Song(stress) of the Day: Timi Yuro

In my previous post about the Brill Building Sound, I labored over what songs to highlight.  One of the hardest decisions was whether or not to include "What's A Matter, Baby?" by Timi Yuro, written by Clyde Otis and Joy Byers (Byers co-wrote a number of songs for Elvis Presley's musicals in the 60's).

Finally, I decided that Timi Yuro deserved her own showcase on my blog.  One of the most underrated and overlooked singers of the sixties, Yuro had a powerful, soulful style that belied her petite, demure appearance.  Once, while on tour with Frank Sinatra, he walked onstage during her performance and just looked at her.  She stopped the show and asked what he wanted.  He replied that he was just looking for the place where they plugged her in!

She was born Rosemary Timi Yuro in Chicago, Illinois in 1940.


Here are a few samples of Timi Yuro and her magnificent voice.

"What's A Matter Baby?"



"Hurt"  This is, by far, her biggest hit and the song that she is most known for, if anyone knows her at all.  This song, however, is probably best known as one of Elvis Presley's last hits in 1976.  Presley undoubtedly sang the song as a result of his admiration for Yuro.  Elvis would reserve a table for himself each time she performed in Las Vegas.



Here is Timi, live in Rotterdam the Netherlands in 1981 in front of an adoring audience.  Even twenty years after her initial success, her voice is still as powerful and emotive.
"You've Lost That Lovin Feeling/All Alone Am I"



Incredibly, Timi was diagnosed and treated for throat cancer two years before this peformance.  Sadly, she suffered a recurrence of cancer two years later and had to have her larynx removed, which effectively ended her singing career.  She died in 2004.

Bonus:

Among the singers Timi Yuro inspired, most notable was Elvis Presley.  Already a legend by the time her first records came out, Elvis was instantly impressed and moved by her performances.  Here are two that most clearly show her influence on his delivery of two songs, "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'" and "Hurt".  Elvis, in all likelihood, saw her perform these two songs live in Las Vegas shortly before his own engagements there in the early 70's.


"You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin"



"Hurt".  This version, without the later overdubs of background singers, is from what were later called the "Jungle Room Sessions".  Elvis was increasingly reluctant to attend regular recording sessions by 1976.  RCA, in a desperate attempt for new recordings, sent a mobile studio to Graceland.  Elvis and the band set up in the "jungle room", not the best setup for audio quality but the best the engineers could do.

Songs of the Day: Brill Building Brilliance

A great, if rare and expensive, compilation is K-Tel's "Brill Building Sound", a mid 90's box set that looked back at the incredible blizzard of songs that came out of New York's Brill Building in the 1960's.  The roster of talent there was staggering: Neil Sedaka, Barry Mann, Cynthia Weil, Ellie Greenwich, Jeff Barry, Neil Diamond, Doc Pomus, Mort Shuman, Leiber and Stoller, Gerry Goffin, Carole King, not to mention Phil Spector and the list goes on. 

These kids (many were not much older than the artists, or their fans for that matter) literally sat in the Brill Building in cubicle like offices and just cranked out the hits: "Breaking Up Is Hard To Do", "Teenager In Love", "Locomotion", "Stand By Me", "Will You Love Me Tomorrow".  Not only were these genuine pop hits, but many had somber undertones which, in many cases, reflected the real life struggles of the songwriters' own lives.

Here are a few of my faves.

"Magic Town" by the Vogues.  Written by Mann and Weil.


"Needles and Pins".  Before the Searchers came in the British Invasion, Jackie Deshannon recorded the first version of this song co-written by Sonny Bono.


"Hey Girl", a great ballad from the team of Goffin and King.  This is a great cover by Billy Joel.


"It Hurts To Be In Love" by Gene Pitney.  Pitney himself was a songwriter who wrote hits for a number of groups/artists in the early sixties, including "He's a Rebel" for the Crystals and "Hello Mary Lou" for Ricky Nelson.  "It Hurts To Be In Love" was co-written by another Brill Building veteran, Howard Greenfield, and was originally meant for Neil Sedaka.  Sedaka loved it, recorded it, but his record company refused to allow the recording to be released because the rights were owned by a rival.  The song was then given to Pitney.  Sedaka's recording was used, but his vocals were wiped out and Pitney sang over Sedaka's backing track.  The rest is history.


"I'm Into Something Good" by Earl Jean. Earl Jean was the lead singer of the girl group The Cookies when she was given this solo song by Goffin and King. Her version is most notable for inspiring the British Invasion act Herman's Hermits to cover it for their first U.S. hit. Still, this is an interesting glimpse into the song, done in the "girl group" style and very similar to a Cookies treatment.


Howard Greenfield co-wrote a number of hits ("Breaking Up Is Hard To Do", "Love Will Keep Us Together", "Where The Boys Are", "Calendar Girl", "Crying In The Rain", "Venus In Blue Jeans") as well as composing the themes for "Bewitched", "The Flying Nun" and "Hazel".  In his spare time, he also wrote a number of minor hits, including this one for Johnny Crawford of "The Rifleman", "Rumors", presented here as it was heard in 1962.

Songs of the Day: the Four Tops

Part of the original Motown sound, the Four Tops had a talent for great performances of diverse, eclectic material.

Along with their signature 60's hits ("I Can't Help Myself", "Reach Out I'll Be There", "Sugar Pie Honey Bunch", et al), the group had success with some unexpected covers, which I want to focus on.

In 1968 the Tops covered "Walk Away Renee", originally a very stylized baroque-sounding lament by the Left Banke.  Here it receives a great Motown soul treatment:

"Walk Away Renee"


1967's "If I Were A Carpenter". This was a song, much like "Little Green Apples" and "By The Time I Get To Phoenix", that almost every artist seemed almost contractually obligated to cover. Again, the Tops set themselves apart from the crowd.

"If I Were A Carpenter"



Showing their resilience through the years, in 1988 with the same line up the Tops had a top 40 hit with this song, "Indestructible".

"Indestructible"



Bonus:

From "Motown 25" in 1983, a recreation of the old "Battle of the Bands" contests they waged while on tour in the 60's.