John David (JD) Souther, singer/songwriter best known for writing and co-writing hits for The Eagles as well as Linda Ronstadt and James Taylor, has passed away at 78 years old. Souther’s own albums are great as well, and while he never saw the fame his Laurel Canyon and LA music scene colleagues saw, he was highly revered in those circles.
Like Glenn Frey, Souther was born in Detroit, which already makes him okay in my book. He was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2013.
In my humble opinion, “New Kid in Town” is up there with the best songs ever written, and the Eagles version on Hotel California is near perfect.
During the pandemic lockdown, we converted our sun room to a makeshift sound stage and I posted videos of myself playing cover songs a couple times a week. Here’s my stab at NKIT, not quite doing it the justice it deserves, but at least rocking a sweet Glenn Frey covid mustache.
Ricki C.’s two cents; I’ve detailed previously in Pencil Storm that my friends and I were hippies for about 20 minutes back in the early 70’s, as late as 1972 (before the advent of The New York Dolls in 1973 changed all that). As such I tried to buy every Asylum Records release, and John David Souther’s eponymous first album in ‘72 was my favorite of all of those records. Oddly - apropos of not much - for a couple of weeks in August my homemade/hand-picked best-of J.D. Souther CD compilation was all I listened to for two weeks straight. Here’s my favorite tune…….
Jeremy Porter lives near Detroit and fronts the rock and roll band Jeremy Porter And The Tucos. Follow them on Facebook to read his road blog about their adventures on the dive-bar circuit.
www.thetucos.com
www.facebook.com/jeremyportermusic
www.rockandrollrestrooms.com
Twitter: @jeremyportermi | Instagram: @onetogive & @jeremyportermusic
