J.D. Souther

A lot of people credit Gram Parsons with inventing Country Rock, but it was John David Souther who helped to make Country Rock so popular in the late '60s and early '70s. Souther moved in with Glen Frey (pre-Eagles) and the two started Longbranch Pennywhistle, a post-Cosmic American Music/pre-Country Rock outfit that created beautiful songs and amazing vocal harmonies. (If you happen to own this very out of print and rare piece of vinyl, you are one lucky record geek.) When Frye went on to form the Eagles, Souther remained close by as a contributing songwriter; he penned such hits as "New Kid In Town," "Best of My Love," and "Heartache Tonight." Souther went on to produce some Linda Ronstadt records and pursued solo recording endeavors. Though he was never as successful as the Eagles, Souther did turn out some damn good records on his own and with Chris Hillman and Richie Furay.