|
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
American singer-songwriter JD Souther, known for his musical collaborations with the Eagles and Linda Ronstadt in addition to his own performing career, died at his home in New Mexico on Tuesday, days before he was set to begin a tour that had an early stop scheduled in Livermore next week.
His family announced the news on his official website, saying the Songwriters Hall of Fame inductee had passed peacefully at the age of 78.
Souther recently spoke with the Pleasanton Weekly about his planned tour with Karla Bonoff ahead of their concert date at the Bankhead Theater scheduled for next Friday (Sept. 27), reflecting on his career and expressing his excitement to return to the stage in Livermore.
“I think it’s going to be a blast …The people in Livermore are great,” Souther told the Weekly in what would be one of his final public interviews. “I played (at the Bankhead) by myself last time, and I still had a good time.”
Souther said he was looking forward to sharing a stage and a tour with Bonoff, with whom he’d played in the past but the “Together Again” series offered the opportunity to do an entire set with her, a new and unique experience that he had been wanting to do for some time.
Livermore Valley Arts, who manages the Bankhead, reacted to Souther’s unexpected passing with a statement Wednesday.
“We are deeply saddened by the news of JD Souther’s passing. Our hearts go out to his family, friends and fans. We are working out details about the concert and will reach out directly to ticket holders when we have more information,” LVA officials told the Weekly.
Detroit-born and Texas-raised, Souther told the Weekly in the phone interview on Aug. 19 that ever since he was a young kid, he could not remember a time when he wasn’t surrounded by music. After having started playing the violin in fourth grade, he went on to learn to play the saxophone and drums, the latter being his instrument of choice for a while.
It wasn’t until he sold everything he had to move to California — to play for a band he didn’t quite like too much — that he began writing his own music. He didn’t even touch his first guitar until he was 22.
Souther said he knew songwriting was his way into the music industry and having been surrounded by a lot of songwriters at the time — and having a knack for poetry — he decided to give it a shot.
And he did more than just give it a shot.
He met Glenn Frey in the late-1960s in Los Angeles and the creative relationship blossomed, leading to Souther co-writing some of the most-recognizable songs for Frey’s band, the Eagles, including, “Best of My Love”, “James Dean” and “Heartache Tonight”, according to his biography.
Souther’s other songwriting hits, which contributed to him being selected for the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2013, included “Run Like a Thief” for Bonnie Raitt and “Faithless Love” and “White Rhythm and Blues” for Ronstadt, according to his bio. His most successful solo album was 1979’s “You’re Only Lonely”, bolstered by the title track that peaked at No. 7 on the “Billboard” Hot 100.
Longtime friend James Taylor was among his other notable collaborators. He also sang for artists such as Don Henley, Roy Orbison and Christopher Cross, and played in The Souther-Hillman-Furay Band in the ’70s, according to his bio. Souther acted on screen as well, with credits including “thirtysomething”, “My Girl 2” and “Nashville”.
Souther was set to begin his latest tour with accomplished singer-songwriter Bonoff next Tuesday (Sept. 24) in Phoenix, with the pair set for a show three days later in Livermore.
He told the Weekly in August that the two had been rehearsing together and while it had been a long time since they played together, the only real struggles they had were trying to shorten their set because they were over their allotted play time.
“They’re almost all songs that people know, and there’s still too many of them,” Souther said.
Souther’s family said he is survived by his two sisters, his former wife and her daughter, his dogs Layla and Bob, and “countless friends and colleagues within the music community and beyond.” They added that donations could be made in his honor to Best Friends Animal Society.
Editor’s note: Pleasanton Weekly reporter Christian Trujano’s story based on his interview with Souther was scheduled to publish online on Sept. 19 and in the Sept. 20 print edition, as a concert preview. The original draft was pulled and the article reworked after news broke of Souther’s death on Sept. 17.
