Genre: rock
Rating: 3 stars ***
Title: Home By Dawn
Company: Warner Brothers
Catalog: 25081
Year: 1984
Country/State: Detroit, Michigan
Grade (cover/record): VG+ / VG+
Comments: original inner sleeve
Available: 1
GEMM catalog ID: 7
Price: $8.00
I was poking around a Goodwill store and stumbled on to a trove of California based artists, including this mid-1980s album by singer/songwriter J.D. Souther that I didn't even know existed (not that I'm a big time Souther fan).
Souther's actually kind of an interesting guy. Though most people don't know him from a hole in the ground, he was a big player in the early-1970s California country-rock wave, penning hits for the likes of The Eagles, Linda Ronstadt, etc. His own recording efforts including an obscure album with future Eagle Glenn Frey (Longbranch Pennywhistle), a series of releases with the 'corporate' pseudo-super group The Souther-Hillman-Furay Band, and a couple of solo efforts that disappeared with okay reviews but few sales.
Produced by David Malloy, 1984's "Home By Down" was a pleasant surprise to my ears. Longtime Souther fans were probably happy to hear the sensitive singer/songwriter numbers like 'I'll Take Care of You', 'All of You' and 'Don't Know What I'm Gonna Do'. Those tracks were certainly pretty, but to my ears not particularly original, with several suffering from a weird and now dated mid-1980s sound. As with his earlier catalog Souther was certainly a first rate songwriter, but his voice remained largely anonymous, occasionally recalling a second rate Roy Orbison (check out 'All I Want'). That made up tempo numbers like the title track, 'Say You Will' (a rockin' duet with Linda Ronstadt) and '' the LP standouts. In spite of Ronstadt's support (I think that's her in heavy makeup on the cover and the inner sleeve photos) the set vanished without a trace with Souther subsequently turning his attention back to writing, including placing material on a couple of mega selling soundtracks ("Urban Cowboy" and "About Last Night"), and acting including a steady role in the television series "thirtysomething".
"Home By
Dawn" track listing:
(side 1)
1.) Home by Dawn (J.D. Souther) – 2:49
2.) Go Ahead and Rain (J.D. Souther) – 3:31
3.) I'll Take Care of You (J.D. Souther) – 2:32
4.) All for You (J.D. Souther) – 3:31
5.) Say You Will (Danny Kortchmar - J.D. Souther) – 2:51
6.) Don't Know What I'm Gonna Do (J.D. Souther) – 2:09
(side
2)
1.) Don't Know What I'm Gonna Do
(J.D. Souther)
– 2:09
2.) All I Want (J.D. Souther) – 5:58
3.) Night (J.D. Souther - Waddy Wachtel) – 3:29
4.) Bad News Travels Fast (J.D. Souther) – 5:52
5.) All I Want (J.D. Souther) -