You're Only Lonely (1979) 7/1/20

J.D. Souther may or may not be a name you're acquainted with—depending on whether or not you remember today's “Great Song of the '70's” and/or paid close attention to album liner notes throughout the decade.

The singer/songwriter and sometime actor (“Thirtysomething”) did a whole bunch of songwriting, producing and vocal work for a whole bunch of artists during the '70s. Here's a partial list:

*He wrote “Best of My Love,” “Heartache Tonight” and “New Kid in Town” for the Eagles.

*He wrote, produced and sang duets with Linda Ronstadt on 3 of her albums, including “Heart Like a Wheel.” They also dated for a short time.

*He recorded with James Taylor, Dan Fogelberg, Don Henley, Bonnie Raitt, Christopher Cross and several others.

But as a solo artist, his only hit song was 1979's homage to Roy Orbison: “You're Only Lonely.”

Even then, he had a lot of help from some big names: Phil Everly, Jackson Browne and Don Henley on background vocals as well as David Sanborn on saxophone--just to name a few!

Most likely, he didn't need all that star power to make the song a hit, but we'll never know. What we DO know, is that the song was a chart topper: 5 weeks at #1 on Billboard's Adult Contemporary chart in November and December of '79. On the Hot 100, it peaked at #7. In Canada, it reached #2 on the AC chart and #18 on the Top 40. It also hit #12 on Canada's Country chart!

“You're Only Lonely:” a “Great Song” to finish out the '70s!

(Note: In 2013, J.D. Souther was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame.)

(Trivia:The song was featured on a recent episode of “Bob <3 Abishola.”)