Best known for early 60s hits such as Hurt and What’s A Matter Baby?, Rosemary Timothy Yuro presaged the likes of Dusty Springfield as one of the decade’s finest blue-eyed soul singers, later championed by everyone from Elvis to Morrissey. Here, compiler Mike Iannarelli, a friend of Yuro’s who’s dedicated himself to keeping her memory alive, presents mainly previously unreleased tracks taken from the singer’s own tape archives, including With All My Heart (recorded when she was 15) and the three 1959 demos that showcase a deeply resonant voice seasoned with jazz-singer soul beyond her years.
Much on display stunningly confirms the power sometimes diffused on Yuro’s official releases, notably the trio of brass-drenched soul scorchers created with school friend Marshall Lieb of The Teddy Bears, among them Yuro’s blistering take on The Staple Singers’ Why (Am I Treated So Bad). Other delights include obscure 1967 Philippines movie soundtrack offcuts, unreleased outings from 1969-70, and 70s sessions that produced voluptuous versions of To Love Somebody and Traffic’s Feelin’ Alright. The only tracks that were released at the time date from a 1982 comeback in The Netherlands, shortly before Yuro was diagnosed with the throat cancer that claimed her life in 2004.
This is the kind of genuinely worthwhile compilation we could do with more of – though singers the likes of Timi Yuro come along just once in a lifetime.
