J D Souther

It all fits the pattern, says J.D. Souther about his resurging career. "It's a cliche to say life moves in cycles, but for me, it does--in huge, obvious cycles,"explains the musician recently turned actor. "In the '50s, my life was full of awesome experiences. In the '60s, it was mostly goofing off, motorcycle riding, chasing women. The '70s were really productive, and then in the '80s--about '82--I just went back to partyin' and gettin' high."

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.

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.

It all fits the pattern, says J.D. Souther about his resurging career. "It's a cliche to say life moves in cycles, but for me, it does--in huge, obvious cycles,"explains the musician recently turned actor. "In the '50s, my life was full of awesome experiences. In the '60s, it was mostly goofing off, motorcycle riding, chasing women. The '70s were really productive, and then in the '80s--about '82--I just went back to partyin' and gettin' high."

J.D. Souther, Karla Bonoff and an efficient desalination process probably could alter the ecological future of Southern California. Harness the tear-jerking potential of these two quintessential exponents of mellow, '70s-vintage L.A. songwriting, and the region would be drought-proof.

"Family Tree" (HBO, premieres Sunday). Christopher Guest has made you a TV series. Thank him. The director of "A Mighty Wind" and "Best in Show" and one of the forces behind and in "This Is Spinal Tap" -- in which he was Nigel Tufnel, whose amplifier went to 11 and whose guitar you were not to touch or even to look at -- Guest has been an architect of modern comedy, from the improvised dialogue that marks his films to the documentary style in...

Roy Orbison won't be "Only the Lonely" when he films a Cinemax Sessions special Wednesday in Los Angeles. Among those joining the be-shaded star for renditions of such classic songs as "Blue Bayou" and "Dream Baby" will be Jackson Browne, Elvis Costello, Don Henley, Maria McKee, Bonnie Raitt, J.D. Souther and Tom Waits, with T-Bone Burnett serving as the show's music director.

** 1/2 JOE STRUMMER, OTHERS "Permanent Record" sound track. Epic. Joe Strummer dominates the first half of this sound-track album from the recent box-office bomb about a teen-ager's suicide. He's backed by the Latino Rockabilly War, and indeed, he mines the best of the two worlds suggested by that group's name--guitar basics and polyrhythmic percussion.

J.D. Souther, Karla Bonoff and an efficient desalination process probably could alter the ecological future of Southern California. Harness the tear-jerking potential of these two quintessential exponents of mellow, '70s-vintage L.A. songwriting, and the region would be drought-proof.

Three songwriters who helped compose some of the Eagles' most popular tunes accepted a settlement Friday to resolve allegations that their music publisher shortchanged them out of millions of dollars in royalties. Jackson Browne, J.D. Souther and Jack Tempchin had alleged that Warner-Chappell Music, the publishing arm of AOL Time Warner Inc., had underpaid them for co-writing such hits as "Peaceful, Easy Feeling" and "Take It Easy." Terms of the settlement could not be determined late Friday.

Andrew Gold, a singer, songwriter and versatile musician who had a Top 10 hit in 1977 with "Lonely Boy" and was a vital component of Linda Ronstadt's pop success in the 1970s as a member of her band, has died. He was 59. Gold died Friday in his sleep at his home in Encino, said his sister, Melani Gold Friedman. He had cancer but had been responding well to treatment, she said. He played several instruments, did arrangements and sang on such Ronstadt albums as "Heart Like a Wheel" in 1974, "Prisoner in Disguise" in 1975 and "Hasten Down the Wind" in 1976.