Black Rose (J. D. Souther album)


Black Rose is the second album by American singer-songwriter J. D. Souther, released in 1976. It includes Souther's version of "Faithless Love" released by Linda Ronstadt in 1974. Ronstadt would later cover "Simple Man, Simple Dream" and "Silver Blue" from this album.

Reception

In his retrospective review for Allmusic, critic William Ruhlmann called it an "excellent album steeped in the Southern California country-rock sound of the '70s". In a review for Rolling Stone, Stephen Holden wrote, "John David Souther’s second solo album benefits from a beautiful, all-star Peter Asher production. More sophisticated than either his first album or the two Souther-Hillman-Furay albums, Black Rose underscores Souther’s melodic writing, his strongest point, with some genuinely innovative arrangements by David Campbell, the classically trained musician who scored “Prisoner in Disguise" for Linda Ronstadt. "Silver Blue," much of which Campbell has scored as a duet for voice and plucked double bass and violas, is a starkly arresting production, while setting "Faithless Love" into a semiformal piece for voice, acoustic guitar and chamber ensemble transforms a prettier-than-average country-rock ballad into an eloquent one. "Doors Swing Open," a complex tune based on ninth and minor sixth chords, boasts an elegantly lush arrangement that both gives it shape and highlights its lovely chromaticism."
"Midnight Prowl" was a minor hit in Boston in 1976.

Track listing

All songs written by J. D. Souther.
  1. "Banging My Head Against the Moon" – 3:41
  2. "If You Have Crying Eyes" – 5:05
  3. "Your Turn Now" – 3:48
  4. "Faithless Love" – 3:33
  5. "Baby Come Home" – 3:47
  6. "Simple Man, Simple Dream" – 1:49
  7. "Silver Blue" – 4:15
  8. "Midnight Prowl" – 5:09
  9. "Doors Swing Open" – 4:42
  10. "Black Rose" – 3:56

    Personnel

Album – Billboard