J. D. Souther
J. D. Souther
John David Souther or JD Southeris an American musician, singer-songwriter, and actor. He has written and co-written songs recorded by artists such as Linda Ronstadt and the Eagles...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionMusician
Date of Birth2 November 1945
CountryUnited States of America
band heard house influenced learned opera singing song standards time
I think I've been influenced by everything I've ever heard. The first thing I ever heard was my grandma, who was an opera singer. The first song I ever learned was the 'Nessun Dorma' from Puccini's 'Turandot.' My father was a big band singer, so I used to hear him walking around the house singing standards all the time.
anybody anyone bit comedians funny music paid people
Stand-up comedians say that anyone in the audience can be funny, but people paid to see us because we're just a little bit funnier. In the same way, I think anybody can play music - in fact, I think everyone has music in them, but some of us can do it a little better.
club early mostly studio took version york
I was never much of a club guy. Even when I was in New York in the early eighties, I never was once in Studio 54. It was too noisy. My version of those years mostly took place at my house.
campbell heart hit huge mike wrote
Mike Campbell and Don Henley and I wrote 'The Heart of the Matter,' which was a huge hit for Don.
carefully file organized save section wrote york
I save everything. I have these carefully organized file boxes. Somewhere in there is a section of the 'New York Times' where I wrote 'The Border Guard' in the margin.
band dad george grandma great grew listening mother music opera playing porter remember sang time
I grew up with singers. My father's mother sang opera. My dad was a big band singer. I can't remember a time there wasn't music in the house, so I grew up listening to great songwriters - George Gershwin, Cole Porter - and my grandma was playing opera for me before I was 3.
converted lived love loved magical number
I love Massachusetts for a number of reasons. I once loved a magical girl who lived in a magnificently converted barn, a half-hour or so from Boston. I love your winters. I love the snow.
care chicks dixie harmony performance surprised time version
Dixie Chicks surprised me with a beautiful three-part harmony version of 'I'll Take Care of You.' And Don Henley's performance of 'The Heart of the Matter' still just slays me every time I hear it.
higher musical poetry somewhat standard
There's no musical landscape to poetry. It has somewhat of a higher standard than songs, I think.
longer songs
I've been singing and writing songs only a little longer than acting. I really enjoy both.
half hard length record roll
Think back to the early rock n' roll records, and the average record length in the '50s - and well into the '60s - was two and a half minutes. It's very hard to put that much songwriting into two and a half minutes.
album music playing songs
The more I go on in this career of making albums, writing songs and playing music, the more I think of each album as a movie. I really wanted to make a film, but making a film is much more expensive than making a record.
chicks dixie mine
A song of mine called 'I'll Take Care of You' was on that 'Wide Open Spaces' Dixie Chicks album.
band both cool dad enjoyed era found home huge jazz music required skill sort turns
My dad was a huge big band and jazz fan, and we both sort of enjoyed be-bop, but man, it required so much skill to play it. And then there was cool jazz, the era that Miles, Coltrane, and Ornette ushered in, and that found a home in me. It turns out that that music was just really where I breathed.