, and absorb these fine songs. This is J.D. Souther at his finest. The intelligent, talented, and gentle artist… this is the singer-songwriter who needs to be heard by more of us as we move toward the western skies he describes in his song “Closing Time.”

I’ll be outside with the engine running
Pointing at the western sky
Looking for a place to lay you down
But I don’t wanna make you cry
I can see us walking in the future
With a child of yours and mine
I can feel the sunshine on our shoulders
Till it’s closing time

Note: If you’re a fan of country rock, this issue includes an extensive and fascinating look at the beginnings of country rock, which happened in the 1960s and into the mid-’70s. This month features California Young Guns: The Birth of Country Rock, Part 1. Stay tuned for Part 2 in November. Go to: https://sandiegotroubadour.com/?p=27286