Interview: JD Souther

Singer/songwriter JD Souther has given us some very memorable music over the years.

He had a solo hit in 1979 with “You’re Only Lonely”, and ten of his songs have been recorded by Linda Ronstadt including “Faithless Love”, “Simple Man, Simple Dream”, and “Prisoner in Disguise”.

Then there are his co-written songs: “Her Town Too” with which he sang with James Taylor, “Best of My Love”, “Heartache Tonight”, “Victim of Love”, and “New Kid in Town” as recorded by the Eagles, and Don Henley’s hit “The Heart of the Matter”.

This interview was for a preview article for noozhawk.com for JD Souther’s 2/26/20 concert at the Lobero Theatre in Santa Barbara. It was done by email, with answers received on 2/21/20. (Jeremy Cowart photo)

Interview: Danny Kortchmar

Guitarist Danny Kortchmar played on some of the most beloved albums from the 1970’s – Carole King’s Tapestry, James Taylor’s Sweet Baby James, and Jackson Browne’s Running on Empty, to name the most obvious.

But that’s just scratching the surface of his phenomenal career in music, which also included six months with The Fugs, some great fusion albums with The Section, a fruitful collaboration with Don Henley that yielded “Dirty Laundry”, “All She Wants to Do is Dance”, and “Sunset Grill”, producing a Neil Young album, co-writing “Somebody’s Baby” with Jackson Browne, and playing on the Harry Nilsson album Pussy Cats which was produced by John Lennon.

This interview was for a preview article for Kortchmar’s concert at the Maverick Saloon in Santa Ynez with Steve Postell and Dan Navarro on 3/9/16 as part of the Tales From the Tavern concert series. It was done by phone on 2/26/16.

Interview: David Lindley

Multi-instrumentalist David Lindley’s musical resume is simply incredible. He was a key member of the 1960’s eclectic psychedelic band Kaleidoscope, which was described by Led Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page as “my favorite band of all time – my ideal band.” He is arguably best known for his fretwork for Jackson Browne – for example, on the classic albums Late for the Sky and Running on Empty – and he also contributed to music by David Crosby and Graham Nash as part of The Mighty Jitters band, Warren Zevon, Linda Ronstadt and many, many others. Somehow he also found time for his own project, El Rayo-X, in the 1980s.

When you hear Lindley in concert, it’s easy to get the impression that he could pick up any stringed instrument – a saz baglama, a bouzouki, an oud, or a plain old guitar – and his magical fingers would make it sound great. And while he is best known for playing with other artists, his amazing talent particularly shines through when he is on his own.

This interview was done for a preview article for Lindley’s solo concert at the Lobero Theatre in Santa Barbara on 1/16/15. It was done by phone on 1/9/16.