Product Description

Souther was greatly influenced by Texan Roy Orbison, whose sound he tried to emulate. Following his move to Los Angeles in the late 1960s, he met a young guitarist from Detroit named Glenn Frey. They bonded over their Detroit roots and a common love of country and R&B music. In short order, they began working together while sharing a small apartment in Los Angeles' Echo Park area (their downstairs neighbor was Jackson Browne with whom both Souther and Frey would collaborate on numerous projects).

Shortly after meeting, Souther and Frey formed a folk duo called Longbranch Pennywhistle. Their lone album, released in 1970 on Jimmy Bowen's Amos Records, featured significant contributions from guitarists James Burton and Ry Cooder, fiddler Doug Kershaw, drummer Jim Gordon, pianist Larry Knechtel and bassist Joe Osborn.

After recording an eponymous solo album in 1972, persuaded by David Geffen, Souther formed the Souther Hillman Furay Band with Chris Hillman and Richie Furay. The group released two albums, but creative tensions and lack of record sales (not to mention Furay's discomfort with playing secular music following his conversion to Christianity) led to the band's demise.

Souther is probably best known for his well crafted songwriting abilities, especially in the field of country rock. He co-wrote some of the biggest hits for the Eagles, including "Best of My Love", "Victim of Love", "Heartache Tonight", and "New Kid in Town". He also wrote songs for several of Ronstadt's multi-platinum albums, including "Faithless Love" from Heart Like a Wheel and "White Rhythm and Blues" included in her Living in the USA album. He also recorded several notable duets with Ronstadt, including "Hearts Against the Wind," "Prisoner in Disguise," and "Sometimes You Can't Win." He wrote "Run Like a Thief," which appeared on Home Plate by Bonnie Raitt.

His biggest hit as a solo artist was his 1979 Orbison-influenced song "You're Only Lonely" from the album of the same name, which reached number 7 on the Billboard charts. A collaboration with James Taylor called "Her Town Too" from Taylor's Dad Loves His Work album reached number 11 on the Billboard Pop Singles chart.

He was a contributor on the Roy Orbison and Friends, A Black and White Night 1987 concert and video, sang The Platters' "Smoke Gets In Your Eyes" in the 1989 movie Always and sang the theme song to the 1989-1992 sitcom Anything But Love.

`If The World Was You` is his first new album in 24 years. The album was recorded live in the studio with a five-piece jazz ensemble. It includes the 12 minute 56 second epic `The Secret Handshake of Fate`.

Track Listing

1. I'll Be Here At Closing Time
2. House Of Pride
3. Journey Down The Nile
4. One More Night
5. In My Arms Tonight
6. Rain
7. A Chorus of Your Own
8. The Border Guard
9. Brown (Osaka Story)
10. Come On Up
11. The Secret Handshake Of Fate

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #16262 in Music
• Released on: 2008-10-14
• Number of discs: 1

Customer Reviews

He's Ba-a-a-ck! And he's going strong!
Put simply: I love this collection. That comes as no surprise, since I consider Souther to be one of the finest songwriters of the late 20th (and now 21st) century. This album is not exactly indescribable--I shall endeavor to describe it--but it is uncategorizable. JD's new one will baffle the music industry because the industry has become so pathetically narrow in its niches. That it will be baffled is a good thing!

The album is not exactly groundbreaking; it is, in fact, grounded in the past. It is not exactly trail-blazing because it follows not only the road not taken but the road unlikely to be taken by anyone else. We have seen great song writers like Danny O'Keefe and Randy Newman dabble around the edges of this untapped genre, and Souther himself, especially on his album Black Rose, had his toes in the water of this approach, but here it comes at us full blown (brass pun intended). Lieber and Stoller meet Mongo Santamaria and Bill Monroe at Chet Baker's house down in Cuba.

Souther's Texas drawl, even more pronounced than in the past, croons and smoothes and squeaks and slides in and out of the melodies, while horns and banjos and pianos take the place of lead guitars and the brushes shush the snare. The description of his voice may not sound flattering, but it is; it has become what it he intended it to be: a beautiful, jazz instrument. The co-founder of the cool, LA country/rock school has graduated.

The lyrics are typical Souther, only more so: Literate, complex, catchy, clever, and even, dare I say it, occasionally profound. Compare that to anything on any of the pop, country, hip hop, or R&B charts of today. There is truly nothing like this uniquely Southerian amalgam. It has tinges of bluegrass jazz, but it's not "dawg" music. It has old school, 50's rock rhythms with Amiri Baraka-style meticulously crafted, improv sounding jazz combo accompaniment, but it's not exactly jazz. It has country and folk essences, but it is neither. And it is all of the above.

If you care about songs and songwriters, this one is a must have.

What's the rush?...
There's a lot that's new here. None more pronounced than the fact that there isn't one line sung in harmony. For JD Souther, that's quite a departure. But there's also a lot, if you've been a fan as long as I have, that will be familiar. I love this album. It's been playing in my CD player since I bought it. "Looking for a place to lay you down, but I don't want to make you cry" could have come right out of anything he's ever done. His voice is just as it always was....plaintive, clear, musical. A little bit of Texas opera. Someone wrote here that he still sounds like Glen Frey. I disagree with that. He, like David Crosby, is in an age-defying league of his own. The jazz accompaniment is not at all unexpected. More so than any of his old contemporaries, Jazz was never too far away. Listen to "Trouble in Paradise", or "Doors Swing Open" and you could have guessed that it would eventually carry an entire album. Didn't think it would take 25 years, however. It's been a long time. It's very nice to hear these songs sung by a great talent.

The Singer - Songwriter Champ is back !
This calls for a celebration: JD Souther is back
AND gee what a comeback !
I was relatively disappointed with the new Eagles album and
the new Jackson Browne album and so I didn't know what to
expect really.
BUT what a delightful surprise: - 5 - stars man!
He's looking good, he sounds great and he's still got it!!