Headline : J.D. Souther: 12 Essential Songs

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J.D. Souther never saw himself as just another L.A. country-rocker. With his background in jazz and the Great American Songbook, Souther — who has died at age 78 — thought of his work as being in line with another tradition, the classic songwriter. And he was right in at least one regard. As much as any of his contemporaries, Souther’s songs were universal, covered by a wide range of artists, male and female, who each brought something to them. Here are some of the best, in versions he sang himself and ones that took his songwriting to another level, from rockers to mulled-over ballads. 

Souther’s self-titled debut gave us “How Long,” later covered by the Eagles, but it also was the home for this pained, downcast ballad about infidelity and the guilt that follows an affair: “Well we cheated on a friend, and cheaters never win,” he sings, capturing the new Seventies lifestyle in a way he probably didn’t even intend. The definitive version of the song, though, came from Bonnie Raitt on 1975’s Home Plate, a rendition that ramped up the ache and regret while staying true to the chastened spirit of the song. —D.B.

According to Eagles lore, “Best of My Love” was born in a booth at the West Hollywood haunt Dan Tana’s, where Don Henley, Glen Frey, and Souther were drinking while watching romances both spark and burn out. Recorded for On the Border, it’s one of the band’s most country-sounding songs, thanks to the pedal steel of Bernie Leadon and the production of Glyn Johns. The version that Souther recorded for his 2011 compilation Natural History, however, was built around piano and elevated by his sublime yet pained falsetto. The Eagles’ version became a wedding song; Souther’s was a breakup ballad of the highest order. —J.H.

Souther has credited Linda Ronstadt with helping him discover country music early his career. They dated for a while and went on to have a fruitful creative partnership for years. Souther produced the singer’s 1973 album Don’t Cry Now, and a year later he contributed this stunning ballad to her classic LP Heart Like a Wheel, one of the best and most successful soft-rock records of the Seventies. It’s a slow, stately heartbreaker, full of lovely regretful imagery and deep longing, with the characteristic mix of smooth intimacy and rustic beauty that was such a key element of Souther’s work. His writing gives her voice acres of room to stretch out, highlighting the scope of Ronstadt’s vocal genius with the empathy of a true friend. —J.D.

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