John David Souther - Black Rose

After his impressive debut, JD Souther worked with Chris Hillman (Byrds, Flying Burrito Brothers) and Richie Furay (Buffalo Springfield, Poco) in the short lived Souther/Hillman/Furay Band. But, at that same time, his songwriting reputation grew, as friends and colleagues took his material to commercial heights.

Five years after John David Souther, Black Rose appeared. Beautifully helmed by Peter Asher, the album was not only full of incredible songs, but a who’s who of musicians including Lowell George (Little Feat), Joe Walsh, Waddy Wachtel, Jim Keltner, Andrew Gold, Russ Kunkel, Donald Byrd, and Stanley Clarke—with David Crosby, Art Garfunkel, Don Henley and Glenn Frey adding their voices. In addition to the lush production and instrumentation, Souther’s ten songs were again exceptional. Linda Ronstadt had previously recorded “Faithless Love” on her breakthrough Heart Like A Wheel album, and would tackle “Simple Man, Simple Dream” in 1977—even basing that year’s album title on the song. (For the record, Ronstadt has recorded 10 Souther tracks, a relationship which began with his production on her 1973 album Don’t Cry Now, also named for a Souther composition. That album includes “I Can Almost See It”—presented as a bonus track here in Souther’s demo version.)

This expanded edition of Black Rose is made even more impressive by the addition of 7 bonus tracks including 6 previously unissued live performances and demos—the other taken from the only solo album from the Little Feat leader, Thanks I’ll Eat It Here.

“Black Rose was an ambitious undertaking, and it took a long time,” Souther states in the new liner notes from Scott Schinder. “I wanted to use all the musical influences I had, and I really had to dig deep. But when we were finished, I was almost as pleased with it as if it had sold a million copies. Almost.”

Now is the time for those million copies to bloom.