JD Souther You're Only Lonely LP

By 1979, JD Souther had quickly established himself as the consummate singer/songwriter and performer – penning hits for the Eagles, Linda Ronstadt, Bonnie Raitt, Christopher Cross, and Dan Fogelberg, while delivering two now-essential releases for David Geffen's Asylum Records. (Both John David Souther and Black Rose have been expanded and reissued by Omnivore Recordings.) He assembled an A-list band (Waddy Wachtel on guitar, Don Grolnick on piano, Kenny Edwards on bass, and Rick Marotta on drums, with Danny "Kootch" Kortchmar also contributing on guitar, David Sanborn on alto saxophone, and Dan Dugmore on guitar and steel) for his debut on Columbia Records.

You're Only Lonely appeared at the end of that year, and the title track stormed up the charts. "You're Only Lonely" spent 5 weeks at #1 on the Adult Contemporary charts and was a #7 Pop hit. The album itself was a critical success, hitting #41 on the LP charts. Billboard praised the LP as a "predominantly mellow, atmospheric collection of tunes . . . Souther's guitar playing takes a backseat to his writing, with many of the tunes here among his best." (From the new liner notes) "It was quite a good Christmas," JD laughs. "'You're Only Lonely' and 'Heartache Tonight' (co-written by JD, Glenn Frey, Don Felder, and Bob Seger) were both in the top ten the same week. It was pretty amazing."

You're Only Lonely contains JD's versions of tracks previously recorded by Linda Ronstadt ("White Rhythm and Blues" from Living in the USA), Nitty Gritty Dirt Band ("The Moon Turned Blue" from Dream), and Nicolette Larson ("The Last in Love" from her debut Nicolette), plus "Trouble in Paradise" (the title track of the second Souther-Hillman-Furay Band album.)

The 9-track LP returns for the first time in 35 years. New liner notes from Joe Marchese (The Second Disc) feature an interview with JD outlining the recording of the album, the all-star players, and why it is an important record to him and the fans who have supported it for all these years.

"We always said our motto was 'we're building to last.' We really spent a lot of time on the songs. The other motto was, 'no filler.' You don't make a single and then put a bunch of filler on an album. You make an album and hope you have a single." You're Only Lonely epitomizes that ethos. It's built to last.