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
buzzing full legal score scratched structure tablets time
I'm always writing something. There's always some structure sitting around someplace. There's always things on the computer, things scratched on score paper, legal tablets full of lyrics. It's never not buzzing around me all the time. I'm always doing it.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
amount exactly particular sing takes time took truth year
I don't have any particular methodology, to tell you the truth. 'Silver Blue' took exactly the amount of time to write that it takes to sing it, and 'Prisoner in Disguise' took about a year and a half. So you just never know.
bob came century charles dominant dylan figure frank gave history joe miracle musical permission ray secret
My secret heroes were Joe Morello, Ray Charles - who is, in my opinion, the most dominant figure in musical history in the 21st century - and Frank Sinatra. Those are my heroes. And as a writer, when Bob Dylan came along, it was a miracle because he gave us all permission to say anything!
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.
eccentric huge issue robert
I'm a huge Robert Altman fan and don't take issue with his filmmaking, as eccentric as it is. But I just think 'Nashville' was a world he didn't know.
good grab handmade leads love melody phrase sitting sounds wonderful yamaha
I have a wonderful piano that I really love: a handmade Yamaha grand. Sometimes I'm sitting there, and it sounds so good that I find some little melody or a phrase that leads me into a song, but probably more often than not, I actually grab a notebook.