Testify is the debut album by American Idol season thirteen winner, Caleb Johnson. Its first single was released in July 2014 and the album was released on August 12, 2014, by Interscope Records and is produced by Howard Benson.
Background The album was first announced soon after Johnson won American Idol. Then it was assumed that the album would be self-titled but on June 23, it was revealed that the album would be titled, Testify. Johnson co-wrote six of the ten tracks and worked with musicians such as, Blair Daly, James Michael of Sixx:AM, Sam Hollander, Aloe Blacc, Justin Tranter of Semi Precious Weapons, and Dave Bassett. The album's first single, "Only One", was released July 28, 2014, and his Idol coronation song, "As Long as You Love Me" will serve as a bonus track.
Johnson recorded the album in three weeks in between the Idol finale and tour. He says, "The week after the show ended, I flew all over the place and did a press run," "Immediately after that, I flew back to L.A. and started working on the record. I wrote 12 or 13 songs. Out of those, we picked eight to put on the record." About the songwriting progress, "We really just bounced off each other and pulled these songs out. Most of these songs we wrote in half a day, because we were going so quickly", says Johnson.
Critical reception
The Knoxville News Sentinel's Chuck Campbell says that Johnson "has a likeable personality and a strong voice. But he's an underdeveloped performer on his undercooked new Testify, blandly molded to appeal to an overbroad audience, much like American Idol itself."
Commercial performance The album debuted on Billboard 200 at No. 24 with 11,000 copies sold in its debut week, giving him the distinction of having the lowest first week sales and inaugural chart position of any American Idol winner. The album has sold 24,000 copies in the United States as of April 2016. Including album equivalent units, a total of 30,695 units has been sold as of March 2018.
Johnson also has the distinction of being the first American Idol winner to have their Idol coronation song, "As Long as You Love Me," fail to chart on the Billboard Hot 100 charts.
Track listing
Personnel Adapted from AllMusic.
Performers All vocals – Caleb Johnson Background vocals – Justin Hawkins, Johnny Litten, Lenny Skolnik Choir/chorus – Monet Bagneris, Auvrell Christophe, Calvin Dupree, Tommy Leonard
Design Photography – Brian Bowen-Smith Art direction – Stephanie Hsu, Sean Mosher-Smith Design – Sean Mosher-Smith
Musicians
Baritone saxophone – Cochemea Gastelum Bass – Jon Button, Chris Chaney Drums – Randy Cooke, Josh Freese, Joe Rickard Guitars – Josh Freese, Phil X Hammond B3 – Howard Benson Horns – The Dap Kings Horns Keyboards – Howard Benson, Johnny Litten, Lenny Skolnik Tenor saxophone – Neal Sugarman Trumpet – Dave Guy
Production
A&R – Monica Benson, John Ehmann, Marta Navas, Katherine Neil, Marisa Torbet, Jeanne Venton Digital editing – Paul DeCarlie Drum technician – Jon Nicholson Engineer – Wayne Gordon, Mike Plotnikoff Assistant engineer – Sean Anders, Anthony Martinez, Muktar Muktar Overdub engineer – Hatsukazu "Hatch" Inagaki Vocal engineer – Hatsukazu "Hatch" Inagaki Management – Ginger Ramsey, Brianne Widaman Marketing – Jennifer Bowling Mastering – Brian Gardner Mixing – Chris Lord Mixing assistant – Keith Armstrong, Ismael Barreto, Nik Karpen Producer – Howard Benson, Les Scurry Programming – Jonny Litten, Lenny Skolnik Publicity – Meghan Prophet, Christine Wolff String arrangement – Lenny Skolnik Voices – Howard Benson
Release history Country Date Label Formats Catalog GermanyAugust 11, 2014Universal Music GroupCanadaAugust 12, 2014 United States002132002JapanAugust 13, 2014 Universal Music Group
References