Timi Yuro

Timi Yuro

Timi Yuro (born Rosemary Timothy Yuro, August 4, 1940 in Chicago, Illinois - died March 30, 2004 in Las Vegas, Nevada) was an American soul and R&B singer. She is considered to be one of the first blue-eyed soul stylists of the rock era.

Early years

According to her record label, Liberty Records, Yuro moved with her family to Los Angeles. There, she sang in her parents' Italian restaurant and in local clubs before catching the eye and ear of record executives. Signed to Liberty, she had a U.S. Billboard No. 4 single in 1961 with "Hurt", an R&B ballad that had been an early success for Roy Hamilton. On "Hurt" and on her Billboard No. 12 follow-up in 1962, "What's a Matter Baby (Is It Hurting You?)", Yuro showed an emotional but elegant vocal style that owed a debt to Dinah Washington and other black jazz singers. Many listeners in the early 1960s thought Yuro was black. She opened for Frank Sinatra on his 1961 tour of Australia.

In 1963, Liberty released Make the World Go Away, an album of country and blues standards. The singer at her vocal peak, this recording includes the hit title song (later a bigger hit for Eddy Arnold, with whom the song is usually associated), a version of Willie Nelson's "Permanently Lonely", and two different blues takes of "I'm Movin' On". Yuro was also known for soulful reworkings of popular American standards, such as "Let Me Call You Sweetheart", "Smile", and "I Apologize".

In the 1960s, Yuro made two TV appearances on The Ed Sullivan Show and was a guest on American Bandstand, Where the Action Is, and The Lloyd Thaxton Show. In 1967, Yuro appeared in a black-and-white film in the Philippines as a guest star alongside Filipino comedians Dolphy and Panchito in a comedy titled Buhay Marino (Life of a Sailor). At that time, the singer was very popular in the Philippines.

Later career

By the late 1960s, Yuro had performed in venues from London to Las Vegas. However, her career soon lost its early momentum, and she quit the music business altogether after her marriage in 1969. When Yuro began to sing again in the 1980s, her doctors detected throat cancer. Her larynx was eventually removed and in 2004 she died of cancer. Her last recording was the vinyl album Today, which was released in 1982 by Ariola and produced by her old friend Nelson. In 1990, the disc was reissued as a CD, remastered and remixed by Yuro herself on her own label Trmi and titled Timi Yuro Sings Willie Nelson.

Influence

Yuro's work is admired in the United States as well as in Great Britain and the Netherlands. According to the obituary in the Las Vegas Sun, her hometown paper, Yuro's most famous fan was probably Elvis Presley, who commanded his own table at the casino where Yuro headlined in the late 1960s. (Presley had a Top 10 country hit with his 1976 version of "Hurt".) In April 2004, Morrissey announced Yuro's death on his official website, describing her as his "favorite singer". (Morrissey also recorded a version of Yuro's "Interlude" with Siouxsie Sioux in 1994.) P.J.Proby knew Timi Yuro from their time in Hollywood, and often mentions it during his performances of "Hurt".

Elkie Brooks recorded a version of Yuro's classic "What's a Matter Baby" on her 1988 album Bookbinder's Kid. Yuro was so impressed with the version, she contacted Brooks while she was on a UK tour, and the two kept in contact.

Yuro found success on the dance floors of northern England in the 1970s and 1980s when Northern Soul DJs championed her up-tempo tracks of "It'll Never Be Over for Me" and "What's a Matter Baby". The latter was re-released on Kent Records in the 1980s.

Website

In 2008, a website managed by the Official Timi Yuro Association was up and running: http://www.timi-yuro.com/

The Official Timi Yuro Association was founded by Timi Yuro and Andy Lensen in September 1981 for her fans worldwide. Its current goals are to promote Yuro's music and legacy by sharing memories, stories, articles and photos, and exchanging information about her biography, discography, rare recordings, and live and recorded performances.

Discography

Singles

Year	Title	Chart Positions
		U.S. Hot 100
1961	"Hurt" (Liberty 55343)	4
1961	"I Apologize" (Liberty 55343)	72
1961	"Smile" (Liberty 55375)	42
1961	"She Really Loves You" (Liberty 55375)	93
1961	"I Believe" (with Johnnie Ray) (Liberty 55400)	-
1962	"Let Me Call You Sweetheart" (Liberty 55410)	66
1962	"I Know (I Love You)" (Liberty 55432)	-
1962	"What's a Matter Baby (Is It Hurting You?)" (Liberty 55469)	12
1962	"The Love of a Boy" (Liberty 55519)	44
1963	"Insult to Injury" (Liberty 55552)	81
1963	"Make the World Go Away" (Liberty 55587)	24
1963	"Gotta Travel On" (Liberty 55634)	64
1964	"Call Me" (Liberty 55665)	-
1964	"A Legend in My Time" (Liberty 55701)	-
1964	"I'm Movin' On" (Liberty 55747)	-
1964	"If" (Mercury 72316)	-
1964	"I Got It Bad and That Ain't Good" (Mercury 72355)	-
1965	"You Can Have Him" (Mercury 72391)	96
1965	"Can't Stop Running Away" (Mercury 72431)	-
1965	"Big Mistake" (Mercury 72478)	99
1966	"Once a Day" (Mercury 72515)	67
1966	"Don't Keep Me Lonely Too Long" (Mercury 72601)	96
1966	"Turn the World Around the Other Way" (Mercury 72628)	-
1967	"Why Not Now" (Mercury 72674)	-
1969	"It'll Never Be Over For Me" (Liberty 15182)	-
1975	"Southern Lady" (Playboy 6050)	-

Albums

• Hurt! - Liberty Records 7208, 1961

• Soul - Liberty Records 7212, 1962

• Let Me Call You Sweetheart - Liberty Records 7234, 1962

• What's a Matter Baby - Liberty Records 7263, 1963

• The Best of Timi Yuro - Liberty Records 7286, 1963

• Make the World Go Away - Liberty Records 7319, 1963

• The Amazing Timi Yuro - Mercury Records 60963, 1964

• Timi Yuro - Sunset Records 5107, 1966

• Something Bad on My Mind - Liberty Records 7594, 1968

CD collection

Hurt! The Best of Timi Yuro (Liberty, 1963 /EMI Records, 1992)