JD Souther, best known for writing hit songs for the Eagles, Linda Ronstadt and other Southern California soft rockers of the ’70s, died yesterday, cutting short a modest late career renaissance for the 78-year-old singer-songwriter, who was set to tour with Karla Bonoff.
Though he played with Glenn Frey in a short-lived band called Longbranch Pennywhistle in the late ’60s, and was coaxed by David Geffen into an ill-fated supergroup with Chris Hillman and Richie Furay in the mid-’70s, Souther was mostly a solo artist. He released nine albums over his long career, but made a good living from his co-writing credits on Eagles hits like “New Kid in Town,” “Heartache Tonight” and “Best of My Love,” which he covered on his 2011 LP “Natural History.”
Souther did have one hit, “You’re Only Lonely,” which went to No. 1 on the Adult Contemporary chart in 1979. It’s an homage to Roy Orbison, and would have been an even bigger hit if someone had given it to Orbison to sing.
