JD Souther, who wrote hits for the Eagles, dies at 78

J.D. Souther, who produced many of the biggest hits to emerge from the Southern California country-rock scene of the 1970s, including the Eagles, Linda Ronstadt and James Taylor, and who later acted as a veteran of the music industry — in other words, himself A version — on the hit television show “Nashville” died Tuesday at his home in Sandia Park, N.M., in the hills east of Albuquerque. He was 78.

His death was announced on his website. A reason was not provided.

In the late 1960s, Mr. Souther was part of a group of musicians around Los Angeles who found themselves circling a similar peaceful, simple, country-inspired rock sound. They played the same venues — among them the Troubadour, the famous West Hollywood nightclub — and lived and partied in the same canyon in the Hollywood Hills.

Mr. Souther starred in or wrote most of them. Although he grew up on jazz and classical music, he easily mastered the country-rock vernacular in songs like “Faithful Love” and “White Rhythm and Blues” for Ms. Ronstadt; “The Heart of the Matter”, which he wrote with Don Henley; and “Her Town Too”, a collaboration with Mr. Taylor on which they sang a duet.

He also played a central role in the formation of the Eagles, encouraging his then-girlfriend Ms. Ronstadt to recruit her friend Glenn Frey as part of her backup band. After Mr. Henley joined, he and Mr. Frey decided to form their own group with two other members of Ms. Ronstadt's association, Bernie Lydon and Randy Meissner.

Mr. Souther was about the fifth Eagle: He joined the quartet for an afternoon tryout at the Troubadour, but he decided the band was already perfect, and he'd rather write for them.

A string of songs followed, many of them hits and mostly written about Mr Henley and Mr Frey, including “The Best of My Love”, “Victim of Love”, “Heartache Tonight” and “New Kid in Town”. . “

“There was definitely a period where people would sometimes say to me, 'Doesn't it bother you that the Eagles made your songs such big hits?'” he told the Creative Independent website in 2019. “I usually start by saying, 'Would you like to see the check?'

Early on, he played in a band with Mr. Frey called Longbranch Pennywhistle, and later in the Souther-Hillman-Furey Band, with Chris Hillman of the Birds and the Flying Burrito Brothers and Richie Furey of Buffalo Springfield and Poco. All the while he maintained a solo career, and finally had a hit of his own with “You're Only Lonely”, the title track from his 1979 album, which reached number 7 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.

It was a banner year for him: The Eagles' final No. 1 hit, “Heart Back Tonight,” which he wrote with Mr. Henley, Mr. Frey and Bob Seger, peaked that fall.

Later, Mr. Souther largely retired from music. The Los Angeles scene was moving away from his musical style, as was art in general.

“I did what I wanted to do musically,” he told Rolling Stone in 2012. “And I just thought to myself, 'All the men in my family have worked until they die, and I'm going to take a few years off.' And build a great house and have a life.

In the late 1980s, he began acting: he had a small role as a pianist in Steven Spielberg's 1989 film “Always” and played an environmental activist in several episodes of the TV show “Thirtysomething”.

He returned to recording and performing, this time with a jazzy style that brought him back to his roots. He recorded four studio albums and one live record; Her most recent album, “Tenderness”, was released in 2015 He was scheduled to perform in Folsom, Calif., and Napa, Calif., later this month with singer-songwriter Carla Bonoff, and also had a series. Solo concert dates are booked in 2025.

In recent years he has been better known, at least to younger fans, for his screen presence. In 2012 he joined the cast of “Nashville”, playing veteran music producer Watie White – a character that drew heavily on his own experience in the industry. He appeared in the first season, and his character was popular enough that the showrunners brought him back for the fifth season.

John David Souther was born in Detroit on November 2, 1945, although his family moved first to Dallas and then to Amarillo, Texas, when he was very young, where he grew up.

His father, John Souther, sang for a big band under the stage name Johnny Warren, a job that kept him constantly on the road. His mother, Lottie (Finley) Souther eventually relented, and after the family moved to her home state, Texas, Mr. Souther operated a music store.

The store became a cradle for JD's musical career, where he was exposed to a wide variety of styles and performers while helping his father clean the floors and stock the record bins. He took up the violin at the age of 8 and then the clarinet, tenor saxophone and drums.

He briefly attended Amarillo College but left to direct music with his first band, the Cinders. He moved to New York, then Florida and finally Los Angeles, where he met Ms. Ronstadt and Mr. Frey.

He married Alexandra Slewin in 1969; They divorced in 1972. In addition to Ms. Ronstadt, he later dated Stevie Nicks and singer-songwriter Judy Seal, who reportedly wrote her song “Jesus Was a Cross Maker” about him.

Another marriage to Sarah Nicholson also ended in divorce. Survivors include two sisters, Susan Burt and Shari Smeaton.

Mr. Souther moved to Nashville in 2001 and later to rural New Mexico. He insists that he is happy that his song is more famous than him.

“I love the fact that I don't put on makeup before I leave the house or make sure my hair looks great,” she told Variety in 2010. I'm at the grocery store and have someone pay a bunch of attention to me. It would be nice if that happened, but it's not what I want.”