Former Sneetches leader Mike Levy took time getting around to his first solo release (with help from his ex-bandmates and a who's-who of Bay Area indie rockers); it was worth the wait. Levy has a keen ear for piano-based melodies from the Paul McCartney and Harry Nilsson schools of pop, while he evokes the tortured voice of John Lennon, among other soul brothers. Like Karl Wallinger's World Party, Levy takes cues more from Billy Preston than, say, Billy Joel, his blue-eyed soul strain strongest on the stand-out tracks "Some Days" and "Take This Child Away." The heaviest rock song, "Too Many People There," is nearly grunge-pop while "Away From My Head" merges Nilsson with pinched Lennon vocalese. Levy shows off his piano-bar keyboard style with between-track instrumentals. Someday those pieces will make a great record, but in the meantime, Levy's crispy pop leanings stand head and shoulders above other contemporary key-pounders. ~ Denise Sullivan, All Music Guide
Michael Levy (Keyboards), Daniel Swan (Vocals (Background)), Steve Savage (Producer), Marvin McFadden (Saxophone), Michael Levy (Guitar), Michael Levy (Arranger), Michael Levy (Bass), Sheila Schat (Cello), Mark Slagle (Assistant Engineer), Rob Sudduth (Flugelhorn), Michael Levy (Piano), Erik Auerbach (Photography), Alison Faith Levy (Vocals (Background)), Marvin McFadden (Flugelhorn), Matt Carges (Mixing), Steve Savage (Engineer), Jonathan Segel (Cello), Victor Krummenacher (Engineer), Alec Palao (Bass), Jonathan Segel (Viola), Jonathan Segel (Violin), Matt Carges (Drums), Sheila Schat (Viola), Michael Levy (Producer), Rob Sudduth (Saxophone), Michael Levy (Package Design), Sheila Schat (Violin), Matt Carges (Guitar), Michael Levy (Vocals), Steve Savage (Mixing), Paul Stubblebine (Mastering)
The Fireflies' career spanned eight single releases on five labels from 1958 to 1967. They formed in Philadelphia in 1957 and went through several lineup changes, but the actual membership is somewhat of a mystery. Ritchie Adams (born Richard Ziegler) sang lead but wasn't an original member; it's believed he sang lead on their biggest hit, their second single "You Were Mine" (Ribbon 1959), which followed "The Crawl," which they debuted with in 1958 on Roulette. Fireflies co-founder Gerry Granahan sang background vocals. The romantic "You Were Mine" barely missed the pop Top 20, a height the Fireflies never scaled again. It spawned an answer record by the Paulette Sisters, entitled "I Was Yours," and was redone by Wayne Thomas.
Ribbon (a New York label owned by Alan Kallman) followed with "I Can't Say Goodbye" the same year, but without the same success. It bombed and so did "Marianne," released on Canadian American Records in 1960, which competed with a final Ribbon release, "My Girl." It's a good bet that Adams left to pursue a solo singing career and answer a songwriting calling before the Fireflies dropped their first single on Taurus Records in 1962. The first Taurus release was a play on the Fireflies' big hit called "You Were Mine for Awhile," which promptly flopped. So did "Blacksmith Blues" on Hamilton; likewise for three more Taurus platters.
After the Fireflies, Adams cut solo singles on Beltone, Congress, Imperial, and other labels, and wrote many of them, something he didn't do with the Fireflies, but never charted with any significant impact. He made up for it, however, with his songwriting. Adams has written nearly 375 songs and scored two mammoth hits, "Tossin' and Turnin'" and much later with "After the Lovin'." He wrote songs for the Banana Splits and the Archies, and also sang lead on "Love Is Living in You," the only Archies single that doesn't feature Ron Dante. ~ Andrew Hamilton, All Music Guide
Fireflies is the sixth album by country artist Faith Hill. The album was released on August 2, 2005 which would make it nearly three years after the release of her fifth album, Cry. In its first week, the album sold 329,000 copies, making it the #1 album on both the Billboard 200 and Top Country Albums chart. "Fireflies" is her third #1 album, and it has been certified 2× Multi-Platinum by the RIAA for US shipments of two million copies. Hill produced the album with Byron Gallimore (who also produced for her husband, Tim McGraw) and Dann Huff.
Singles from the album include, in order of release: "Mississippi Girl", "Like We Never Loved at All", "The Lucky One", "Sunshine and Summertime" and "Stealing Kisses". Of these, "Mississippi Girl" was a Number One on the US Billboard country charts. The other singles peaked at #5, #5, #7, and #36 on that chart, respectively. Of the singles, "Mississippi Girl", "Like We Never Loved at All" and "Sunshine and Summertime" were co-written by John Rich of Big & Rich, while The Warren Brothers (Brad and Brett) co-wrote "The Lucky One", a song on which Brett also sings backing vocals. Other backing vocalists on this album include Hill's husband, Tim McGraw (on "Like We Never Loved at All"), Bekka Bramlett, Rhonda Vincent, and Kelly Willis.
Bruce Dukov, Charlie Bisharat, Darius Campo, Roberto Cani, Susaan Chatman, Mario DeLeon, Armen Garabedian, Berj Garabedian, Endre Grant, Songa Lee-Kitto, Michael Markman, Robert Matsuda, Sara Parkins, Robert Peterson, Michele Richards, Anatoly Rosinsky, Josefina Vergara, John Wittenberg – violins
Evan Wilson, Bob Becker, Denyse Buffum, Roland Kato – violas
Suzie Katayama, Larry Corbett, Steve Erdody, Paula Hochalter, Steve Richards, Dan Smith – cellos
String coordinator: Carl Gorodetzky.
Production
Tracks 1, 3-6, 9, 10, 12 produced by Byron Gallimore and Faith Hill
Tracks 7, 8, 13, 14 produced by Dann Huff and Faith Hill
Tracks 2, 11 produced by Byron Gallimore, Dann Huff and Faith Hill
As of May 2009, the album has sold 2,250,000 copies in the US. To date, it has sold more than 3 million copies worldwide. On January 13 2006, it was certified 2x Platinum by the RIAA.
References
^(2005) Album notes for Fireflies by Faith Hill [CD booklet]. Nashville, Tennessee: Warner Bros. Records Nashville (48794-2).
