Billboard called the album “extremely beautiful” and praised the way she “encroaches deeply into the folk field, yet keeps close to the spirit.” [5] In an October 1968 feature on The Rambos, Billboard later wrote that Reba “held the belief that gospel music could be presented in a folk manner, and then she proved it.”[6] As the Jesus movement broke into the mainstream consciousness at the beginning of the seventies, Reba was distinct as one of the few women at the forefront of the music of the movement.
One writer called her “somewhat of a heroine to the Jesus People.”[7] The reach of Reba’s music went beyond the United States, even taking her to London’s Royal Albert Hall to perform with pop icon Cliff Richard, who had also embraced the movement.
[8] Over 180,000 people gathered at the Cotton Bowl stadium in Dallas, Texas to hear a host of speakers and artists, including Andraé Crouch and The Disciples, Larry Norman, Children of the Day, Randy Matthews and The Archers.
[12] Unlike her contemporaries in Jesus Music who had a folk-centered sound, Lady revealed a new possibility for this expanding genre, incorporating elements of jazz, soul and light rock.
The album featured the song "The Land Of Oohs and Ahs", using imagery from The Wonderful Wizard of Oz to depict heaven and the spiritual life.
Record World called Rambo “one of the most important female contemporary Christian artists in the field today” in a 1977 feature.
Several of the tracks were co-produced by Andraé Crouch collaborator Bill Maxwell, utilizing some of Los Angeles’ most in-demand session players and singers.
In their review of The Prodigal, Campus Life critic Steve Lawford praised the album’s content, saying that “it’s a first-class production, chock full of the slick sound of the 70’s—like Reba herself, very posh, very uptown.
[25] As the news of her divorce from Landy Gardner began to circulate to the public, her concert dates were canceled, radio stations pulled her music from their playlists and some Christian bookstores stopped stocking her albums.
Despite the lack of budget and label support, Dreamin’ was a critical success with CCM Magazine saying that “it may be her best yet.”[27] Record World agreed, “Reba is synonymous with great songs and dynamic performances.
This LP proves no exception.”[28] Ralph Carmichael at Light Records, home to gospel luminaries Andraé Crouch and the Hawkins Family, however, was thrilled to sign Reba, despite the controversy, in early 1980.
One disc jockey told Billboard that “after Light Records artist Reba Rambo was divorced and remarried, the station quit playing her records despite her overall popularity and acceptance in the gospel field.”[32] Reviews of the new projects passively fueled the controversy, referencing McGuire as Rambo’s “new husband and long-time co-songwriter.”[33][34] While she faced the harshest criticism from the church, she would simultaneously receive greater acknowledgment and recognition from her peers in the music industry.
She recorded her last solo album, titled Lady Live, in June 1981 at the Anaheim Convention Center in California for an audience of almost ten thousand.
[40] Contemporary Christian Music Magazine called the album “Reba’s most convincing and powerful project yet,” and said that “it does not take a connoisseur of fine music to appreciate the amount of practice, rehearsal and real work needed to pull together such a class act.”[41] Billboard gushed that “her voice sweeps, soars and suspends itself effortlessly,” complimenting her “easy and affectionate interplay with her audience.”[42] The more conservative Charisma Magazine, however, wrote a scathing review.
That is sacred too.”[44] She told Billboard later that year, “People don’t want condemnation crammed down their throat.”[45] Her assertion that Christian music should be more than just “the four spiritual laws,” as she quipped on Lady Live, would become an even more heated debate as the eighties progressed, as Sandi Patty and Amy Grant would soon pick up where Reba’s solo career would leave off.
Retrospectively, John Styll, founder and then-editor of CCM Magazine called Reba Rambo "one of the best singers I've ever heard.
"[8] Reba and Dony officially merged as Rambo McGuire in 1984, shifting their focus out of the mainstream, and in a sense, the Christian music industry, and back inside of the church community.
[46] Reba and Dony also wrote for a range of artists in and out of Christian music, including Debby Boone, The Bill Gaither Trio, The Archers, Sandi Patty, David and Nicole Binion and Dave Boyer.
[49] Reba continues to write songs and minister as a solo artist, collaborating with singer/songwriter Margaret Becker, Tim Miner and Tery Wayne.