Reba is the fourteenth studio album by American country music singer Reba McEntire. McEntire collaborated once again with former rockabilly artist and legendary music producer Jimmy Bowen, and the album was released on April 25, 1988. Gone were the honky tonk stable steel guitars and fiddles of My Kind of Country and Have I Got a Deal for You, to be replaced by a highly produced and orchestrated production. The album recalls to mind the music on the hit parade of the late 1940s and early 1950s. The Nashville and country-soul crossover sounds of the 1960s are also represented. Created before For My Broken Heart and It's Your Call, this was one of the first of McEntire's albums to have a conceptual feeling. This was created by song choice and the use of similar instrumentation and vocal arrangement throughout the album. Reba was a success.
The album was her third #1 country album, and two of its tracks, "I Know How He Feels" and "New Fool at an Old Game," reached No. 1 on the Billboard country singles charts.
A remake of an old jazz vocal standard made famous by Ella Fitzgerald, "Sunday Kind of Love" reached the #5 spot. Also covered was "Respect," a song made famous by Aretha Franklin.
The album debuted at #20 for the week of May 21, 1988, on the Country Albums chart, and peaked at #1 for the week of June 11, 1988. The album stayed at #1 for 6 consecutive weeks.
Three songs from the album, "Do Right By Me", "Wish I Were Only Lonely" and "New Fool At An Old Game", were previously recorded by Michelle Wright on her 1988 album, Do Right By Me.
Contents
Personnel
Reba McEntire – vocals
John Barlow Jarvis – acoustic piano, Yamaha DX7
Mike Lawler – synthesizers
Pat Flynn – acoustic guitar, mandolin, bouzouki
Pam Rose – acoustic guitar, harmony vocals
Dann Huff – electric guitars
Wayne Nelson – bass
Russ Kunkel – drums, percussion
Kirk "Jelly Roll" Johnson – harmonica
Yvonne Hodges – harmony vocals
Suzy Hoskins – harmony vocals
Mary Ann Kennedy – harmony vocals
Production
Jimmy Bowen – producer
Reba McEntire – producer, make-up
Ron Treat – recording engineer
Bob Bullock – overdub recording
Tim Kish – overdub recording
Willie Pevear – overdub recording
John Guess – mixing
Mark J. Coddington – second engineer
Marty Williams – second engineer
Milan Bogdan – digital editing
Glenn Meadows – mastering
Masterfonics (Nashville, Tennessee) – mixing and mastering location
Jessie Noble – project coordinator
Simon Levy – art direction
Katherine DeVault – design
Jim "Señior" McGuire – photography
Linda McMith – hair
Sheri McCoy – wardrobe
Ann Payne-Rice – wardrobe