Timi Yuro
Encyclopedia
Timi Yuro 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.
, 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.
to Las Vegas
. However, her career soon lost its early momentum, and she quit the music business altogether after her marriage in 1969.
In 1981, Yuro attempted a comeback in the Netherlands
, performing as a guest of honor on Dutch national television. She rerecorded a version of "Hurt" that reached No. 5 on the Dutch pop charts. She also signed to the Dutch record label Dureco to record a new album, All Alone Am I; it went to No. 1 on the Dutch album charts and was eventually certified as a gold record. With these successes, Yuro moved to the Netherlands and continued with a string of hit singles and albums. After her record sales began to decline there in the mid-1980s, Yuro returned to the United States.
In the mid-1980s, Yuro's American 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 and collaborator Willie Nelson. In 1990, the disc was reissued as a CD, remastered and remixed by Yuro herself on her own label Timi and titled Timi Yuro Sings Willie Nelson
.
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, and Top 30 pop 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 former has remained an important Northern Soul track; the latter was re-released on Kent Records
in the 1980s.
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.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
soul
Soul music
Soul music is a music genre originating in the United States combining elements of gospel music and rhythm and blues. According to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, soul is "music that arose out of the black experience in America through the transmutation of gospel and rhythm & blues into a form of...
and R&B
Rhythm and blues
Rhythm and blues, often abbreviated to R&B, is a genre of popular African American music that originated in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predominantly to urban African Americans, at a time when "urbane, rocking, jazz based music with a...
singer. She is considered to be one of the first blue-eyed soul
Blue-eyed soul
Blue-eyed soul is a media term that was used to describe rhythm and blues and soul music performed by white artists, with a strong pop music influence. The term was first used in the mid-1960s to describe white artists who performed soul and R&B that was similar to the music of the Motown and...
stylists of the rock era.
Early years
According to her record label, Liberty RecordsLiberty Records
Liberty Records was a United States-based record label. It was started by chairman Simon Waronker in 1955 with Al Bennett as president and Theodore Keep as chief engineer. It was reactivated in 2001 in the United Kingdom and had two previous revivals.-1950s:...
, Yuro moved with her family to Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
. 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
Billboard (magazine)
Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...
No. 4 single in 1961 with "Hurt
Hurt (Roy Hamilton song)
"Hurt" is a 1954 song by Jamie Crane and Al Jacobs. "Hurt" was originally performed by Roy Hamilton, whose version peaked at number eight on the R&B Best Seller chart and spent a total of seven weeks on the chart. The song is considered to be the signature hit of Timi Yuro, whose version went to...
", an R&B ballad that had been an early success for Roy Hamilton
Roy Hamilton
Roy Hamilton was an American singer, who achieved major success in the US R&B and pop charts in the 1950s...
. 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
Dinah Washington
Dinah Washington, born Ruth Lee Jones , was an American blues, R&B and jazz singer. She has been cited as "the most popular black female recording artist of the '50s", and called "The Queen of the Blues"...
and other black jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
singers. Many listeners in the early 1960s thought Yuro was black. She opened for Frank Sinatra
Frank Sinatra
Francis Albert "Frank" Sinatra was an American singer and actor.Beginning his musical career in the swing era with Harry James and Tommy Dorsey, Sinatra became an unprecedentedly successful solo artist in the early to mid-1940s, after being signed to Columbia Records in 1943. Being the idol of the...
on his 1961 tour of Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
.
In 1963, Liberty released Make the World Go Away, an album of country
Country music
Country music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...
and blues
Blues
Blues is the name given to both a musical form and a music genre that originated in African-American communities of primarily the "Deep South" of the United States at the end of the 19th century from spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts and chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads...
standards. The singer at her vocal peak, this recording includes the hit title song
Make the World Go Away
"Make the World Go Away" is a country-popular music song composed by Hank Cochran. It has become a Top 40 popular success three times: for Timi Yuro , for Eddy Arnold , and for the brother-sister duo Donny and Marie Osmond . The original version of the song was recorded by Ray Price during...
(later a bigger hit for Eddy Arnold
Eddy Arnold
Richard Edward Arnold , known professionally as Eddy Arnold, was an American country music singer who performed for six decades. He was a so-called Nashville sound innovator of the late 1950s, and scored 147 songs on the Billboard country music charts, second only to George Jones. He sold more...
, with whom the song is usually associated), a version of Willie Nelson
Willie Nelson
Willie Hugh Nelson is an American country music singer-songwriter, as well as an author, poet, actor, and activist. The critical success of the album Shotgun Willie , combined with the critical and commercial success of Red Headed Stranger and Stardust , made Nelson one of the most recognized...
'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
The Ed Sullivan Show
The Ed Sullivan Show is an American TV variety show that originally ran on CBS from Sunday June 20, 1948 to Sunday June 6, 1971, and was hosted by New York entertainment columnist Ed Sullivan....
and was a guest on American Bandstand
American Bandstand
American Bandstand is an American music-performance show that aired in various versions from 1952 to 1989 and was hosted from 1956 until its final season by Dick Clark, who also served as producer...
, Where the Action Is
Where the Action Is
Where the Action Is or ' was a music-based television variety show in the United States from 1965–67. It was carried by the ABC network and aired each weekday afternoon...
, 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 LondonLondon
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
to Las Vegas
Las Vegas, Nevada
Las Vegas is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and is also the county seat of Clark County, Nevada. Las Vegas is an internationally renowned major resort city for gambling, shopping, and fine dining. The city bills itself as The Entertainment Capital of the World, and is famous...
. However, her career soon lost its early momentum, and she quit the music business altogether after her marriage in 1969.
In 1981, Yuro attempted a comeback in the Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
, performing as a guest of honor on Dutch national television. She rerecorded a version of "Hurt" that reached No. 5 on the Dutch pop charts. She also signed to the Dutch record label Dureco to record a new album, All Alone Am I; it went to No. 1 on the Dutch album charts and was eventually certified as a gold record. With these successes, Yuro moved to the Netherlands and continued with a string of hit singles and albums. After her record sales began to decline there in the mid-1980s, Yuro returned to the United States.
In the mid-1980s, Yuro's American 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 and collaborator Willie Nelson. In 1990, the disc was reissued as a CD, remastered and remixed by Yuro herself on her own label Timi and titled Timi Yuro Sings Willie Nelson
Willie Nelson
Willie Hugh Nelson is an American country music singer-songwriter, as well as an author, poet, actor, and activist. The critical success of the album Shotgun Willie , combined with the critical and commercial success of Red Headed Stranger and Stardust , made Nelson one of the most recognized...
.
Influence
Yuro's work is admired in the United StatesUnited States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
as well as in Great Britain and the Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
. According to the obituary in the Las Vegas Sun, her hometown paper, Yuro's most famous fan was probably Elvis Presley
Elvis Presley
Elvis Aaron Presley was one of the most popular American singers of the 20th century. A cultural icon, he is widely known by the single name Elvis. He is often referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll" or simply "the King"....
, who commanded his own table at the casino where Yuro headlined in the late 1960s. (Presley had a Top 10 country hit, and Top 30 pop hit, with his 1976 version of "Hurt".) In April 2004, Morrissey
Morrissey
Steven Patrick Morrissey , known as Morrissey, is an English singer and lyricist. He rose to prominence in the 1980s as the lyricist and vocalist of the alternative rock band The Smiths. The band was highly successful in the United Kingdom but broke up in 1987, and Morrissey began a solo career,...
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
Siouxsie Sioux
Siouxsie Sioux is an English singer-songwriter. She is best known as the lead singer of the critically acclaimed rock band Siouxsie and the Banshees and of its splinter group The Creatures . The Banshees produced eleven studio albums and a string of hit singles including "Hong Kong Garden",...
in 1994.) P.J.Proby knew Timi Yuro from their time in Hollywood, and often mentions it during his performances of "Hurt".
Elkie Brooks
Elkie Brooks
Elkie Brooks is an English singer, formerly a vocalist with Vinegar Joe, and later a solo artist. Elkie has been nominated twice for Brit Awards' top female singer. She is known for her powerful husky voice...
recorded a version of Yuro's classic "What's a Matter Baby" on her 1988 album Bookbinder's Kid
Bookbinder's Kid
Bookbinder's Kid is an album by Elkie Brooks.It was issued on CD, vinyl and cassette in 1988 through Legend Records, and re-released in 1998 on CD and cassette by Castle Records. The CD version of the album contained one bonus track, "I Can Dream, Can't I?" as well as a cover of the U.S...
. 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
Northern soul
Northern soul is a music and dance movement that emerged from the British mod scene, initially in northern England in the late 1960s. Northern soul mainly consists of a particular style of black American soul music based on the heavy beat and fast tempo of the mid-1960s Tamla Motown sound...
DJs championed her up-tempo tracks of "It'll Never Be Over for Me" and "What's a Matter Baby". The former has remained an important Northern Soul track; the latter was re-released on Kent Records
Kent Records
Kent Records was a Los Angeles based record label, launched in the 1960s by the Bihari brothers. It was a follow up to the bankrupted Modern Records and reissued Modern's records. It was later bought by Ace Records, England, which used the label name to release Northern Soul records.The label...
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.
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)
- All Alone Am I (Dureco Benelux 77.011, 1981)
- I'm Yours (Arcade, 1982)
- Today (Ariola, 1982)
Singles
| Year | Song | Chart positions | |
|---|---|---|---|
| US Billboard Hot 100 The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday... |
US R&B Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, is a chart released weekly by Billboard in the United States.The chart, initiated in 1942, is used to track the success of popular music songs in urban, or primarily African American, venues. Dominated over the years at various times by jazz, rhythm and blues, doo-wop, soul,... |
||
| 1961 | "Hurt" | 4 | 22 |
| "I Apologize" | 72 | — | |
| "Smile" | 42 | — | |
| "She Really Loves You" | 93 | — | |
| "I Believe" (with Johnnie Ray Johnnie Ray Johnnie Ray was an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. Popular for most of the 1950s, Ray has been cited by critics as a major precursor of what would become rock and roll, for his jazz and blues-influenced music and his animated stage personality.-Early life:John Alvin Ray was born in... ) |
— | — | |
| 1962 | "Let Me Call You Sweetheart" | 66 | — |
| "I Know (I Love You)" | — | — | |
| "What's a Matter Baby (Is It Hurting You)" | 12 | 16 | |
| "The Love of a Boy" | 44 | — | |
| 1963 | "Insult to Injury" | 81 | — |
| "Make the World Go Away Make the World Go Away "Make the World Go Away" is a country-popular music song composed by Hank Cochran. It has become a Top 40 popular success three times: for Timi Yuro , for Eddy Arnold , and for the brother-sister duo Donny and Marie Osmond . The original version of the song was recorded by Ray Price during... " |
24 | — | |
| "Gotta Travel On" | 64 | — | |
| 1964 | "Call Me" | — | — |
| "A Legend in My Time" | — | — | |
| "I'm Movin' On I'm Movin' On (Hank Snow song) "I'm Moving On" is a 1950 country standard written by Hank Snow. The song, a 12-bar blues, reached #1 on the Billboard country singles chart and stayed there for 21 weeks, tying the record... " |
— | — | |
| "If" | — | — | |
| "I Got It Bad (And That Ain't Good) I Got It Bad (and That Ain't Good) "I Got It Bad " is a pop and jazz standard with music by Duke Ellington and lyrics by Paul Francis Webster published in 1941... " |
— | — | |
| 1965 | "You Can Have Him" | 96 | — |
| "I Can't Stop Running Away" | — | — | |
| "Big Mistake" | — | — | |
| "E Poi Verrà L'Autunno / Ti Credo" | — | — | |
| 1966 | "Once a Day Once a Day "Once a Day" is a song written by Bill Anderson and recorded as the debut single by American country artist Connie Smith. It was produced by Bob Ferguson for her self-titled debut album. The song was released in August 1964, topping the Billboard country music chart for eight weeks between late... " |
67 | — |
| "Don't Keep Me Lonely Too Long" | 96 | — | |
| "Turn the World Around the Other Way" | — | — | |
| 1967 | "Why Not Now" | — | — |
| 1969 | "It'll Never Be Over for Me" | — | — |
| 1975 | "Southern Lady" | — | — |