Spitball Army

I’ve read somewhere that John David Souther is considered the architect of the southern California country-rock sound that is popularly embodied by the Eagles, Linda Ronstadt, Jackson Browne and easily a dozen other still instantly recognizable musical artists from the 1970s. If not the sole architect of that musical corpus, then Souther is certainly responsible for a leg, an arm, a couple of other digits, an ear and, perhaps, an eyeball; without those contributions, the movement that put “New Kid in Town” and “You’re Only Lonely” on the airwaves would be an incomplete hunk of flesh. Sorry about the terrible Frankensteinian misunion of metaphors, but you do get the message: without J.D. Souther, our musical history (and my own musical education, certainly) would be sorely lacking.

Before Souther stepped out of the performing spotlight in the 1980s, he had embodied the singer/songwriter image of that time, recording solo albums and records with bands such as the Souther Hillman Furay Band, writing songs for others to showcase, and adding his delicate and expressive vocals to recordings of his colleagues. Linda Ronstadt and the Eagles, in particular, championed songs by Souther; Ronstadt even chose to title two of her album releases after Souther songs (her Prisoner in Disguise and Simple Dreams) and the Eagles have covered Souther compositions throughout their entire career (most recently, including his 1972 “How Long” on their 2007 album Long Road Out of Eden). Souther’s harmonies are indispensable on Linda Ronstadt’s recording of “Prisoner in Disguise” and James Taylor’s “Her Town Too.” And, as seen in the playlist below, Bonnie Raitt, Nicolette Larson, Don Henley and Kate Taylor have all tipped their hat to the bard by covering his songs.

Thankfully, in late 2008, J.D. Souther returned to recording after nearly 25 years with his If the World Was You. This past week, he released another album, Natural History, revisiting several of his songwriting milestones in stripped-down arrangements. In support of the new album (I assume), he is touring clubs in the region surrounding his new home of Nashville, including a June 11th concert at Birmingham’s Workplay Theatre. Listen to this playlist and then accept the undeniable fact that you must not miss this show. C’mon, join me there!

And, Mr. Souther, if you are reading this (I nearly squee‘ed like a tipsy sorority girl when I saw that you were following me back on Twitter), please consider playing “Faithless Love” on Saturday night. You do it so much better then Linda (and her version is practically flawless).

This playlist contains songs solely written or co-written by John David Souther, and recorded by a variety of musical artists, including Mr. Souther himself. It’s just a drop in the bucket, folks.

Approximate playing time: 78 minutes.

1. John David Souther  “How Long”  (1972)
2. Linda Ronstadt  “Faithless Love”  (1974)
3. Eagles  “The Best of My Love”  (1974)
4. John David Souther  “You’re Only Lonely”  (1979)
5. Eagles  “Victim of Love”  (1976)
6. Bonnie Raitt  “Run Like a Thief”  (1975)
7. Linda Ronstadt  “I Can Almost See It”  (1973)
8. Nicolette Larson  “Last in Love”  (1978)
9. Don Henley  “Heart of the Matter”  (1989)
10. John David Souther  “Black Rose”  (1976)
11. James Taylor  “Her Town Too”  (1981)
12. John David Souther  “White Rhythm & Blues”  (1979)
13. Kate Taylor  “Kite Woman”  (1979)
14. Linda Ronstadt  “Prisoner in Disguise”  (1975)
15. Eagles  “New Kid in Town”  (1976)
16. The Souther Hillman Furay Band  “Border Town”  (1974)
17. Linda Ronstadt  “Simple Man, Simple Dream”  (1977)
18. Eagles  “The Sad Café”  (1979)
19. John David Souther  “Go Ahead and Rain”  (2011)

Some notes on the songs:

• As I mentioned above, I prefer Souther’s own 1976 recording of “Faithless Love” to Linda Ronstadt’s, though hers is amazing. You can hear his recording of the song on my 1 August 2010 playlist, in which I confess stealing many of my personal musical influences from my oldest sister’s record collection. J.D. Souther’s 1976 Black Rose album was key among them. I should additionally state the strangeness of stating that I prefer his version of this song, as he sings harmony vocals on Ronstadt’s.
• Speaking of black roses, a “black rose” figures prominently in the lyrics to two songs on this playlist (“Black Rose” and “White Rhythm & Blues”). Coincidence or deliberate theme-play?
• At the very moment that I began typing this post, I received notice from my friend Vince Hans (@themusicsover on Twitter) that another icon of the southern California music world, Andrew Gold, passed away on June 3rd. Gold was a key element of several of the tracks in today’s playlist, playing multiple instruments and singing on Souther’s Black Rose album as well as arranging Linda Ronstadt’s rendition of “Faithless Love” (there’s that song again). He also released a handful of sublime pop albums that includes the song he is probably most famously known for: “Thank You for Being a Friend” was used for years as the theme song for the hit TV show The Golden Girls. I know I spent hours staring at the album cover of Gold’s What’s Wrong with this Picture? instead of worrying about my financial future.