Testimony (Ferron album)

Last updated
Testimony
Studio album by
Ferron
Released1980, 1981
StudioBlue Wave Recorders, Vancouver, BC, Canada; Goldrush Studios, Vancouver
Genre Folk rock
Length39:42
Label Lucy Records, Philo, Stony Plain Records
Producer Will MacCalder, Ferron
Ferron chronology
Backed Up
(1978)		Testimony
(1980)		 Shadows on a Dime
(1984)

Testimony is a folk album by the Canadian singer-songwriter Ferron. The album includes new material as well as songs that had previously appeared on earlier recordings, re-recorded with local session players and singers. It was first released in 1980 by independent label Lucy Records.

Contents

Track listing

All songs written by Ferron. The original LP had five tracks per side, in the same order as the later CD.

  1. "Almost Kissed"
  2. "Rosalee"
  3. "Our Purpose Here"
  4. "Who Loses"
  5. "Testimony"
  6. "Bellybowl"
  7. "Satin Blouse"
  8. "O Baby"
  9. "Misty Mountain"
  10. "Ain't Life A Brook"

Production and release

Testimony was Ferron's first professionally produced album, released by the independent label Lucy Records. According to Stephen Holden of The New York Times , the album was successful, with 5,000 sales within four months and 30,000 sales by 1983. Ferron said that she wrote most of the album's songs when she was younger. The folk songs have love between women as a theme. [1]

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Robert Christgau A- [2]
AllMusic Favorable [3]

Robert Christgau wrote that "Ferron's natural musicianship is something special: the light, grainy, 'halfway pretty' mezzo glances off sweet-and-sour words and melodies with a fetching ease that's never laid-back".

AllMusic's Joe Viglione called it "as expansive as k.d. lang and worthy of reaching the masses" and mused, "Would k.d. lang have had the opportunity if this work, Testimony, had not existed?".

Personnel

Musicians

An asterisk refers to overdubbed parts for a 1981 re-release on Stony Plain Records; the presently available CD or download consists of the original recordings and does not include these.

Others

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References

  1. ↑ Holden, Stephen (August 12, 1983). "Ferron is Part of Folk Festival Finale". The New York Times . Retrieved December 26, 2023.
  2. ↑ Christgau, Robert. "Consumer Guide Album". Robert Christgau: Dean of American rock critics. Robert Christgau. Retrieved 25 December 2023.
  3. ↑ Viglione, Joe. "Testimony Review by Joe Viglione". AllMusic. AllMusic, NetAktion LLC. Retrieved 25 December 2023.
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