J.D. Souther died on Tuesday at the age of 78. He wrote a number of songs for the Eagles but refused to join the band when it first started up.
Spokesman for Souther’s company confirmed the news and said he had died at his home in New Mexico. There were no other information given.
Souther was Glenn Frey’s first partner in writing songs. In 1970, the pair put out a record under the name Longbranch Pennywhistle. Souther would work with other artists on songs like “Best of My Love,” “James Dean,” “New Kid in Town,” and “Heartache Tonight.” He briefly led that Souther-Hillman-Furay Band, which featured Chris Hillman from the Byrds and Richie Furay from Poco.
Between 1972 and 2015, he put out eight solo albums as a musician. The song “You’re Only Lonely” from 1979 was a hit. He wrote songs like “Faithless Love” and “White Rhythm and Blues” and sang with Linda Ronstadt, who used to be his lover. He wrote Bonnie Raitt’s song “Run Like a Thief” too.
Souther was an actor sometimes, and had major parts in a number of movies and TV shows, including Thirtysomething and Nashville. He was made a member of the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2013.
“David Geffen thought it would be, ‘Four songwriters, good; five songwriters better.’” He told the Chicago Tribune in 2018 that he had been a member of Eagles for less than a day. We put together a set and played it for the management team at the Troubadour in the afternoon.
“All I remember is that they looked down the front line and saw four of us playing stringed instruments.” To be honest, they didn’t need me. They were a well-rounded band that could stand on its own.
“I thought we were going to keep writing together anyway, so I believe everyone came out on top.” … I’ve never seen four guys so happy than when I told them, “No, I don’t think I really want to be in the band.” Their happiness made me smile more than mine.
In what way did J.D. Souther feel about not being a part of Eagles fame?
Souther took a two-decade break from music before returning in 2008. In 2010, he told the Creative Independent (via Variety), “There was definitely a time when people would sometimes say to me, ‘Doesn’t it annoy you that the Eagles have these big hits off your songs?'” “Would you like to see the checks?” was the first thing I would say.
“How could I be mad?” Even Glenn Frey once said—he was joking— “One reason J.D. didn’t have a bigger solo career is that most of his best songs were written for us or Linda Ronstadt.” That’s kind of true. The most popular time I was close to being was during the “You’re Only Lonely” era, and I didn’t like it that much. There are some good things about it, but it doesn’t pay as well.
