November 2024 Connections Mix Tape
The November 2024 Connections Mix Tape can be found on Spotify. Listen in-blog below for a more rich experience, or on Spotify for uninterrupted music. Please note below each song is a link to song lyrics for accessibility. Check out more details on how to best enjoy mix tapes.
Good day and welcome to KMTJ-DB – Your Mix Tape Journey – Denver, Colorado. I’m DJ Ponyboy and I am excited to share with you today’s November 2024 Connections Mix Tape.
Today’s special artist links together stars from world-famous classic rock band the Eagles to world-renowned actress Meryl Streep!
Our first song today is from a band that only recorded one album – their 1965 self-titled debut; I’m DJ Ponyboy and this is rock band the Cinders with their 1965 track “Ma’am” on KMTJ-DB, Denver, Colorado!
“Ma’am” by the Cinders. Other standouts on that album are “Good Lovin’s So Hard to Find” and “Three Minutes Time” – be sure to check out those tracks and more from that album, recorded in Clovis, New Mexico.
John David (JD) Souther was born on November 2, 1945, in Detroit Michigan, but grew up in Amarillo Texas. Music ran in his blood, as his father sang in a jazz band and his grandmother was an opera singer; the first song he learned to sing was Puccini’s “Nessun Dorma”.
He learned to play violin, clarinet, saxophone, and guitar, attending Amarillo College briefly before dropping out to play drums with the band we just heard – John David and the Cinders, later shortened to the Cinders.
In 1969, Souther moved to Los Angeles to continue pursuing his musical dreams, where he met and became roommates with Glenn Frey, a future founding member of the American rock band the Eagles.
First though, Souther and Frey started a lesser-known, shorter-lived band, again releasing only one album, named Longbranch/Pennywhistle.
From that project, off their self-titled debut album, here is 1969’s “Jubilee Anne”.
That was Longbranch/Pennywhistle on KMTJ-DB, Denver with “Jubilee Anne”. Thank you so much for joining me today for this month’s connections mix tape; I hope you learn something, find a new song to enjoy, or just enjoy keeping me company as we listen to some excellent music.
Every month I record at least two themed mix tapes – our theme for the month of November is gratitude; check out my Attitude of Gratitude Mix Tape (Side A) (already out), and my Attitude of Gratitude Mix Tape (Side B) (out next Sunday).
What I’m grateful for most of all this year is you – thank you for joining me and supporting me – it means the world. If you are looking for other ways to support my work with Mix Tape Journey, please consider becoming a Patron by following the link at the bottom of every page of MixTapeJourney.com, purchasing a product from the site store, or just sharing your favourite mix tape with your friends.
Back to today’s special musical artist! Souther, while rooming with Frey, helped connect Frey, and musicians Bernie Leadon, Randy Meisner, and Don Henley (featured in my September 2024 Connections Mix Tape) with artist Linda Ronstadt to act as her backing band. This same group of musicians soon left to form California rock band the Eagles, inviting Souther to join; Souther declined the offer to pursue recording his first solo album.
In 1972, JD Souther celebrated the release of John David Souther, his first solo album, including noteworthy tracks “Kite Woman” (originally recorded by Longbranch/Pennywhistle), “The Fast One”, “How Long”, and “Run Like a Thief”, covered several years later in 1975 by Bonnie Raitt on her album Home Plate.
Another track of note was our next track, JD Souther’s “White Wing”, here on KMTJ-DB – Your Mix Tape Journey – Denver, Colorado.
Not one to rest on his laurels, in 1973 Souther formed a new country-rock supergroup with singer-songwriters Chris Hillman and Richie Furay.
Hillman was the original bassist for California rock band the Byrds, a member of Manassas (a supergroup formed by Stephen Stills), The Flying Burrito Brothers (founding member Gram Parsons is a dear friend of the channel), and later Desert Rose Band.
Singer and guitarist Richie Furay was a member of country-rock bands Poco and Buffalo Springfield; his song “People Get Ready” was featured on my May 2024 Connections Mix Tape.
Your word of the day is supergroup: a supergroup is a band formed of musicians who are already successful as solo artists or members of other established bands.
Off their 1974 self-titled album, The Souther-Hillman-Furay Band, here is a track written and with lead vocals by Souther, “The Heartbreaker” on KMTJ-DB, Denver.
1974’s “The Heartbreaker”. Other highlights of the album are “Deep, Dark and Dreamless”, “Heavenly Fire”, and “Fallin’ in Love”.
Even during all this activity, Souther didn’t forget his old friends the Eagles, contributing co-writing credits to three songs on their second album, 1974’s On the Border, including our next track, “James Dean”, which reached number 77 on the Billboard Hot 100.
Souther also contributed his songwriting skills to a number of hits for his old pal Linda Ronstadt, including our next song, off 1974’s Heart Like a Wheel, “Faithless Love”
I’m DJ Ponyboy and that was Linda Ronstadt with “Faithless Love” on KMTJ-DB, Denver, Colorado.
Souther also co-wrote three songs on the Eagles’ fifth album, 1976’s Hotel California, including the #1 hit “New Kid In Town”, and three songs on their sixth album, 1979’s The Long Run, including our next tune, another #1 hit for the band, “Heartache Tonight”.
“Heartache Tonight” by the Eagles, 1976; that very same year, Souther released his second solo album, Black Rose, which includes his version of “Faithless Love” (which Linda Ronstadt had already recorded two years earlier), and another song Ronstadt would later go on to cover, “Simple Man, Simple Dream”. Other gems on the album include “If You Have Crying Eyes”, “Midnight Prowl” and “Banging My Head Against the Moon”.
While I had (unknowingly) already heard Souther’s work with the Eagles, my first known encounter with his music was our next song, from his third album, 1979’s You’re Only Lonely.
The first and only top ten hit of Souther’s solo career, the title track of his third album ended up reaching #7 on the Billboard Hot 100 in December 1979. Listen closely and you will hear the vocal harmonies of three Eagles members (Don Henley, Glenn Frey, and Don Felder) along with Phil Everly (of the Everly Brothers), and Jackson Browne.
JD Souther and 1979’s “You’re Only Lonely” on KMTJ-DB – Your Mix Tape Journey – Denver, Colorado.
Throughout the seventies and eighties, Souther continued writing songs for artists like the Eagles, Linda Ronstadt, and James Taylor, among others, as well as contributing vocally to works by artists like Christopher Cross, Dan Fogelberg, and Don Henley.
Speaking of Henley (featured in my September 2024 Connections Mix Tape), Souther was co-writer on one of his most-remembered songs, 1989’s “The Heart of the Matter”.
The Heart of the Matter Lyrics
Don Henley and “The Heart of the Matter”. Eagles founding member Glenn Frey was once quoted as saying the reason Souther didn’t have more solo hits is he gave all his best songs away to other artists.
I’m DJ Ponyboy on KMTJ-DB, Denver. Thank you for joining me today for this musical journey through the life of JD Souther. I hope you found a new song to love and learned something interesting today.
Our next song is a cover of a track originally released on Souther’s very first solo album, 1972’s John David Souther, and later covered by the Eagles for their 2007 album Long Road Out of Eden, winning them the Grammy Award for Best Country Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal.
Enjoy the Eagles with their cover of JD Souther’s “How Long” on KMTJ-DB, Denver, Colorado.
JD Souther passed away in September of this year at the age of 78; he will be remembered for a very long time.
I’m DJ Ponyboy. Thank you again for joining me today to listen to all this fantastic music together. I left so much out! Like the fact that Souther wrote the theme song to the ABC sitcom Anything But Love, starring Richard Lewis and Jamie Lee Curtis.
Or that he contributed guest vocals to the Irish band Clannad’s 1987 album Sirius. Or that he acted in several movies and TV shows, including as the character of Ted in the 1990 comedy-drama film Postcards From the Edge, written by actress Carrie Fisher and starring Meryl Streep, Shirley MacLaine, and Dennis Quaid.
I hope you will take all I shared today as jumping-off points to continue learning more about the music you love.
Thank you so much for joining me today for this musical journey on KMTJ-DB – Your Mix Tape Journey – Denver, Colorado.
Until next time, I’m DJ Ponyboy; stay gold.