Details
Track Listing
1. This Is My Prayer For You
2. I Saw Mama Kissing Santa Claus
3. One Child, One Day
4. Mary, Did You Know?
5. Up on the Housetop
6. Angels Sang, The
7. Santa Claus Is Coming Back to Town
8. Secret of Giving, The
9. This Christmas
10. 'Til the Season Comes 'Round Again
Album Notes
Personnel: Reba McEntire (vocals); B. James Lowry, Biff Watson (acoustic guitar); Jeff King, Brent Mason, Jerry McPherson (electric guitar); Terry Crisp, Paul Franklin (steel guitar); Will Smith (auto harp); Larry Franklin (fiddle); Jimmy Nichols (keyboards, background vocals); Glenn Worf (acoustic & electric basses); Richard "Spady" Brannan (bass); Eddie Bayers (drums); Eric Darken (percussion); Liana Manis, Joe Chemay, Mrs. Northcutt's Third Grade Music Class (background vocals).
Engineers include: Kevin Beamish, Steve Marcantonio, Derek Bason.
Includes liner notes by Reba McEntire.
SECRET OF GIVING is Reba McEntire's first holiday collection since 1987. McEntire has created a holiday album that includes only two standards: "I Saw Mama Kissing Santa Claus" (customized for her son, Shelby) and "Up On the Housetop." The rest of the songs all date from the '90s, from goosebump-inducing "Mary Did You Know?" to the rousing "One Child, One Day."
The best songs are two that perfectly capture a modern woman's struggle to make Christmas special. In "The Angels Sang," a harried working mom struggles to make it to her son's Christmas pageant, only to have her faith restored unexpectedly. In "Santa Claus Is Coming Back to Town," a divorcee deals with conflicting emotions after her ex announces he wants to come over and play Santa for their kids. But it's the inclusion of "This Christmas," a special prayer of hope noting that 2000 is the 2000th birthday of Christ, that makes SECRET OF GIVING the perfect holiday CD for the new millennium.
Industry Reviews
...confidently mixes standards and new material while staying true to twangy form....just the ticket for blubbering in your 'nog. - Rating: B
Entertainment Weekly (12/10/1999)
4.5 out of 5 - ...Reba ho-ho-hoes her way through the uptempo 'Up On The Housetop' [and] turns pensive on 'The Secret Of Giving'....a wonderful album that shows just how a Xmas album should be made...
Country Music People (01/01/2000)
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