Maps of Music

The Secret of Giving: A Christmas Collection (1999)

Where the lyrics of The Secret of Giving: A Christmas Collection take you, and where it was really made.

The children singing on 'The Angels Sang' were not a professional choir: they were the third-grade class of Reba McEntire's son Shelby.

Key places

Recorded at Sound Stage Studios, Nashville (1999)

Recording site Sound Stage Studios — The album was recorded in Nashville, Tennessee, at several studios including Sound Stage Studios, which is marked on this map. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Album story

Overview

• The Secret of Giving: A Christmas Collection is American country singer Reba McEntire's twenty-third studio album
• It is her second Christmas album, following her 1987 album Merry Christmas to You
• Released 21 September 1999
• Mostly new original holiday tunes, with only a couple of traditional favorites
• Part of a wider holiday project that also included a television film with the same title

Background

• The album came after a gap of more than a decade since her 1987 Christmas record
• A CBS made-for-television movie also called Secret of Giving followed the album
• The film starred McEntire and Thomas Ian Griffith
• It aired on Thanksgiving night in 1999
• The movie used songs from the album as its soundtrack
• The children on 'The Angels Sang' were the third-grade class of her son Shelby at the time
• The album's holiday songs were written by several different songwriters rather than by one writer

Sources: en.wikipedia.org · it.wikipedia.org

Tracklist

Sources: musicbrainz.org

Artist

Early life

• Born March 28, 1955 in McAlester, Oklahoma; raised on a ranch in Chockie, Oklahoma.
• Third of four children of Clark and Jacqueline McEntire; her father was a three-time world steer roping champion.
• With her siblings she formed the trio the Singing McEntires, performing at local events and dance halls.
• Studied elementary education and music at Southeastern Oklahoma State University.

Career

• Country singer Red Steagall heard her at a 1974 rodeo and helped her sign with PolyGram/Mercury Records in 1975.
• Her breakout came with the 1984 MCA album My Kind of Country, which produced two number-one country singles.
• The album Whoever's in New England won a Grammy Award and topped the Billboard country albums chart.
• After a 1991 plane crash that killed eight band members, she released For My Broken Heart, her best-selling album.
• Sold more than 75 million records worldwide; 24 of her singles reached number one on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart.
• Starred in the sitcom Reba (six seasons) and in the NBC sitcom Happy's Place.

Members

• Solo artist; her siblings Pake and Susie were early members of the Singing McEntires.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Reception

At release

• Released 21 September 1999 as Reba McEntire's twenty-third studio album
• Second Christmas album after Merry Christmas to You (1987)
• Mostly new original holiday songs, with only a couple of traditional favorites
• Backing vocals by Joe Chemay, Liana Manis, Jimmy Nichols, and the Summer Academy Third Grade Music Class
• Children on 'The Angels Sang' are the third-grade class of her son Shelby

Reappraisal

• Followed by the CBS made-for-television movie Secret of Giving, starring McEntire and Thomas Ian Griffith
• The movie aired on Thanksgiving night 1999 with songs from the album as its soundtrack
• The album's title track and 'This Christmas' are among its later-held songs in the track list

Records

• Peaked at No. 10 on the Billboard country chart
• Certified Gold by the RIAA
• 940,000 copies sold in the US as of December 2013
• Over 1 million copies sold worldwide

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Trivia

• The children on 'The Angels Sang' were the third-grade class of McEntire's son Shelby
• A CBS made-for-television movie titled Secret of Giving followed the album
• The film aired on Thanksgiving night in 1999 and used songs from the album as its soundtrack
• The album sold 940,000 copies in the US as of December 2013
• The track list includes ten songs, among them 'The Secret of Giving' and 'This Christmas'

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

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