Birth name Rosemary Timothy Yuro
Born August 4, 1940
Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
Origin Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Died March 30, 2004 (aged 63)
Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S.
Genres Soul, R&B
Occupation(s) Singer-songwriter
Rosemary Timothy Yuro (August 4, 1940 – March 30, 2004), professionally known as Timi Yuro, was an American singer and songwriter. Sometimes called “the little girl with the big voice,” she is considered to be one of the first blue-eyed soul stylists of the rock era. According to one critic, “her deep, strident, almost masculine voice, staggered delivery and the occasional sob created a compelling musical presence.” Yuro possessed a contralto vocal range.
Rosemary Yuro was born in Chicago, Illinois, in 1940, into an Italian-American family whose original name may have been Aurro. By the time of her birth, however, the family used the spelling Yuro. In 1952, young Rosemary moved with her family to Los Angeles, where she sang in her parents’ Italian restaurant and, despite their opposition, in local nightclubs before catching the eye and ear of talent scout Sonny Knight. Signed to Liberty Records in 1959, 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. Yuro’s recording was produced by Clyde Otis, who had previously worked with Brook Benton and Dinah Washington. Later that year she recorded as a duo with Johnnie Ray. She charted some further minor hits including “Smile” (No. 42), opened for Frank Sinatra on his 1962 tour of Australia, and received a 1962 Grammy nomination for Best New Artist of 1961 (losing to Peter Nero).
In 1962 Bob Johnston and 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”.
She was diagnosed with throat cancer in the 1990s, and died at the age of 63 in 2004 in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Discography
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)
CD collections
Hurt! The Best of Timi Yuro (Liberty Records, 1963 /EMI Records, 1992)
Timi Yuro – 18 Heartbreaking Songs (Intermusic, 1993 – RMB 75061)
Timi Yuro: The Lost Voice of Soul (RPM Records, 1993 – RPM-117)
Timi Yuro: The Voice That Got Away (RPM Records, 1996 – RPM-167)
The Amazing Timi Yuro: The Mercury Years (Spectrum Music – Universal International (UK), 2005 – 982-596-5)
Timi Yuro: The Complete Liberty Singles (Real Gone Music, 2012 – RGM-0066)
Timi Yuro: I’m A Star Now Rarities 1956-1982 (RPM RECORDS, 2014 – RPM-955)
Timi Yuro: Something Bad On My Mind/The Unreleased Liberty Collection(Morello Records, 2015 – MRLLX-50)
Singles
1961 “Hurt” 4 2 22
“I Apologize” 72 19 —
“Smile” 42 9 —
“She Really Loves You” 93 — —
“I Believe” (with Johnnie Ray) — — —
1962 “Let Me Call You Sweetheart” 66 15 —
“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” 24 8 —
“Gotta Travel On” 64 — —
1964 “Permanently Lonely” 130 — —
“Call Me” — — —
“A Legend in My Time” — — —
“I’m Moving On” — — —
“If” 120 — —
“I Got It Bad (and That Ain’t Good)” — — —
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” 118 — —
“Don’t Keep Me Lonely Too Long” — — —
“Turn the World Around the Other Way” — 37 —
1967 “Why Not Now” — — —
1969 “It’ll Never Be Over for Me” — — —
1975 “Southern Lady” 108 — —
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