Most musicians, even country-leaning ones, know more about horsepower than the power of one horse. But on a recent visit from his Nashville home, J.D. Souther -- who helped lay the foundation for the Southern California country rock sound nearly four decades ago as part of the musical community that included Jackson Browne, Linda Ronstadt, Bonnie Raitt and future members of the Eagles -- took an afternoon off and rented a horse for an impromptu ride into the hills of Griffith Park.
He said it felt good to be back in the stamping ground where he co-wrote "New Kid in Town," "Heartache Tonight" and "The Best of My Love" for the Eagles, "Faithless Love" for Ronstadt, his own Top 10 hit, "You're Only Lonely," and many, many more recorded by Raitt, James Taylor, Crosby, Stills & Nash and the Dixie Chicks.
It had been a while since he'd been in the saddle, yet Souther wasn't hurrying to hop aboard his palomino quarter horse. "A lot of people walk right up to the horse's face, then try to jump on and ride. The horse is thinking 'Who the hell are you?' You need to take some time, just hang out and let him get to know you."
He's taking an equally judicious approach climbing back into the musical saddle. It's been 24 years since he last put out an album, but on Tuesday, his latest, "If the World Was You," lands in stores. A couple of weeks after that, he'll start a tour of clubs that brings him back to L.A. on Dec. 12 for a performance at McCabe's in Santa Monica.
Why'd it take so long?
"I probably quit making records because I thought that making records was making me crazy," Souther, 62, said earlier, at a Studio City cafe. "Turns out I was crazy anyway," he quips. "So when I had something to say, I thought I might as well start making records again."
A quarter of a century is an eternity in today's music business, but Souther's voice is uncannily youthful on the new album, which brims with smartly executed jazz-conscious arrangements.
In "I'll Be Here at Closing Time," "In My Arms Tonight" and "Come On Up," he sounds right back at home with the gently reassuring country-rock amalgam he and his cohorts brought to the pop world in the early '70s.
But there's also the New Orleans funk of "One More Night," and lots of Cuban- and Latin-influenced jazz from his six-piece band, which recorded the songs live in the studio without overdubs or extensive post-production work. He started writing some of the material almost a decade ago on a visit to Cuba, where he experienced the Buena Vista Social Club on its home turf.
