Soul!

by Richie Unterberger For those who think of Timi Yuro as a supremely underrated white R&B singer, the title of this album might engender some frenzied excitement totally unjustified by the end product. For despite the title, Soul! is a misnomer, as the album consists entirely of orchestrated standards, arranged and conducted by Belford Hendricks, featuring the Lois Winter Singers. Yuro does a good, professional job with the material, featuring as it does songs like "Stardust." It's reasonable adult pop, falling somewhere between Nancy Wilson and Brenda Lee. The disappointment, certainly for more rock-oriented listeners, is that Yuro was capable of so much more when she was given stirring R&B-influenced pop and rock material. But adult pop was definitely a facet of Yuro's persona and repertoire, and this album gave full vent to it.