Reba McEntire has given us a few holiday collections, and she released The Ultimate Christmas Collection earlier this year. It’s made up of favorites from her previous Christmas releases along with the stirring track, “I Needed Christmas,” which is featured in the Lifetime movie, “Reba McEntire’s Christmas In Tune,” which premiered last year (check Lifetime for a schedule of airings this year).
Reba recalls one of her favorite Christmas memories when she was a young girl in Oklahoma. “The funniest thing I can always remember about Christmastime is my older brother Pake, when we were kids at home, he’d always be the first one to jump out of bed and run down the hall, and he’d just run down the hall with his underwear on,” she says. “And he’d say, ‘If y’all don’t hurry up and get up and get in here, I’m opening all the presents by myself.’ But he knew it was a standing rule we all had to be in there before anybody could open up a present, but I can still see Pake running down the hall.”
When her son Shelby was just a little boy, she recalls one Christmas morning when he was so excited about what “Santy Claus” brought him. “I’ll never forget one (Christmas) morning I woke up and I was laying on my left side and I felt something, and I opened up my eyes, and Shelby was three inches away from my face. He said, ‘Mom, you’re not gonna beweive what Santy Claus weft for me.’ And so, he said you’ve got to come here. I got up out of bed and went in there and there was this little tractor trailer set that he had just fallen in love with at the store. He’s seen it, and he said, ‘I can’t beweive he bought this for me.’ He was so cute.”
Reba, who currently plays Sunny Barnes on the ABC-TV drama Big Sky, will take her headlining tour to Columbus, Ohio on Friday (December 2nd) with opening act Jo Dee Messina and Raleigh, North Carolina on Saturday (December 3rd).
Reba: The Ultimate Christmas Collection Track List
1. Away In A Manager – from 1987 Merry Christmas To You
2. O Holy Night – from 1987 Merry Christmas To You
3. White Christmas – from 1987 Merry Christmas To You
4. The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting On An Open Fire) – from 1987 Merry Christmas To You
5. Up On The Housetop – from 1999 Secret of Giving
6. I Saw Mama Kissing Santa Claus – from 1999 Secret of Giving
7. Mary, Did You Know? – from 1999 Secret of Giving
8. O Come All Ye Faithful – from 2018 My Kind Of Christmas
9. Jingle Bell Rock – from 2018 My Kind Of Christmas
10. Winter Wonderland – from 2018 My Kind Of Christmas
11. I’ll Be Home For Christmas – from 2018 My Kind Of Christmas
12. I Needed Christmas – from 2021 Christmas In Tune
Audio / REBA MCENTIRE GREW UP IN OKLAHOMA ALONG WITH HER SISTER SUSIE AND BROTHER PAKE. SHE RECALLS ONE OF THE FAMILY’S FUNNIEST CHRISTMAS MEMORIES.
DownloadReba McEntire (Pake) OC: …down the hall. :22
“The funniest thing I can always remember about Christmastime is my older brother Pake, when we were kids at home, he’d always be the first one to jump out of bed and run down the hall, and he’d just run down the hall with his underwear on. And he’d say, ‘If y’all don’t hurry up and get up and get in here, I’m opening all the presents by myself.’ But he knew it was a standing rule we all had to be in there before anybody could open up a present, but I can still see Pake running down the hall.”
Audio / REBA MCENTIRE RECALLS A CUTE CHRISTMAS MEMORY OF HER SON SHELBY WHEN HE WAS JUST A CHILD.
DownloadReba (Christmas memory of Shelby) OC: …he was so cute! :28
“I’ll never forget one (Christmas) morning I woke up and I was laying on my left side and I felt something, and I opened up my eyes, and Shelby was three inches away from my face. He said, ‘Mom, you’re not gonna beweive what Santy Claus weft for me.’ And so, he said you’ve got to come here. I got up out of bed and went in there and there was this little tractor trailer set that he had just fallen in love with at the store. He’s seen it, and he said, ‘I can’t beweive he bought this for me.’ He was so cute.”
Audio / Reba McEntire says these days she prefers an artificial Christmas tree.
DownloadReba McEntire (fake tree) OC: …half the year. :24
“I definitely have an artificial tree, because when we were growing up, we’d all go out on the ranch and cut down a Christmas tree, bring it in and then we had to water it every other day – make sure the coffee can was full of water – and the cedar needles got everywhere, so nowadays I just go with an artificial tree…and two, I can leave it with the lights on half the year.”
Audio / Reba McEntire talks about leaving her Christmas tree up after the holidays.
DownloadReba McEntire (leaving Christmas tree up) OC: …really festive. :13
“How long do I leave my Christmas tree and decorations up? Well, after Christmas I am so in tune with the sparkly lights, I leave the lights on and take the Christmas ornaments off. It keeps it really festive.”
