''Reba'' is the fourteenth studio album by American

country music Country (also called country and western) is a popular music, music genre originating in the southern regions of the United States, both the American South and American southwest, the Southwest. First produced in the 1920s, country music is p ...

singer

Reba McEntire Reba Nell McEntire ( ; born March 28, 1955), or simply Reba, is an American country music, country singer and actress. Dubbed "Honorific nicknames in popular music, The Queen of Country", she has sold more than 75 million records worldwide. Sin ...

. McEntire collaborated once again with former

rockabilly Rockabilly is one of the earliest styles of rock and roll music. It dates back to the early 1950s in the United States, especially the Southern United States, South. As a genre, it blends the sound of Western music (North America), Western musi ...

artist and legendary music producer

Jimmy Bowen James Albert Bowen (born November 30, 1937) is an American record producer and former rockabilly singer. Bowen brought Nancy Sinatra and Lee Hazlewood together, and introduced Sinatra to Mel Tillis for their album, ''Mel & Nancy.'' Early life ...

, and the album was released on April 25, 1988. Gone were the honky tonk stable

steel guitar A steel guitar () is any guitar played while moving a steel bar or similar hard object against plucked strings. The bar itself is called a "steel" and is the source of the name "steel guitar". The instrument differs from a conventional guitar i ...

s and

fiddle A fiddle is a Bow (music), bowed String instrument, string musical instrument, most often a violin or a bass. It is a colloquial term for the violin, used by players in all genres, including European classical music, classical music. Althou ...

s 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 Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...

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 A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

country singles charts. A remake of an old jazz vocal standard made famous by

Ella Fitzgerald Ella Jane Fitzgerald (April25, 1917June15, 1996) was an American singer, songwriter and composer, sometimes referred to as the "First Lady of Song", "Queen of Jazz", and "Lady Ella". She was noted for her purity of tone, impeccable diction, phra ...

, "Sunday Kind of Love" reached the #5 spot. Also covered was "Respect," a song made famous by

Aretha Franklin Aretha Louise Franklin ( ; March 25, 1942 – August 16, 2018) was an American singer, songwriter and pianist. Honored as the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Queen of Soul", she was twice named by ''Rolling Stone'' magazine as the Roll ...

. 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 Michelle Wright (born July 1, 1961) is a Canadian country music artist. She won the Canadian Country Music Association's Fans' Choice Award twice (1993 and 1995). In 2011, Wright was inducted into the Canadian Country Music Hall of Fame. Wright ...

on her 1988 album, '' Do Right By Me''.

Track listing

Personnel

– lead vocals *

John Barlow Jarvis John Barlow Jarvis (born January 2, 1954, in Pasadena, California)Paul Kingsbury, editor"The Encyclopedia of Country Music: The Ultimate Guide to the Music" 2004 is an American songwriter, composer, session pianist and recording artist. Before mo ...

– acoustic piano,

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Mike Lawler Michael Vincent Lawler (born September 9, 1986) is an American politician serving as the U.S. representative for New York's 17th congressional district since 2023. From 2021 to 2022, he was a Republican member of the New York State Assembly fr ...

– synthesizers * Pat Flynn – acoustic guitar,

mandolin A mandolin (, ; literally "small mandola") is a Chordophone, stringed musical instrument in the lute family and is generally Plucked string instrument, plucked with a plectrum, pick. It most commonly has four Course (music), courses of doubled St ...

bouzouki The bouzouki (, also ; ; alt. pl. ''bouzoukia'', , from Greek , from Turkish ) is a musical instrument popular in West Asia (Syria, Iraq), Europe and Balkans (Greece, North Macedonia, Bulgaria, Turkey). It is a member of the long-necked lute fam ...

* Pam Rose – acoustic guitar, backing vocals *

Dann Huff Dann Lee Huff (born November 15, 1960) is an American record producer, studio guitarist, and songwriter. For his work as a producer in the country music genre, he has won several awards, including the ''Musician of the Year'' award in 2001, 2004 ...

– electric guitars * Wayne Nelson – bass guitar *

Russ Kunkel Russell Kunkel (born September 27, 1948) is an American drummer who has worked as a session musician with many popular artists, including Jackson Browne, Jimmy Buffett, Harry Chapin, Rita Coolidge, Neil Diamond, Bob Dylan, Cass Elliot, Dan Fo ...

– drums, percussion * Kirk "Jelly Roll" Johnson –

harmonica The harmonica, also known as a French harp or mouth organ, is a free reed wind instrument used worldwide in many musical genres, notably in blues, American folk music, classical music, jazz, country, and rock. The many types of harmonica incl ...

* Yvonne Hodges – backing vocals * Suzy Hoskins – backing vocals * Mary Ann Kennedy – backing vocals

Production

* Jimmy Bowen – producer * Reba McEntire – producer * Ron Treat – recording engineer * Mark J. Coddington – second engineer * Marty Williams – second engineer * Bob Bullock – overdub recording * Tim Kish – overdub recording * Willie Pevear – overdub recording * John Guess – mixing * Glenn Meadows – mastering * Milan Bogdan – digital editing * Simon Levy – art direction * Katherine DeVault – design * Jim McGuire – photography ;Studios * Recorded at Emerald Sound Studios and Sound Stage Studios (Nashville, Tennessee). * Mixed and Mastered at Masterfonics (Nashville, Tennessee).

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Singles

Certifications

References

{{Authority control 1988 albums Reba McEntire albums MCA Records albums Albums produced by Jimmy Bowen