Reba Rambo-McGuire
Encyclopedia
Biography
At the age of 12, Reba started singing with her father and mother, Buck and Dottie RamboDottie Rambo
Dottie Rambo was an American gospel singer and songwriter. She was a Grammy and multiple Dove Award-winning artist. Rambo, along with husband Buck and daughter Reba, formed the award-winning southern Gospel group, The Rambos...
, as the Southern Gospel
Southern Gospel
Southern Gospel music—at one time also known as "quartet music"—is music whose lyrics are written to express either personal or a communal faith regarding biblical teachings and Christian life, as well as to give a Christian alternative to mainstream secular music...
family group, The Singing Rambos, which was later shortened to The Rambos
The Rambos
The Rambos were an American Southern Gospel music group that was formed in the 1960s. They were one of the most successful Gospel trios of the 20th century. The group consisted of Buck and Dottie Rambo at first along with several various people singing with them and they were joined by their...
. As a teenager, she began her career as a solo artist in contemporary Christian music
Contemporary Christian music
Contemporary Christian music is a genre of modern popular music which is lyrically focused on matters concerned with the Christian faith...
, becoming one of the innovators of this unique genre of music which merged Christian lyrics with modern styles of music. She toured with Andraé Crouch
Andrae Crouch
Andraé Crouch is a seven-time Grammy Award-winning American gospel singer, songwriter, arranger, recording artist, record producer, and pastor.-Early years:Born Andraé Edward Crouch in San Francisco, California....
and the Disciples and sang at the Explo '72
Explo '72
Explo '72 was an evangelistic conference sponsored by Campus Crusade for Christ, planned and directed by Paul Eshleman. Explo '72 has been called the most visible event of the 1970s Jesus movement, and came to be associated with the same, even though its primary attendees were not directly involved...
festival (a kind of "Christian Woodstock").
Reba won a Dove award for Contemporary Album of the Year in 1976 for her album Lady, which featured one of her most popular songs, "The Land Of Oohs and Ahs" which uses imagery from the Wizard of Oz
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz is a children's novel written by L. Frank Baum and illustrated by W. W. Denslow. Originally published by the George M. Hill Company in Chicago on May 17, 1900, it has since been reprinted numerous times, most often under the name The Wizard of Oz, which is the name of...
to depict heaven and the spiritual life. Lady established Reba as the premier "adult contemporary singer" in Christian music. Her powerful voice could easily be compared to Barbra Streisand
Barbra Streisand
Barbra Joan Streisand is an American singer, actress, film producer and director. She has won two Academy Awards, eight Grammy Awards, four Emmy Awards, a Special Tony Award, an American Film Institute award, a Peabody Award, and is one of the few entertainers who have won an Oscar, Emmy, Grammy,...
and was in the 1970s what Sandi Patty
Sandi Patty
Sandra Faye "Sandi" Patty is an American Christian music singer. For many years she was known as Sandi Patti. She has been dubbed "The Voice" by critics, because of her wide range and flexibility.-Early life:...
would be in the 1980s. John Styll of CCM Magazine called her "one of the best singers I've ever heard."
In the late 1970s, Reba was known as Reba Rambo-Gardner, because at the time she was married to Landy Gardner. After marrying Dony McGuire in 1980, they formed the duo known as Rambo/McGuire. The following year they collaborated in writing a concept album, The Lord's Prayer, which would win a Grammy award
Grammy Award
A Grammy Award — or Grammy — is an accolade by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry...
for Contemporary Gospel Album of the Year and a Dove award for Worship Album of the Year. The project featured Reba and Dony along with Andrae Crouch
Andrae Crouch
Andraé Crouch is a seven-time Grammy Award-winning American gospel singer, songwriter, arranger, recording artist, record producer, and pastor.-Early years:Born Andraé Edward Crouch in San Francisco, California....
, B.J. Thomas, Cynthia Clawson
Cynthia Clawson
Cynthia Clawson is a Grammy Award-winning American gospel singer. She has been called "The most awesome voice in gospel music" by Billboard Magazine, and has received five Dove Awards, 15 Dove Award nominations, and a Grammy for her work.-Biographical information:Cynthia was three years old when...
, Walter Hawkins
Walter Hawkins
Walter Hawkins was an American gospel music singer, and a pastor. Hawkins was consecrated to the bishopic in 1992. He died at his home in Ripon, California, from pancreatic cancer....
, Tramaine Hawkins and The Archers
The Archers
The Archers is a long-running British soap opera broadcast on the BBC's main spoken-word channel, Radio 4. It was originally billed as "an everyday story of country folk", but is now described on its Radio 4 web site as "contemporary drama in a rural setting"...
. All of the featured artists of The Lord's Prayer performed on the Grammy Awards show in 1982. Later, Donna Summer
Donna Summer
LaDonna Adrian Gaines , known by her stage name, Donna Summer, is an American singer/songwriter who gained prominence during the disco era of the 1970s. She has a mezzo-soprano vocal range. Summer is a five-time Grammy winner and was the first artist to have three consecutive double albums reach...
recorded "Forgive Me," a song from The Lord's Prayer and received a Grammy award for her performance. The McGuires have written numerous songs for other artists, including Debbie Boone, The Bill Gaither Trio, The Archers
The Archers
The Archers is a long-running British soap opera broadcast on the BBC's main spoken-word channel, Radio 4. It was originally billed as "an everyday story of country folk", but is now described on its Radio 4 web site as "contemporary drama in a rural setting"...
, Sandi Patty
Sandi Patty
Sandra Faye "Sandi" Patty is an American Christian music singer. For many years she was known as Sandi Patti. She has been dubbed "The Voice" by critics, because of her wide range and flexibility.-Early life:...
, David and Nicole Binion and Dave Boyer. Their song, "A Perfect Heart," became a number one Christian radio hit for The Bill Gaither Trio.
Today, Reba and Dony continue to sing and minister the Gospel while pastoring The River At Music City, a church in the Bellevue community of Nashville, TN. They have three children, Dionne Dismuke, Destiny Rambo McGuire, Israel Anthem McGuire one grandson, Dyson Dismuke and son-in-love, Scott Dismuke.
With The Singing Rambos
- 1965: Gospel Echoes "Those Singing Rambos" (Introducing Buck and Dottie's Daughter, Reba) (Heart Warming)
- 1965: Presenting the Singing Rambos (Heart Warming)
- 1966: Come Spring (Heart Warming)
- 1967: Gospel Ballads (Heart Warming)
- 1968: The Soul Singing Rambos (Heart Warming)
- 1969: This is my Valley (Heart Warming)
- 1969: If That Isn’t Love (Vista)
- 1970: An Evening with the Singing Rambos (Heart Warming)
- 1970: Live (Heart Warming)
- 1970: The Real Thing (Heart Warming)
- 1971: Soul Classics (Heart Warming)
- 1971: Songs of Love and Hope (Vista)
- 1971: Reflections (Heart Warming)
- 1972: Buck Dottie and Reba (Vista)
- 1972: Soul in the Family (Heart Warming)
- 1973: Sing Me on Home (Heart Warming)
- 1973: Sonshine (Heart Warming)
- 1973: Spotlighting the Rambos (Vista)
- 1973: Too Much to Gain to Lose (Vista)
- 1973: Belief (Vista)
- 1974: Softly and Tenderly re-issued in 1994 as ‘’Mama’s Favorite Hymns’’ (World Of Rambo)
- 1974: Alive… And Live at Soul’s Harbor (Heart Warming)
- 1974: Yours Until He Comes (Heart Warming)
- 1975: There Has to be a Song (Heart Warming)
- 1975: These Three are One (Heart Warming)
- 1975: Christmas at Our House’’ (compilation) “Oh Holy Night” (Impact)
- 1976: Rambo Country (Heart Warming)
- 1976: The Son is Shining (Heart Warming)
- 1977: Naturally (Heart Warming)
- 1978: ‘’Queen Of Paradise’’ (Heart Warming)
- 1979: ‘’Silver Jubilee’’ (Heart Warming)
- 1979: ‘’Crossin’ Over’’ (Heart Warming)
- 1981: ‘’Rambo Reunion’’ (Heart Warming)
- 1992: ‘’Lost Recordings of The Rambos/Gospel Echoes’’ (Heart Warming)
Solo recordings
- 1968: On the Folk Side of Gospel (Heart Warming)
- 1969: Reality (Impact)
- 1971: Songs My Mama Taught Me (Impact)
- 1972: Resurrection (Impact)
- 1976: Lady (Greentree)
- 1978: The Lady is a Child (Greentree)
- 1979: The Prodigal... According to Reba (Greentree)
- 1980: Dreamin (Greentree)
- 1980: Confessions (Light)
- 1981: Remembering (Greentree) (compilation recording)
- 1982: Lady Live (Light)
- 2011: The Lady's Treasury (Rambo McGuire Records)
Rambo/McGuire
- 1980: The Lord's Prayer (Light)
- 1982: Messiah Bright Morning Star (Light)
- 1984: Special Moments from The Bride (Impact)
- 1986: Plain and Simple Truth (Benson)
- 1987: Enlistment (Benson)
- 1990: Mission Possible (RMR)
- 1992: Live in the Combat Zone (RMR)
- 1992: Come on and Walk on the Water’’ (single) (RMR)
- 1993: Suddenly (Word)
- 1994: The Noteworthy Collection, Volumes 1 and 2 (RMR)
- 1998: Praise & Worship Celebrating The River (RMR)
- 1999: Praise & Worship Holiness of God'’ (RMR)
- 2000: ‘’Rambo McGuire Family Christmas'’ (RMR)
- 2011: The Noteworthy Collection Volumes 1 & 2(Rambo McGuire Records)
- 2011: Grassroots Rambos - Remembering The Rambos(Rambo McGuire Records)
Appearances on other recordings
- 1970: ‘’Charity’s Children’’
- 1978: ‘’Unreleased Covers’’ – Donnie Gossett
- 1979: ‘’On This Christmas Night’’ (MCA Songbird) “The Whole World Is Colored with Love”
- 1981: ‘’Looking Forward’’ – Bob Bailey (Triangle) “I’m Looking Forward”
- 2000: ‘’Bigger Than Life’’ – Donnie Gossett and Friends (Zilla Media) “Best Friend”
- 2003: ‘’The Sound of Heaven’’ – David and Nicole Binion (SOH)
- 2004: ‘’Holding On to Faith” – Karen Harding (Daywind) “Because Of Whose I Am”
- 2004: ‘’We Have Overcome’’ – Christ Tabernacle Choir (Vital) “What You Say Is What You Get”
- 2005: ‘’Remembering the Greats’’ (Daywind) “I've Never Been This Homesick Before,” “Because Of Whose I Am”
- 2005: ‘’Supernatural’’ – Jeff Ferguson (Jeff Ferguson Music) (title song)
- 2006: ‘’When Heaven Kisses Earth’’ – David & Nicole Binion (SOH) “Pray For Rain Medley”
- 2008: ‘’The Beginnings Concert’’ – Jesus Music Reunion “Never Ending Love,” “Land of Oohs and Aahs,” “Supernatural”
Background Vocals
- 1978: ‘’Love Letters’’ – Dottie Rambo (Heart Warming)
- 1978: ‘’Songtailor” – Tim SheppardTim SheppardTim Sheppard is a former physiotherapist for English football team Norwich City F.C.Sheppard's service to the club was so long-standing and distinguished that despite being only a physio, he was recognised as an inaugural member of the Norwich City Hall of Fame.-References:...
(Greentree) - 1981: ‘’Inspiration’’ – Dony McGuire
- 1981: ‘’My Own Place’’ – Dottie Rambo (Heart Warming)
- 1983: ‘’Son of Thunder, Daughter of Light’’ – Buck and Dottie Rambo (Light) (re-issued as ‘’Dottie Rambo Oil and the Wine’’ in 1994)
- 1983: ‘’Walls of Glass’’ – Russ TaffRuss TaffRussell Taff is an American gospel singer who is originally from Farmersville, California. Taff later then moved to Arkansas where he graduated from Cutter-Morning Star High School in Hot Springs, Arkansas....
(Myrrh) “Unto the Lamb” - 1983: ‘’Surrender’’ – Debby BooneDebby BooneDeborah Anne Boone is an American singer and stage actress. She is best known for her 1977 hit, "You Light Up My Life," which spent a then record ten weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and led to her winning the Grammy Award for Best New Artist the following year...
(Lamb & Lion) - 1984: ‘’Destined for the Throne’’ – Buck and Dottie Rambo (Impact)
- 1986: ‘’Reaching Around the World’’ – Buck and Dottie Rambo (Benson)
- 1987: ‘’The Legend Continues’’ – Buck and Dottie Rambo (Benson)
- 1997: ‘’Earthsuit’’ – Headless Clown (EP)
- 2008: ‘’Treasure’’ – Janet Paschal (Vine Records)
Video
- 1993: ‘’A Christmas Homecoming’’ – Gaither HomecomingGaither HomecomingGaither Homecoming is the name applied to a series of videos, music recordings and concerts, which are organized, promoted and usually presented by Christian music songwriter and impresario Bill Gaither...
(Star Song) - 2003: ‘’We Shall Behold Him’’ – A Tribute to Dottie Rambo (Total Living Network)
- 2005: ‘’Remembering the Greats’’ (Daywind) “I've Never Been This Homesick Before,” “Because Of Whose I Am”
- 2008: ‘’The Beginnings Concert’’ – Jesus Music Reunion “Never Ending Love,” “Land of Oohs and Aahs,” “Supernatural”