Reba: Duets

Reba: Duets was recorded at Starstruck Studios in Nashville, Tennessee. Allmusic reviewer, Thom Jurek considered that the quality of the album's tracks was different from that of most other collaboration projects, calling it a "mixed bag" of material. The first collaborator on the album was LeAnn Rimes, who recorded the track, "When You Love Someone Like That" which also appeared on LeAnn Rimes's Family album that same year. Jurek called the duet between the pair "stellar," The second track, "Does That Wind Still Blow In Oklahoma" was a collaboration with Ronnie Dunn (half of the duo Brooks & Dunn), who co-wrote the song with McEntire. The third track is a duet with Kelly Clarkson on one of her previous major pop hits, "Because of You." The song was the album's lead single and had already peaked at #2 on the Hot Country Songs chart at the time of the album's release. The Only Promise That Remains The tenth track was a country duet with Justin Timberlake on the song, called "The Only Promise That Remains", co-written by Timberlake himself, with additional writing from Matt Morris. The song lasts for five minutes and six seconds. It is an acoustic-based Celtic love song whose instrumentation consists of strings, cello fills, the dobro and an upright bass. She asked him to be a part of the project, to which he replied: "Okay, great, I'll write something. Is that okay?". McEntire's vocals were recorded by Chris Ashburn and Kevin Mills at Starstruck Studios in Nashville, while Timberlake's were recorded by Jeff Rothschild at Henson Recording Studios in Hollywood. Larry Gold arranged and conducted the strings, which were provided by Alyssa Park, Amy Wickman, Caroline Buckman and the Section Quartet. Rob Ickes performed the dobro, while Glenn Worf performed the upright bass. The song was mixed by Jean-Marie Horvat, with assistance from Colin Miller at Oz Recording Studios in Valencia. Recalling the events, McEntire revealed that the collaboration "worked out really great". Of Timberlake, she said: "He's a sweetheart, a very good old country boy from Memphis, Tenn., and he's a huge fan of country music so it worked out wonderfully well". Timberlake dedicated the song to his grandfather, an avid country music fan. Timberlake announced their collaboration in May 2007, revealing that he was "making [his] grandfather very proud by working with someone like Reba McEntire". ==Critical reception==

Reba: Duets gained fairly positive reviews from most music critics. Allmusic's Thom Jurek stated that although he considered it not to be a "perfect record", he did find the album to "deliver". Jurek concluded by saying, "It's sincere, it's polished, and it's full of good to great songs delivered in mostly interesting ways." In his review, he gave the album three and a half out of five stars. The Only Promise That Remains "The Only Promise That Remains" received lukewarm reviews from contemporary music critics, who deemed it a surprising collaboration. Some critics, however, noted that "The Only Promise That Remains" was not as strong as others tracks on Reba: Duets. The song was serviced to country radio in the United States by MCA Nashville on November 5, 2007, as the second single from Reba: Duets. The single failed to chart on the US Hot Country Songs chart, but peaked at 72 on the US Pop 100 chart and at number five on the US Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles chart. McEntire and Timberlake performed the song live on The Oprah Winfrey Show on September 19, 2007. Randy Vest of People described the song as "a gentle, strikingly simple duet". Timberlake's harmonies performed throughout the song were praised by Allmusic's Thom Jurek, who wrote that "it's a welcome surprise" which is "more about serving the song than about not being able to sing". Cooper wrote that in Timberlake's "unexpected surprise cameo" he "fades into a secondary role", as opposed to the other artists on Reba: Duets that "make a strong showing" next to McEntire. She wrote that Timberlake "sounds pretty enough" and that he does "contribute a certain mood" to the song, however, commented that "anyone expecting more of a collaborative effort out of him would be sorely disappointed". ==Release and aftermath==

Reba: Duets was originally planned to be released in April 2007, however the date was pushed to September 18 instead. The lead single, "Because of You" was released to radio May 15 and reached a peak of #2 on the Hot Country Songs chart and #50 on the Billboard Hot 100 in August, shortly before the album's release date. A week after the album's release, it became the United States' best-selling album of the week, debuting at number one on both the Top Country Albums and Billboard 200 albums charts, selling a total of 300,536 copies in its first week, according to Nielsen SoundScan. It debuted at number 4 on the Canadian Album Charts. Reba Duets was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America in October 2007, becoming her twentieth platinum album. The album's second single, "The Only Promise That Remains" (with Justin Timberlake) was released in November 2007, but only reached #72 on the Billboard Pop 100 and did not chart the Hot Country Songs list. The third single, "Every Other Weekend" (with Kenny Chesney) was released in 2008. However, the official single featured Skip Ewing as the duet partner instead of Chesney, due to the Chesney version not being "viable" for radio (due to radio company issues). It charted outside the main UK top 100 album chart but has sold over 15,000 copies in the UK. McEntire and LeAnn Rimes performed their duet of "When You Love Someone Like That" at the 41st CMA Music Awards. ==Track listing==

Vocals • Kenny Chesney – lead vocals (7) • Kelly Clarkson – lead vocals (3) • Ashley Cleveland – backing vocals (8) • Jay DeMarcus – backing vocals (4) • Ronnie Dunn – lead vocals (2) • Vince Gill – lead vocals (8) • Don Henley – lead vocals (11) • Faith Hill – lead vocals (9) • Kim Keyes – backing vocals (8) • Carole King – lead vocals (6) • Gary LeVox – lead vocals (4) • Reba McEntire – lead vocals • Matt Morris – backing vocals (10) • LeAnn Rimes – lead vocals (1) • Joe Don Rooney — backing vocals (4) • Judson Spence – backing vocals (8) • Justin Timberlake – lead vocals (10) • Curtis Wright – backing vocals (2) • Jenifer Wrinkle – backing vocals (2) • Trisha Yearwood – lead vocals (5) Musicians • John Barlow Jarvis – acoustic piano (2–5, 9) • Caroline Buckman – strings (10) • Tom Bukovac – electric guitar (1–10), acoustic guitar (10, 11) • Jay DeMarcus – bass guitar (4) • Paul Franklin – steel guitar (2–5, 7, 8, 9) • Larry Gold – string arrangements and conductor • Carl Gorodetzky – string contractor (3, 7) • Aubrey Haynie – fiddle (2, 7, 10), mandolin (3, 4, 5, 8, 9, 10) • Rob Ickes – dobro (10) • Russ Kunkel – drums (1, 6, 11) • Paul Leim – drums (3, 5) • Jay Dee Maness – steel guitar (1, 6, 11) • Chris McHugh – drums (4) • Greg Morrow – drums (2, 7–9) • The Nashville String Machine – strings (3, 7) • Steve Nathan – Hammond B3 organ (2, 7, 8) • Jimmy Nichols – synthesizer (3, 4, 5, 8), acoustic piano (7), Hammond B3 organ (9) • Alyssa Park – strings (10) • Dean Parks – acoustic guitar (6), electric guitar (11) • Matt Rollings – Hammond B3 organ (1), acoustic piano (1, 6, 11) • Leland Sklar – bass guitar (1, 6, 11) • Jimmie Lee Sloas – bass guitar (2, 7, 8, 9) • Michael Thompson – acoustic guitar (1), electric guitar (1) • Ilya Toshinsky – acoustic guitar (2–5, 7–10) • Pete Wasner – acoustic piano (8) • Bergen White – string arrangements and conductor (3, 7) • Amy Wickman – strings (10) • Glenn Worf – bass guitar (3, 5), upright bass (10) Production • Chuck Ainlay – recording (3, 4, 5, 10), mixing (3, 4, 9) • Kazuri Arai – mix assistant (11) • Chris Ashburn – mix assistant (2, 7, 8), recording (8), additional recording (10), recording assistant (10) • Adam Ayan – mastering • Jeff Balding – additional recording (5, 6, 11) • Derek Bason – additional recording (1, 2, 10), recording (2, 7, 8, 9), mixing (2, 7, 8) • Narvel Blackstock – management • Tony Brown – producer (1–9, 11) • David Bryant – additional recording, (4, 5, 6, 9, 11), recording assistant ( (4, 5, 6, 9, 11) • Mike Butler – recording (1) • Tony Castle – digital editing • Jim Cooley – mix assistant (3, 4, 9) • Richard Davis – digital editing • Ben Fowler – additional recording (4, 5, 6, 9, 11) • Amy Garges – production assistant • Steve Genewick – recording assistant (6, 11) • Mark Hagen – additional recording (9) • Nate Hertweck – recording assistant (1) • Jean-Marie Horvat – mixing (10) • Dann Huff – producer (9) 11) • Aaron Kasdoff – recording assistant (3, 4, 5, 10, 11), additional recording (5, 6, 11) • John Kelton – mixing (5) • Kyle Lehning – additional recording (3, 7, 11), mixing (11) • Steve Marcantonio – mixing (1, 6) • Reba McEntire – producer (1–9, 11) • Kevin Mills – additional recording (10), recording assistant (10) • J.C. Monterrosa – mix assistant (1, 6) • Seth Morton – additional recording (9), recording assistant (9) • Jeff Rothschild – additional recording (10) • Matt Rovey – mix assistant (5) • Al Schmitt – recording (6, 11) • Justin Timberlake – producer (10) • Todd Tidwell – additional recording (1, 2), recording assistant (1, 2, 7, 8, 9) • Brian David Willis – digital editing • Casey Wood – additional recording (3, 7, 11), recording assistant (3, 7, 11) Imagery • Craig Allen – art direction, design • Marc Baptiste – photography • Terry Gordon – stylist, wardrobe • Brett Freedman – make-up, hairstylist Studios • Recorded at Starstruck Studios (Nashville, Tenn.); Record Plant and Capitol Studios (Hollywood, Calif.). • Additional recording at Starstruck Studios, Blackbird Studios, Cyber Ranch and Masterfonics (Nashville, Tenn.); Henson Recording Studios (Hollywood, Calif.); Panhandle House (Denton, Tex.). • Mixed at Starstruck Studios, Blackbird Studios, Sound Stage Studios and The Sound Station (Nashville, Tenn.); The Sound Kitchen (Franklin, Tenn.); Oz Recording Studios (Valencia, Calif.). • Mastered at Gateway Mastering (Portland, Maine). ==Charts==

Weekly charts Year-end charts Singles ==Certifications==