It Is No Secret: 29 Sacred Songs

This collection brings together recordings that Jim Reeves made in the sacred vein, a hallmark of country recording in the years when Reeves became a country star. The material is largely drawn from all-gospel albums that Reeves released in the late 1950s and early 1960s. They explore a wide range of repertoire: Thomas A. Dorsey's black gospel classic "Take My Hand, Precious Lord," which Reeves had a hand in popularizing among country audiences; traditional material like "This World Is Not My Home"; the modern sentimental-pop tune "Scarlet Ribbons," which had been recorded earlier by Dinah Shore and Harry Belafonte; "I'll Fly Away," the camp-meeting style chestnut by Albert Brumley; and many other approaches to the sacred in folk, pop, and country song. Long outliving Jim Reeves himself, many of these recordings have gone on to become well-loved classics of sacred country music.