In 1962 Bob Johnston and Clyde Otis produced Yuro's single "What's a Matter Baby (Is It Hurting You?)", which went to No. 12 on the Billboard pop chart. On both "Hurt" and "What's a Matter Baby", Yuro showed an emotional but elegant vocal style that owed a debt to Washington and other black jazz singers. Many listeners in the early 1960s thought Yuro was black. Her single "The Love of a Boy" reached No. 44 in 1962. It was arranged and co-written by Burt Bacharach, but Yuro refused to record his suggested follow-up, "What the World Needs Now Is Love".
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Timi Yuro has been called the finest white female soul singer of the ’60s. What makes her a soul singer rather than merely a pop vocalist is her unflagging determination to approach each song as if her life depends on it. When Timi doesn’t feel a song, the lack of connection is obvious; her poweful voice sounds wasted, going through the motions on material that isn’t right for her. But when Timi relates to a song, the effect is thrilling: she sings with a chilling passion that is undeniably real.
ReplyDeleteTimi grew up in Los Angeles and started singing at her parents’ restaurant. She caught the eye of a rep from Liberty Records who signed her right away. Her debut release, “Hurt,” reached an impressive #4 on the US chart - listeners who loved her deep and soulful voice were shocked to find out that Timi was not black, but Italian (some listeners also assumed she was Japanese because of her name).
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