Post by philly on Jul 26, 2012 21:59:51 GMT -5
www.courierpostonline.com/article/20120720/ENT/307200009/JD-Souther-sings-his-hits-new-album
Like Jimmy Webb before him, singer-songwriter JD Souther spent a good deal of his career in the 1970s being known as a guy whose songs became big hits for other people. The man who wrote or co-wrote some of The Eagles’ biggest hits (including “Best of My Love,” and “New Kid In Town”), along with Linda Ronstadt’s “Faithless Love,” did have his own smash hit in 1979 with “You’re Only Lonely.”
But many listeners have never heard Souther’s takes on some of his best tracks, such as “I’ll Take Care of You,” which was a hit for the Dixie Chicks a few years ago. So when producer Fred Mollin — who had lured Webb into recording his own songs for his “Ten Easy Pieces” album a few years ago — approached Souther, he was intrigued. Still, it took some convincing before “Natural History” became a reality.
“I always said I’d never go a ‘greatest hits’ album,” Souther recalled by phone. “He tried to talk me into it for about five years, but wasn’t sure I wanted to go back to these songs — some of them nearly killed me the first time. Fred ultimately convinced me it would turn out great and that I could play the songs any way I wanted.”
Souther also got a push from Webb and ex-girlfriend Ronstadt, who advised him not to “try to rewrite the songs.”
“She said, ‘Just go for it — your voice is in great shape and the songs are fine they way they are,’” he recalled. So Souther decided to go for a “very intimate, stripped down” sound for the album, giving the tracks a “lot of space around them.” Souther even got around to recording some songs he’d never done in a studio before, like “Sad Café.”
“The songs were already written, so the heavy lifting was done before I even started, in a sense,” he said. “That became the mantra: ‘It’s your song; what are you afraid of?’ ”
The experience, Souther said, ultimately was “a great one.”
Souther, who is an avid jazz aficionado these days, plans to play the XPoNential Festival with two backing musicians.
“We make up the set list an hour or so before the show,” Souther said, adding that in addition to his own songs, he enjoys doing covers onstage of people whose music he loves, including Cole Porter and Duke Ellington. The 66-year-old musician — who also has had a sturdy acting career over the years — has a recurring part in the new ABC musical drama, “Nashville,” playing a record producer.
“He’s quite a character, so I’m having some fun with it,” Souther said.
Like Jimmy Webb before him, singer-songwriter JD Souther spent a good deal of his career in the 1970s being known as a guy whose songs became big hits for other people. The man who wrote or co-wrote some of The Eagles’ biggest hits (including “Best of My Love,” and “New Kid In Town”), along with Linda Ronstadt’s “Faithless Love,” did have his own smash hit in 1979 with “You’re Only Lonely.”
But many listeners have never heard Souther’s takes on some of his best tracks, such as “I’ll Take Care of You,” which was a hit for the Dixie Chicks a few years ago. So when producer Fred Mollin — who had lured Webb into recording his own songs for his “Ten Easy Pieces” album a few years ago — approached Souther, he was intrigued. Still, it took some convincing before “Natural History” became a reality.
“I always said I’d never go a ‘greatest hits’ album,” Souther recalled by phone. “He tried to talk me into it for about five years, but wasn’t sure I wanted to go back to these songs — some of them nearly killed me the first time. Fred ultimately convinced me it would turn out great and that I could play the songs any way I wanted.”
Souther also got a push from Webb and ex-girlfriend Ronstadt, who advised him not to “try to rewrite the songs.”
“She said, ‘Just go for it — your voice is in great shape and the songs are fine they way they are,’” he recalled. So Souther decided to go for a “very intimate, stripped down” sound for the album, giving the tracks a “lot of space around them.” Souther even got around to recording some songs he’d never done in a studio before, like “Sad Café.”
“The songs were already written, so the heavy lifting was done before I even started, in a sense,” he said. “That became the mantra: ‘It’s your song; what are you afraid of?’ ”
The experience, Souther said, ultimately was “a great one.”
Souther, who is an avid jazz aficionado these days, plans to play the XPoNential Festival with two backing musicians.
“We make up the set list an hour or so before the show,” Souther said, adding that in addition to his own songs, he enjoys doing covers onstage of people whose music he loves, including Cole Porter and Duke Ellington. The 66-year-old musician — who also has had a sturdy acting career over the years — has a recurring part in the new ABC musical drama, “Nashville,” playing a record producer.
“He’s quite a character, so I’m having some fun with it,” Souther said.