Customer Reviews

Amazing Timi Yuro: The Mercury Years

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Yes, finally Timi's "amazing" Mercury LP has been remastered onto CD. For years my only connection to it was a cassette tape of vinyl and hope that someone, somewhere would have the insight to locate the master tapes (if they even existed...) and do Timi Yuro justice. I listen to this release with some sadness however, knowing that it never happened in this remarkable lady's lifetime.I got into Timi from a mid 70's bargain bin find and although have and still listen to all kinds of off-beat music, Timi Yuro was really something special. Maybe she was born 30 years too soon and for the time (in the early 60s), her somewhat ethnic stage name and lusty soulfulness was lost on white-bread America. Intially she was swept up in the teen idol singer craze that dominated youth music and so then essentially shut out of the adult album buying market. Oh well... The original LP benefited from inventive arrangements, and overall great song selection and recording.You never hear a singer soar with such intuitive nuance and soul (and without the fake histronics...)as you will on " The Amazing Timi Yuro". I think it's her finest work and you can tell she loved making it.I do think, "Johnny",one of Bobby Scott's beautiful originals, could allude to Johnny Burnette who was a Liberty label mate of Timi's and at least a casual friend.He died in a boating accident not long before this LP was put together.I get this feeling anyway...The singles included while often border on greatness definitely lack a direction. But I've always loved,"Get Out Of My Life" and its flip and wonder if Timi and the late great Teddy Randazzo could have continued a collaboration what beautiful fruits might have been harvested. Randazzo, although sadly underated,was, as a songwriter/arranger up there with Burt Bach. et al. He went on to give the world, "The Elegent Sound Of The Royalettes", an LP beauty in the "mature" girl group vein (among his other great pop/soul confections). Worth seeking out.If only Timi had gotten to " Goin' Out Of My Head" first..."The Amazing Timi Yuro- The Mercury Years" is a must listen, an overlooked treasure, by one of the greatest singers you'll ever hear and yes, a desert island pick for sure!!! Thankyou Timi, and too, all those involved in this long awaited re-issue.

I am absolutely overjoyed that, at long last, "The Amazing Timi Yuro" has been released complete on CD. I've waited years. There is another CD out there with the same cover graphics, but it includes only a few of the songs on the original. Now, all 12 of the original, magnificent songs are intact, as well as 12 more songs that were unknown to me. It's odd the way things worked in the '60s with Timi. She recorded several marvelous songs that were released as 45's but that never made it onto LP's. On this compilation, "Just a Ribbon," which only made it as a 45 in its day, is my favorite, a fabulous ballad sung as only Timi could have.

I first became aware of Timi Yuro in 1983 when I was in a shop in West Hollywood called Dorothy's Surrender. "The Amazing Timi Yuro" was being played in the shop, and I was stunned by what I heard and asked the owner who the singer was. When he told me Timi Yuro, and that recently she had been a megastar in Belgium where excited concert audiences had thrown the seats around, I felt too embarassed to admit I had no idea who she was, but I remembered the name and went on to hunt down any of her albums I could find. She's been slow to emerge on CD, but slowly but surely it's happening. I agree that Bear records should do a box set of her. She's way underrated, and I am constantly irritated by how difficult it is to find her CD's in the stores.

"The Amazing Timi Yuro" is full of some of the most extraordinary renditions of songs I have ever heard. Timi belts her songs in a lower range, which strongly appeals to me, and she sings with total sincerity and emotion. She really puts her all into everything song she sings -- and sometimes the strain on her vocal chords does show, as when her voice cracks in "I Didn't Know What Time it Was" (I am not sure if her throat cancer was due to her singing, but I assume it was). Every song in "The Amazing Timi Yuro" is wonderful. I've been listening to this album for 23 years now, and I never tire of it. Timi really was "soul." Many of her contemporaries, most notably Barbra Streisand, were much into technique, but Timi specialized in capturing the emotion and soul of a song. Really, she's the most amazing singer I've ever heard. Dinah Washington was even a fan (and tried to outdo Timi by recording her own version of "Hurt," but it's a very pale copy, even by Dinah's high standards).

"Johnny" is a particuarly gorgeous song in which Timi laments the loss of someone in her life named Johnny. We do not know who Johnny is or why Johnny is gone -- the assumption is he died, but it's left purposely unstated, so that the listener can read anything he likes into the song. It's melodic, moving, beautiful -- everything a song should be. During the height of the AIDS epidemic in the 1980's, I considered "Johnny" an unoffical theme song for that catastrophe.

Billie Holiday's last recorded song was supposedly "Don't Worry About Me." It wasn't, but it makes a nice thought. Similarly, a lilting song on "The Amazing Timi Yuro" is a good one to remember Timi by: "I'm Still Around."

Why Timi is so overlooked is a mystery to me. Why so few have even heard of her is a mystery. I so wish she had made more lush albums like "Amazing." Alas, I believe she made only one further LP, "Something Bad on My Mind," an album I've heard she detested but which I've always liked. Well, there's very little Timi sang that I don't like.

To cite the cliche, if I was to have only one CD on a deserted island, it would definitely be "The Amazing Timi Yuro." It is an astonishing achievement. Taken in conjunction with her Liberty recordings, it reveals an incredibly gifted artist whom the gods graced with almost superhuman talent only to take it all away with bad timing (she was undermined the British invasion in the late '60s) and health issues. Her fans don't need a record title to tell them Timi was amazing: we've known that for years.

Timi only recorded one album with Mercury, which is here and also includes most of the Mercury singles. Unfortunately there are some tracks not included, and I don't understand why.
This album is the most "adult" set of recordings she ever made, and they will never date. Her voice is sheer perfection, and Tim wrings every ounce of emotion she has on each one. My own personal favourite is "All I Need Is You", but they are all gems.
She was a terrific singer, and to me outshone Striesand and Franklin and all the other female singers. I think she suffered from very bad promotion and management, as she should have been a huge star.
I have every record she made, some are signed by her, which I treasure. I also now have almost everything she did on cd, which saves me from playing my treasured vinyl which I will never part with.
I also have fan club material which I have kept from the sixties, plus a couple of letters she wrote to me. The last one was very sad, as she was telling me that she had just recorded what she called "the last thing I can ever offer to you", which was her superb album with Willie Nelson. She knew she would never record again due to her wicked cancer, which eventually took her from us. She is so very sadly missed, not only as a lovely little lady, but also as possibly one of the greatest white soul singers who ever lived.
Why she never reached the top I just don't know as she certainly deserved to be there.... Mike Rossiter

Finally Universal music got it together to release this body of work by the Great Timi Yuro!!

This CD chronicles Timi's years on Mercury Records 1964-1967. The 24 track CD starts out with Timi's only LP she released on Mercury Records in 1964 titled: The Amazing Timi Yuro. The 12 tracks on this album were lush arrangements of old standards and a few new tunes. The album was produced by the legendary Quincy Jones and features Timi's powerful voice on standards such as: I Got It Bad (And That Ain't Good), My Foolish Heart, I can Dream Can't I etc. It also features new songs written for this Album such as: All I Need Is You, Johnny etc. Timi's vocals are astonishing and more powerful than ever. Timi proved she could handle these sophisticated arrangements without her vocals being lost behind the huge orchestra. This was the classiest album Timi ever recorded and always considered it her favorite and best album she ever did right up until her untimely death.

The last 12 tracks on this compilation include most of the singles Timi released on Mercury between 1965 and 1967. Timi went back to tackeling the R&B and Northern Soul songs which became her trademark, as well as a few country oriented tunes. In my opinion the stand out tracks on the latter part of this CD are: Teardrops Till Dawn, Cuttin In and You Can Have Him. Can't Stop Running Away and Get Out Of My Life, Timi's 1965 single that is very collectible today are also included. The last two tracks on this CD features two Italian songs Timi recorded in 1965 for her performance at the San Remo Song Festival in Italy that same year. E Poi Verra L' Autunno and Ti Credo are two beautiful Italian songs that Timi belted out in pur Italian. Her throaty vocals come across very powerful in both songs with the stand out track being Ti Credo. Her italian was good and she handled these two numbers very well.

My only gripe with this compilation is that it left off one single completely and also two other flip-sides. Don't Leave Me Lonely Too Long a country weeper and You Took My Happy Away (written by Timi's longtime friend Willie Nelson) were totally left off this collection as well as the flip-side to Pretend: Once A Day (another country song made famous by Connie Smith in 1964) as well as the flip-side of Teardrops Till Dawn: Big Mistake was also cut out of this CD. Now come on guys, this CD was only 24 tracks, it could have easily been 28 with the last four songs included, so all released material during these years could have made it to CD for the first time. Even though I find that dissapointing, I enjoyed hearing these songs very much on CD for the first time. They have all been re-mastered and sound great. The Marginal CD: The Ultimate Collection featured a few of Timi's Mercury songs, but they were taken from vinyl and remastered and do not sound nearly as good as this release. Fans are now lucky enough to own a legitimate CD release of these great songs Timi did during this half of her career. I am lucky enough to own mint copies of all the 45's issued and had them transferred to CD, but the sound quality on here sounds much better.

Timi returned to Liberty Records in 1968 and cut her last album for several years the fan favorite of many: Something Bad On My Mind. Timi then retired from the business appearing ocasionaly thru the 70's and recorded only a couple times during this period. Throat cancer palgued her in the early 80's and went into remission so Timi was able to record three albums in the 80's the last being an album of all Willie Nelson tunes where the famous country singer lent Timi his band to record the project.

Sadly Timi Yuro passed away in March of 2004 from cancer at the young age of 63. She left behind a legacy of music no other singer will ever be able to live up to. At last die hard fans like me are finally able to see most of Timi's recordings on CD. I suggest all of us die hard fans contact Bear Family Records in Germany (look for their web site online) and suggest they put together a box set of Timi's complete recordings. Until then, I hope you all enjoy this great CD by one of the greatest and most under-rated female singers of all time: Miss Timi Yuro.

Oh my lord there is only one and It is the GREAT TIMI YURO She is the greatest female singer that ever lived!I've heard people say she's the greatest white female soul singer, take out the word white and you'd be right. I first heard Timi when I was sixteen years old and knew then this woman could sing like no other Her voice would make an angel smile There are so many of her songs that are amazing It's hard to pick one out I have many of her albums and love every one of them she's the best, back and beyond. You can't go wrong buying her music If you're new to TIMI Start with her early recordings, If you live 100 years you'll never hear a woman with a more powerful voice Yes the little white girl could sing!!

I went buying this CD just knowing the singles released by Timi Yuro, and a few album cuts from both ends of her Liberty records Career. Unlike what the liner notes say, I think the LP this CD was based around was a departure from her early work at Liberty. "The Amzing Timi Yuro" feels more like a jazz album, starkly removed from her Last Liberty outing "Make The World Go Away" She sings with more subtly here, which allows you to appreciate the great enunciation and passion that she bught to every note, and demonstrated she was a very versatile singer, that she did not need to belt out the song all the time to caress each note with convinction and believeabilty.

The following singles are really random, but are great nonetheless. I actually prefer her reworking of "You Can Have Him" to Dionne Warwick's (Both minor hit's during 1965) It sounds like a lost Ronettes track, with Timi starting off the song demurely, almost nonchalant and as the song progresses it seems the subject on her mind eats away at her, and the resulting anger and fury of being burned snowballs out by the end of the song. By Comparison Dionne Warwick's straight ahead rock-soul version sounds like a lost Live Vandellas Performance, not concentrationing on the lyric of the song.

Then there is the brilliant 3rd Single "Get Out of My Life" which is so sublime and the way Timi is able to stand out against one of Teddy Randazzo densest productions (well at least in Mono, you savor the lushness of his productions when they are in Stereo). Again Timi shows restraint when the sentiments are directed at another person, but when she concentrates on what she's feeling, all the emotions come pouring out..maybe too intense an emotional statement for 1965 Brit Beat and Supremes dominated top 40, like most of Teddy Randazzo's work.

I just hold a slight preference for The Royalettes Version of "Can't Stop Running Away" from their "Elegant Sounds" LP possibly because Ironically that's the version I heard first, or it is in Stereo, and in Contrast Sheila Ross is better able to convey the feeling of claustrophobia and running away from a break-up a little better.Timi Yuro doesn't seem like a woman that would run away, she would, like on the A-side, she'd confront it or dismiss it with the confidence she portrayed on record.

Possibly my favorite CD purchase this year....

Having owned the original Mercury LP for years, I've always adored this set, however, on CD...I had a couple disappointments.
The sound quality. The entire CD is in MONO, and somewhat dull in quality. My LP almost sounds crisper. I figured the LP segment of the CD would be re-mastered STEREO, while the single selections would be in MONO. Unfortunately, the whole collection is dull in sound. The other complaint is the missing of some key tracks from 1965/66 singles. "Big Mistake", "Don't Keep Me Lonely Too Long", and "You Took My Happy Away". These are wonderful Timi tracks and were sadly left off. They could have been used rather than the italian tracks (although they were good as well). Overall, the collection is great (performance wise) Timi never made a bad record (unless she might have thought she did). It's nice to see, at least, that some one took interest enough to bring some of these songs to light. You are missed Miss Timi.

I found the review of your UK reviewer absolutely spot on. Tmi Yuro was the most underrated singer of her age, in any genre.

I wore out two copies of the original Mercury vinyl LP and was delighted when the remastered lengthened version came out.

Some say this was her weakest album and sales were not great but they never were with any of her albums and it is just beyond me why she was not a million seller with every album. Virtually no bad tracks, the most committed emotional singing, I liked the fuller orchestral sound of the Mercury album as a change, although 'Soul' is still my favourite of her albums, and indeed it was the very first album I ever bought.

And what a treat to get all the extra tracks on this compilation even though many of them do not really fit with the feel of the original album. We must not complain - it has taken long enough for her albums to appear on CD and although I agree with one reviewer that the vinyl sounds better (I still believe vinyl is more 'musical' than CD) at least I can easily transcribe to my mp3 player and listen at will.

A compulsory addition to one's collection

Timi Yuro is a stunning once in a lifetime soulful singer and when this incredibly great singer went in studio & laid down these awesome tracks with Quincy Jones for the sublime LP "The Amazing Timi Yuro", the legendary singer hit extraordinary new heights! Timi got lost in the passion of these classic songs (singers now rarely do this) and with everything in perfect alignment a stellar masterpiece was born with superb arranger/pianist Bobby Scott at the helm arranging and doing his amazing masterful keyboard work mixed with sublime and deeply soulful vocals & nothing could be musically is finer. Soul-deep performances go deep inside a mesmerizing collection of classic songs and none of these classics have seen a finer day. Soulfully satisfying and remarkable, no other singer is like Timi Yuro so grab this divine collection and feast yourself on the finest singer ever in a sublime setting plus savor & enjoy the riveting & gorgeous Italian vocal treats that close this timeless classic collection. Extraordinary singer was an esteemed favorite of legends such as Sinatra, Ann Dee, Willie Nelson and Elvis and this stunning collection is one Timi Yuro's finest so enjoy. Sublime bonus tracks to savor & enjoy like "Get Out Of My Life" & "Can't Stop Running Away" are now legendary & highly revered Northern Soul classics & these tremendous lost classic tracks are rare treats to be enjoyed over and over...Bravo Timi and your brilliance is missed and this remarkable collection is the ultimate textbook example of what great singing from the soul is all about!

this is a great album showcaseing the late timi yuro! there are some jazz standards and bonus tracks (which did not appear on the vynyl album in the 60s...Her great voice lifts these songs from being standards to exceptional...bobby scotts piano work cant be ignored either!!! timi yuro rates with the greats....jimmy taylor australia.Amazing Timi Yuro: The Mercury YearsAmazing Timi Yuro: The Mercury Years