Track Listing

1. Little Things
2. I Think She Likes Me
3. What's Forever For
4. One Voice
5. Spend Another Night
6. Little Bitty Pretty One
7. Snake Song
8. I Wanna Get to Ya
9. Oklahoma
10. There's a Hero
11. 'Til I Can Make It on My Own

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #56055 in Music
• Brand: Sony
• Released on: 2000-06-20
• Number of discs: 1

Amazon.com
While Nashville's "country for kids" campaign has largely been a bust, this 12-year-old plows fearlessly and headlong into anything and everything thrown his way. Tammy Wynette's classic "'Til I Can Make It on My Own" doesn't faze him. Neither do cotton-candy pop oldies ("Little Things" and "Little Bitty Pretty One"), oddball novelties ("The Snake Song"), or inspirational fare ("There's a Hero"). His credible delivery of "Oklahoma," the moving tale of one boy's trip to meet a long-vanished father, is a fine performance that transcends his age. Don't blame him for the weak spots. Credit for the cookie-cutter arrangements and such soggy ballads as the preachy title track goes to multiple producers Don Cook (Music Row's dean of formulaic production), David Malloy, and Blake Chancey. As always, their goals are to satisfy the one-dimensional country-radio consultants who dictate what gets played, nothing more. Long ago, producers Owen Bradley and Billy Sherrill helped Brenda Lee and Tanya Tucker, respectively, build youthful success into enduring adult careers. If only young Gilman had such visionaries enhancing his talent. --Rich Kienzle

Customer Reviews

If I like it, that's impressive.
I first heard Billy Gilman in what seems to be a typical way - while bored on a Saturday I paused while flipping on CMT to figure out why a kid was singing on a school bus. The images were haunting, but much less than Billy's voice. I'm not a country fan by any stretch of the imagination, but I ended up buying the CD from Amazon.

What an album! It is funny and touching and reminds me of being younger and not knowing about so many of the issues and problems of adult life. I have a tendency to listen an album to death until I can't stand it anymore, but 2 months later I still pop it in. That is as long as any of my nearly 200 CDs have made it. Some of the songs are a little too cutesy and highlight the fact that Billy's voice hasn't changed yet more than I would like, which is why I only gave 4 stars (Little Bitty Pretty One is the worst), but I was mostly amazed that he could transmit the complex emotions that went with the lyrics in One Voice, What's Forever For, and Oklahoma.

How can any 11 (now 12) year old possibly have such a handle on his voice and his emotions, and still come off to be a normal kid?

I must say that I am proud to stick One Voice in among my normal tastes of jazz and classical, and I even put up with snide comments from friends for having some boy's cute album in my collection. I wish Billy luck as he continues his career, hopefully his voice will change well and he will not lose all of the innocence that is so obvious (and appealing) in his first work. Basically, if you even begin to like One Voice, buy the CD, you won't be disappointed. I wasn't.

One Voice....One GREAT Talent, One GREAT CD
I must admit I am not a country music fan. So to rate this CD with 5 stars, it MUST be exceptional, and it really IS EXCEPTIONAL. It is very rare for me to find a CD where I actually like ALL of the songs, but Billy sings each song so beautifully, that I really enjoy every one. While Billy has become well known for his amazing rendition of "One voice", there are several other songs that are amazingly good, that I only hope will get air time on the radio. Songs like "Oklahoma" (not related to the musical) and "There's a hero"; are truely great songs that are worth getting the CD just to hear them. Billy brings also brings new meaning to old favorites like "Whats Forever For". If you are a country music fan, you will love this CD. If you are not a country music fan, you will still love this CD. Either way, you cant lose. I can only hope that Billy Gilman will continue to bring us the great music that he has on this alblum. I look foreward to hearing a lot more great music from him.

I'm long winded, yes, but nevertheless, please read.
I never cry.

Ever.

And yet, when I first heard Billy Gilman's "Oklahoma," there were tears streaming down my face.

I don't really know why I am writing this review. If you like it the music, you'll buy it, and if you don't, you won't, and I know not many of you reading this are going to buy this CD just because of ME, but hey, what the heck. I can give it a shot.

Well, where do I begin? Well, let's see... I first saw Mr. Gilman on GAC. I was mainly channel surfing, once in awhle stopping on MTV or TLC (My usual channels). My dad and little brother were in the room watching with me. As I passed by GAC, (One of my dad's favorite channels,) I saw a young boy riding in a bus. Without pausing, I quickly changed the channel. My dad: "Oh, Katie! Stop! You'll like this video!" I rolled my eyes and groaned. "I doubt it." I said. I HATE country. Just to humor him, I flipped back to GAC. A small boy was gazing out the bus window. A young mother was holding her child. A man and woman arguing. A voice was singing in the background. The camera turned back to the small boy. I was then alarmed to see the boy's mouth moving to the words. I quickly glanced back at my dad. What kind of video was this? A little boy lip-syncing to a woman's voice? Wha-? I sat there, very confused, watching the rest of the video. A beautiful song, yes, but I couldn't figure out what kind of video this was supposed to be. Then it occured to me (Yes, I am blonde), that THE BOY was singing! Again, wha-? As I continued to watch, I grew more and more aware of how great this kid was. He had the tone and ability of someone who had been singing decades longer than him. And what a beautiful song! There was so much emotion in the boy's voice, and at the same time, it didn't seem to scare him in the least as his voice soared. The song quickly ended, and I was left dazed, staring at the sceen, jaw dropped. Of course, what else could my little brother do but ruin the moment; "He sounds like a girl," he said, and walked away. Typical.

Well, anyways, from that moment, I was hooked. Who was this Kid? I ran out to the store and bought his CD, much to my embarrassment. I had never before owned a country CD, and I was afraid to let my friends find out that I listed to COUNTRY, God forbid! :) Well, I popped it into my CD player. Of course, I listened to One Voice first, it was the only one I knew. I saw a song called "Oklahoma" on the CD. I though it sounded like a real country type song, so I listened to it next, to get it over with. Remember, I HATE country.

"Suitcase packed with all his things.."

Billy's voice was even more beautiful than on "One Voice." I thought hey, this song isn't so bad.

"One last turn he held his breath.."

Oh, gosh, this song is sad, I thought.

"And all at once the tears came rolling in"

That's exactly what happened. Billy's voice and the amazing words were just too much. I wiped the tears from my eyes as the song finished. How does this kid do it?

Wow... umm.. Why am I telling you all this? I don't know. Jeeze, I bet you didn't want to know all that. I'm long winded, yes.

As for recommending this album to all you out there: Well, I personally give it five stars; as it is my favorite album. I love every single track, and Billy does an amazing job on everyone, from the upbeat "Little Things" to "Till I Can Make it on my Own." As for those who think these songs are too mature for one as young as Billy, it would be a boring CD indeed if every track were "The Snake Song" and "I Think She Likes Me," although there is nothing wrong with those songs; I love them all. I just woudn't want them all to be the same. And, yes, I will admit it, he DOES sound like a girl, but what 12-year-old boy doesn't? His voice is incredible for his age; and for any age. Now I'm not going to say "You won't be dissapointed if you buy this album," because I don't know if you will or won't. I'm just telling you how I feel, and ou can decide for yourself.

Well, I HAVE written enough, haven't I? Thank you for reading!