Viglione has reviewed several of Bassey's albums, including And I Love You So and Nobody Does It Like Me.
His reviews are cited as authoritative sources in discussions and fan blogs related to Dame Shirley Bassey's career and recordings.
In one review, he praised a rendition as "totally wonderful", and in another context, found "much to praise retrospectively about the album".
Viglione's work provides critical analysis and historical context for many of Bassey's recordings, particularly for the American market and audience.
Does Anybody Miss Me Review by Joe Viglione
With total authority and enthusiasm, Shirley Bassey takes the Les Reed/Johnny Worth song "Does Anybody Miss Me?" for her title track, opening this album with the consistency few artists give their audience recording after recording, performance after performance. She's decked out in a somewhat revealing angelic white on the front and back cover and her voice flies over the beautiful Dave Pell production and Artie Butler arrangements with perfection, reflecting the ease of the cover photos. Side one's closer, "I Only Miss Him," seems to add to the intrigue of the Les Reed title track, though it's not as tragic as Vicki Carr's "It Must Be Him"; in this artist's hands the melody becomes a pleasant up-tempo song about love that might come back. The array of songwriters is staggering: an early David Buskin composition, "Never, Never No," Rod McKuen/Henry Mancini's "We" from the Patty Duke film Me, Natalie, and a strong reading of Bacharach/David's "I'll Never Fall in Love Again" from Promises, Promises, including a verse not on Dionne Warwick's hit. Bassey's vocal command and presence simply amazes from LP to LP, and despite how short the songs and album content appear decades after release -- only two songs go over the three-minute mark -- the striking results do not shortchange the fan in the least. "Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me" is redefined by Bassey; the female perspective of Mel Carter's hit from four years earlier is a bit more coy in some parts, but still gets the message across. The uncredited and appropriate liner notes proclaim that Bassey is "Woman and child co-existing a mere light year above the footlights/tonight...every night." Does Anybody Miss Me? is yet another powerful recording from the diva's diva. https://www.allmusic.com/album/does-anybody-miss-me-mw0001131156
Does Anybody Miss Me Review by Joe Viglione
With total authority and enthusiasm, Shirley Bassey takes the Les Reed/Johnny Worth song "Does Anybody Miss Me?" for her title track, opening this album with the consistency few artists give their audience recording after recording, performance after performance. She's decked out in a somewhat revealing angelic white on the front and back cover and her voice flies over the beautiful Dave Pell production and Artie Butler arrangements with perfection, reflecting the ease of the cover photos. Side one's closer, "I Only Miss Him," seems to add to the intrigue of the Les Reed title track, though it's not as tragic as Vicki Carr's "It Must Be Him"; in this artist's hands the melody becomes a pleasant up-tempo song about…
(A friend writes on What's App): Wooow 👏👏👏
Nobody Does It Like Me Review by Joe Viglione
Nobody Does It Like Me is an appropriate album title for the queen diva, Shirley Bassey, this 1974 release being another in-the-pocket delight. Producer Martin Rushent, who would take the Human League to the top of the charts in 1982, is here in an engineering capacity and the sound is somewhat different from her '60s albums and even the double-live disc from the year before. M. Randall's "Leave a Little Room" starts things off, and the feel is more geared toward the '70s adult contemporary audiophile than the cabaret circuit. Sure, it's the same instrumentation and voice her fans adore, but the music is pulled back somewhat; "When You Smile" is ready for radio, the orchestration not in your face. "All That Love Went to Waste" from the motion picture A Touch of Class finds sweeping strings and dynamic horns playing off of Bassey's intuitive phrasings. Bernard Ighner composes and duets with Bassey on "Davey," the approach Melissa Manchester would take a few years later for her tune "Whenever I Call You Friend," which Kenny Loggins hit with. Even the song selection seems positioned to get the artist a piece of that 1970s radio play that Helen Reddy, Anne Murray, and Barry Manilow were so successful conquering. Paul Anka's "I'm Not Anyone" is a seemingly perfect vehicle for just that. But where the Anne Murrays and Helen Reddys weren't known for belting tunes out, the pop music radio did embrace back then was not the operatic style Jane Olivor and others were issuing. Bassey pulls back nicely on "Morning in Your Eyes," but it still has too much elegance for programmers to latch onto. "The Trouble With Hello Is Goodbye" is traditional Bassey, subtle and overpowering all at once. The title track, "Nobody Does It Like Me," is from the Broadway musical Seesaw, and it breaks out of the soft rock of most of the album, delivering a snazzy number that, truly, few can do like Bassey: "I got a big loud mouth/I'm always talking much too free/If you go for tacky manners/Better stay away from me." The lower volume level is noticeable when "I'm Nothing Without You" follows that tour de force, its "Bridge Over Troubled Waters" strings and feel coming back to the mission of this record. And that mission is accomplished with the closing track. Just as Bassey recorded a superb version of Bobby Hebb's "Sunny," she re-interprets Stevie Wonder's song with the same flavor, "You Are the Sunshine of My Life." It oozes with classy adult pop majesty, understated vocals, and bubbling instrumentation. Totally wonderful. This rendition should have been a huge American radio hit and is the frosting on the cake. https://www.allmusic.com/album/nobody-does-it-like-me-mw0000842289
Below a review of the album and some newspaper clips from 1974.
Review of the album
By Joe Viglione, All Music Guide https://shirleybassey.wordpress.com/2023/05/10/
Nobody Does It Like Me is an appropriate album title for the queen diva, Shirley Bassey, this 1974 release being another in-the-pocket delight. Producer Martin Rushent, who would take the Human League to the top of the charts in 1982, is here in an engineering capacity and the sound is somewhat different from her ’60s albums and even the double-live disc from the year before. M. Randall’s “Leave a Little Room” starts things off, and the feel is more geared toward the ’70s adult contemporary audiophile than the cabaret circuit. Sure, it’s the same instrumentation and voice her fans adore, bu…
Viglione, Joe. "Allmusic review". Allmusic. All Media Guide. Retrieved 25 June 2011. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/And_I_Love_You_So_(Shirley_Bassey_album)
And I Love You So Review by Joe Viglione
The out of print 1972 CD from Shirley Bassey, And I Love You So, gets two additional bonus tracks on its 2001 re-release, and the more Bassey in the world the better. Her over the top rendition of pianist Jack Dieval's "The Way of Love" keeps the gender intact, as did Kathy Kirby and Cher on their respective hit versions, of a woman singing a song of heartbreak to another woman, only Bassey puts her trademark style on it bringing it into another realm. Chris White includes two lengthy pages of liner notes in the informative eight-page booklet which includes four lovely photos of the queen diva. Perry Como's hit version of the title track, "And I Love You So," a composition from the pen of Don McLean, might've kept this album from getting more exposure, but it is essential Shirley Bassey which her fan base is well aware of. She makes "Bless the Beasts and the Children" exotic while the Tom Evans and Pete Ham timeless classic, "Without You," gets a sort of Eartha Kitt as "Catwoman" reading, Bassey borrowing a bit but never copying. Johnny Harris forgoes the neo-Phil Spector production of Harry Nilsson's hit version to arrange, produce and conduct a special blend to fit Bassey's vocal stylings. The two Noel Rogers produced outtakes from the album sessions. Like many of the artist's releases, this is a real treasure and a true work of art. [The U.K. version adds two bonus tracks: "If I Should Love Again" and "Let Me Be the One."]
https://www.allmusic.com/album/and-i-love-you-so-mw0000740378
Live at Carnegie Hall Review by Joe Viglione
This double LP recorded May 11 and 12, 1973, and released that same year features a dozen violinists, four violas, four cellos, piano, bass, drums, guitar, percussion, and the amazing voice of the incomparable Shirley Bassey. Officially titled "Shirley Bassey Live at Carnegie Hall featuring Woody Herman and the Young Thundering Heard," Live at Carnegie Hall begins with her biggest American hit, "Goldfinger," and doesn't let up. Starting with a song that euphoric is impressive; few could lead off a concert with their signature tune and get away with it, but her voice is in amazing shape, and she sets the tone as this precious set of material is flawlessly reinvented. That's the Bassey treatment. She hits the audience with the hits. "Where Am I Going" and "Big Spender" from the musical production Sweet Charity, "For All We Know" from the motion picture Lovers and Other Strangers, and "Day by Day" from Godspell were melodies which reached the public consciousness thanks to other artists -- the Carpenters on "For All We Know," and the original cast for the Godspell hit. Bassey just overpowers each memory when she's got your ear and uses the spirit of each song to take flight. The accompaniment is superb, but never gets in the way of the diva. Dusty Springfield titled her orchestrated 1967 album Where Am I Going and Bassey takes the same tune and shifts it to her arena. "And I Love You So" had become an adult contemporary staple at the time, thanks to Perry Como's hit version this very same year, but she dispenses with the pop and injects pure soul into what was originally Don McLean's light folk tune. Add George Harrison's "Something" to the mix, and it makes for a very appealing set. Bassey's interpretations are clearly her own, with the originals or most famous versions finding themselves as great reference points. I Capricorn was one of her albums released before this live set and Never, Never, Never the studio album which would follow; both title tracks get riveting performances here, the album flowing seamlessly. Her on-stage chatter along with another 007 theme, "Diamonds Are Forever," help make Live at Carnegie Hall a sweeping tour de force. It's just a breathtaking live album from a timeless artist. https://www.allmusic.com/album/live-at-carnegie-hall-mw0000689262
This Is My Life Review by Joe Viglione
Not to be confused with the 2000/2001 Music International best-of compilation which utilizes the same title and features that tune along with other Bassey favorites, this is the 12-song 1968 release from a day when all these performances by the authoritative singer were kept under the three-minute mark. The end melody of the Lesley Bricusse/Anthony Newley tune "The Joker" from the musical production of The Roar of the Greasepaint is right out of the "he loves gold" ending from "Goldfinger," and putting it next to Batman composer Neal Hefti's "I Must Know" is pretty clever -- from the Joker to Batman's Hefti co-write. "I Must Know" is a swinging bossa nova which Eydie Gorme could have dueted on nicely here, and the Sid Feller arrangements embellish Dave Pell's first-rate production, work which gives Bassey's fantastic voice a dynamic platform -- one that doesn't interfere with her passionate expression. "This Is My Life (La Vita)" is over the top, a performance which should have been huge on America's radios. That 1965's "Goldfinger" was her only chart hit in the states is more of a statement on how unfair Top 40 was (and has always been). Shirley Bassey is no one-hit wonder; her movie soundtracks took care of that and delivered her voice to millions when transistors refused to. Tony Hatch's Top 25 chart song for Petula Clark, "Who Am I," is covered so faithfully you'd think Hatch had produced this version, and the pop sounds are a nice change of pace from the show tune presentation of "Funny Girl." Putting the theme from that motion picture next to a driving version of Bobby Hebb's "Sunny" works as smoothly as "The Joker" next to "I Must Know" -- though she gives Hebb's classic the powerful hold-the-last-note move that made "Goldfinger" so much fun. When Bassey's not making a statement like "I Must Know" or "This Is My Life," there are questioning tunes -- "Where Is Tomorrow?" or "Who Am I?"; the expressionist may be singing material written by other people, but the way she spins them across her album is the real magic she couples with her voice and spirit. When Janis Joplin put her soul on the grooves of a record, she spoke in a language that went beyond the words. Shirley Bassey does that here on This Is My Life, an album that speaks on many levels. Let there be no doubt this is a great album from one of the greats. https://www.allmusic.com/album/this-is-my-life-mw0000960051
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Joe Viglione is a writer and critic for AllMusic (AMG), known for providing detailed, often enthusiastic reviews of classic pop, rock, and soundtrack albums from the 1950s, 60s, and 70s.
Regarding his connection to Andy Williams in the AMG database:
Album Reviews: Viglione has reviewed Andy Williams' material for AMG, specifically citing Williams' sound as a benchmark for 1960s pop and middle-of-the-road (MOR) music, such as comparing the vocal style in Frankie Valli's "Eleanor Rigby" to Williams.
Contextualizing Hits: He often places Williams' hits, such as "Dear Heart" (1965), into the broader context of the 1960s music scene alongside artists like Gene McDaniels and The Cowsills.
Other Reviews: Viglione's work at AMG spans various artists, including reviews for Vic Damone, The G-Clefs, and discussions on 1960s pop production.
Note: The search results also mention a "Roger Williams" in an AMG review by Joe Viglione regarding a #1 hit from 1955.
West Bruce and Laing
The album has a solid ending with “Pollution Woman”. About the song, critic Joe Viglione wrote that this was the direction the band should have taken for the entire album. He also suggests that keyboards might have stabilized the band. https://allmanbrothersband.com/community/general-chat-anything-goes/west-bruce-and-laing-love-is-worth-the-blues/ The inclusion of keys via Mountain’s Knight or Blind Faith’s Winwood would have been monumental in establishing a firmer ground upon which to develop the band’s sound. I might have to agree to some degree, though not entirely, because some of these songs are phenomenal as they are. However, I will agree with Viglione regarding the production of the album. There wasn’t as much “oomph” in the production to give it that heavy-ass Mountain sound with the jazzy basslines Bruce’s blues contained. It wasn’t all Johns’ fault, as the band did have a hand in production.
HAPPY HEART ANDY WILLIAMS
NO MATTER WHAT SIGN YOU ARE
SUPREMES
TWO LOVERS
MARY WELLS
https://youtu.be/oa4MqpN-A2k Mary Wells - Two Lovers
Early on, the band experienced problems holding on to a second guitarist, but Alan Hebditch, a childhood friend of Cataldo’s, became a regular fixture in early 1978. Along with DMZ and the Real Kids, they were considered among the scene’s “punkier” bands. Centered on Cataldo’s “great rock & roll voice” and “jangly guitar”, in the description of AllMusic’s Joe Viglione, they were the “Rolling Stones of Boston…hard-rocking, riff-blasting, tongue-in-cheek”. By 1978, they were one of the most popular acts in the city. Their second Rat single, the new wave–style “Just Head”, appeared in 1979.
