Country Billboard Chart News November 28, 2013

Country Billboard Chart News November 28, 2013

In Brief:  Billboard Country Charts

Country Album Chart ** No. 1 (4 weeks) ** Robertsons’ Duck the Halls: A Robertson Family Christmas

Hot Country Songs ** No. 1 (3 weeks) **  “We Were Us”  Keith Urban and Miranda Lambert

Country Airplay **  No.1 (1 week) ** “We Were Us”  Keith Urban and Miranda Lambert

Country Digital Songs ** No.1 ** (2 weeks)  “Stay” Florida Georgia Line

Billboard Top 200 / Country Album Chart News

Eminem's "The Marshall Mathers LP 2" returned to the No. 1 slot on the Billboard Top 200 (BB200), shifting 120,486 copies in its third week (down 43%), according to Nielsen SoundScan. It's the second week at the top for the set, which stepped aside last week to let Lady Gaga's "ARTPOP" open atop the list which this week saw sales of 46,000; down a massive 82% showing evidence of increased focus on first-week sales and pre-orders.

The new "The Hunger Games: Catching Fire" soundtrack entered at No. 5 with sales of 55,077 which is less than the 175,000 that greeted the first week of the first "Hunger Games" No. 1 album in early 2012 ( boosted by two contributions from Taylor Swift). Kelly Clarkson's "Wrapped In Red" album fell 6-9 with 44,000sales (up 6%).

Robertsons' "Duck the Halls: A Robertson Family Christmas" (4 Beards/EMI Nashville/Universal Music Group Nashville),stayed at No. 4 on the BB200 with sales 60,000 (down 9% and remain at #1 on the Billboard Top Country albums Chart for a fourth straight week and looks like it will be a huge Thanks  Giving/ Christmas holiday seller this shopping season with Deluxe editions available at Walmart.

Trace Adkins’ THE KING’S GIFT (a traditional Christmas album) received a 77% sales spike as the holiday season begins to kick in with a 73 slot jump on the BB200 (26-12 Country)

12 STORIES, the fabulous debut album from Brandy Clark made a super return to the Top 200 chart with a new high at No.163 (#23 Country)

Outside the top 25 Country Albums was Mandy Barnett, who, debuted for the first time in nearly three years on Top Country Albums, as I CAN’T STOP LOVING YOU: THE SONGS OF DON GIBSON (Rounder/Cracker Barrel/Concord) nabbed the Hot Shot Debut at No.32 (3,000 sold). 

This tribute set is sold exclusively at Cracker Barrel Old Country Store locations.

The release, produced by Barnett, features 12 songs written by Country Music Hall of Fame inductee Don Gibson. The album’s debut coincides with the 10th anniversary of Gibson’s death on November 17, 2003, and fulfills a promise that Barnett made to the legendary singer/songwriter.

“Don, his wife Bobbi, and I became good friends a few years before he passed away,” said Barnett. “He asked me to consider recording an album of his songs, and of course I said yes.  He wrote some of the most-loved songs in country music -- who wouldn’t want to record a Don Gibson song?  Well, it may have taken more than a decade, but thanks to Cracker Barrel Old Country Store, I have fulfilled my promise to Don and I could not be more excited. I had a great experience with Cracker Barrel Old Country Store® when they released my Winter Wonderland album in 2010, and I’m happy to be working with them again.”

Gibson, who was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1973 and the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2001, was a very popular and highly influential country music singer/songwriter in the 1950s and 1960s. As an artist, he charted more than 20 Top 10 hits and released nearly 40 albums between 1958 and 1978 and was a member of the Grand Ole Opry. As a songwriter, he wrote songs that have become timeless classics and have been recorded by a multitude of artists in a variety of music genres. Gibson considered himself a songwriter who sang, rather than a singer who wrote songs.

The title track of Barnett’s album is among Gibson’s best known songs. "I Can’t Stop Loving You" was a No. 7 hit on the Billboard Hot Country Singles Chart for Gibson in 1958, a No. 3 hit for Kitty Wells in 1958, and a No. 1 hit for Conway Twitty in 1972. It also became a huge crossover hit when Ray Charles took it to No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, R&B Singles, and Adult Contemporary charts in 1962. Other iconic Gibson-penned compositions on Barnett’s album include "Sweet Dreams" and "Oh Lonesome Me."

 Recorded in Nashville, I CAN’T STOP LOVING YOU features legendary musicians and Country Music Hall of Fame members Harold Bradley, Hargus "Pig" Robbins, and Charlie McCoy, who also played on some of Don Gibson’s original recordings of these songs.

Critical reception for “I Can’t Stop Loving You: The Songs Of Don Gibson":

Roughstock: (Rating: 4.5 STARS) There aren’t many vocalists who could do the songs of Don Gibson the true justice they deserve but, thankfully, Mandy Barnett is one of ‘em. Making good on a promise to Don himself that she’d one day record a whole album of his songs, Mandy partnered with Rounder Records and Cracker Barrel Old Country Store to bring the 12 track I Can’t Stop Loving You to fans....It may never win awards or sell multi-platinum but it definitely deserves any and all attention it brings Mandy Barnett and Don Gibson’s fantastic songs themselves.

>> Listen to track 6 “Blue Blue Day” which features harmony vocals by Alison Krauss.

Making a bow at No.25 is Red dirt music star Cody Canada showcasing his knack for storytelling on his first solo acoustic album “Some Old, Some New, Maybe a Cover or Two.” As the title indicates, the two-disc live set includes songs from his famed former red dirt band Cross Canadian Ragweed, material from his new country-rock outfit The Departed and covers ranging from Peter Rowan’s “Ruby Ridge” to Neil Young’s “Harvest Moon.”

Canada, who grew up in Yukon, came of age as a musician in Stillwater and now lives in New Braunfels, Texas, marvels between songs that he has been making music for 19 years, and that’s just how many tracks appear on the LP, recorded live this summer at Third Coast Music in Port Aransas, Texas....Read more at newsok.com

Overall album sales in this past chart week (ending Nov. 24) totalled 5.29 million units,  down 46% compared with the comparable sales week of 2012 (9.74 million). 

Year to date album sales stand at 245.01 million, down 9% compared to the same total at this point last year (267.78 million). 

Billboard Top 200 / Country Album Placings

(Issue dated Chart week of December 7, 2013)

(Country Album positions #1 - #25)

(TW) This Week, (LW) Last Week, Co (Country Album Chart placing / Movement)

Billboard Catalog Album Charts

On their thier third week on the Top Catalog Albums “Cheers, It's Christmas” by Blake Shelton moved 5-4, Lady Antebellum’s “On This Winter's Night” climbed 8-5 and Scotty McCreery’s 2012 seasonal 2012 release “Christmas With Scotty McCreery” advanced 24-18.             

Top 25 Hot Country Songs (week of December 7, 2013)

On Billboard’s Hot Country Songs chart - which blends:

a) All-format airplay, as monitored by BDS 

b) Sales, as tracked by Nielsen SoundScan and

c) Streaming, (tracked by Nielsen BDS from such services as Spotify, Muve, Slacker, Rhapsody, Rdio and Xbox Music, among others) according to BDS it results in:

Keith Urban and Miranda Lambert with “We Were Us” (Hit Red/Capitol Nashville/RCA Nashville) logged a second week at No. 1 and secured Streaming Gainer honors (596,000 domestic streams, up 64%).

Billboard’s Hot Country Songs chart, which turns 70 years old in January, has a long list of chart-topping male/female duets. The 29th such pairing (excluding featured roles) is Keith Urban and Miranda Lambert’s “We Were Us” (Hit Red/Capitol Nashville/RCA Nashville), which clung on to the summit for a third straight week, adding Streaming Gainer stripes (693,000 total streams, up 16%, according to BDS). That’s the longest reign for a male/female duet in almost 46 years—the last one to hold as long was Bill Anderson & Jan Howard’s “For Loving You,” which held for four weeks in 1967-68. The chart’s first such No. 1 duet remains its longest-running, noted when Jimmy Wakely & Margaret Whiting spent 17 weeks atop the list with “Slipping Around” in 1949-50.

David Nail collected his third top 10 with “Whatever She’s Got” (MCA Nashville) which rose 12-8, making it his first to reach the upper region since “Let It Rain” topped the Jan. 21, 2012, chart. He first cracked the top 10 with “Red Light,” which rose to No. 7 four years ago. Up 6-5 on Country Digital Songs, “Got” sold 34,000 downloads during the tracking week for total sales of 375,000, according to Nielsen SoundScan

Top 25 Hot Country Songs:

Keith Urban and Miranda Lambert with “We Were Us” stays at the Top The Chart!  

Florida Georgia Line with “Stay” is two, #4 - #2 p

Blake Shelton with “Mine Would Be You” stays at #3

Luke Bryan with former #1 “That’s My Kind Of Night” is down, #2- #4 q

Joe Nichols with “Sunny And 75” is one, #6 - #5 p

Parmalee with “Carolina” jumps up four, #10 - #6 p

Eli Young Band with “Drunk Last Night” is up two, #9 - #7 p

David Nail with “Whatever She’s Got” is up four, #12 - #8 p

Taylor Swift with “Red” felt, #5 - #9 q

Cassadee Pope with “Wasting All These Tears” is up one, #11 -10 p

Luke Bryan with “Drink A Beer” leaps up, #22 - #11 p

Cole Swindell with “Chillin’ It” is up six, #18 - #12 p

The Band Perry with “Don’t Let Me Be Lonely” is up one, #14 - #13 p

Tim McGraw with “Southern Girl” falls, #8 - #14 q

Zac Brown Band with “Sweet Annie” is up one, #16 - #15 p

Eric Paslay with “Friday Night” jumps up, #21 - #16 p

Jason Aldean with “Night Train” is down two, #15 - #17 q

Darius Rucker with “Radio” is up two, #20 - #18 p

Lady Antebellum with “Compass” moved up four, #23 - #19 p 

Eric Church with “The Outsiders" falls, #17 - #20 q

Hunter Hayes Featuring Jason Mraz with “Everybody's Got Somebody But Me2, is up, #25 - #21 p

Jake Owen with “Days Of Gold” is up two, #24 - #22 p

John Pardi with “Up All Night” is up three, #26 - #23 p

Jason Aldean with “When She Says Baby” is eleven, #35 - 24 p

Frankie Ballard with “Helluva Life” is up five, #30 - #25 p  

Hot Country Songs

** No.1 (3 weeks) **  “We Were Us” Keith Urban and Miranda Lambert

** Digital Gainer ** No.11 “Drink A Beer” Luke Bryan

** Airplay Gainer **  No.24  “When She Says Baby” Jason Aldean

* Hot Shot Debut * No.49  “Shut Up And Hold On” Toby Keith

Debut No.50  “I Got A Car” George Strait

Billboard Country Airplay Chart Week of December 7, 2013

Keith Urban and Miranda Lambert topped the chart making it the first male/female duet to No.1 in more than two years on the Billboard Country Airplay tally, as “We Were Us” (Hit Red/Capitol Nashville/RCA Nashville) stepped 2-1 in its 12th week on the chart.

It logged 42.712 million audience impressions (+1.598 million) and received 6,648 radio plays (+314) .

The last split billing man and woman to atop the chart (excluding featured roles) were Brad Paisley and Carrie Underwood, who topped the Sept.10, 2011 chart with “Remind Me.” In the interim, two male-led songs featuring women topped the chart:

David Nail’s “Let It Rain,” featuring Sarah Buxton (Jan21, 2012, chart) and Tim McGraw’s “Highway Don’t Care” with Taylor Swift (two weeks at No.1 in June).

“We Were Us”, the second single from Urban's 2013 album FUSE, was first released on 16 September 2013 and was written by Nicolle Galyon, Jimmy Robbins and Jon Nite.

The new leader is Urban’s 16th overall and his second of 2013 joining the two week No.1 in September with “Little Bit of Everything.” The duet is Lambert’s fourth No.1, and first since “Over You” back in May 2012. In recent times she peaked at No.3 with “Fastest Girl in Town” a year ago and stopped at No.2 with “Mama’s Broken Heart” in May this year. Top local audience contributors for “Us” during the Nov.18-24 Nielsen BDS tracking week: KKGO Los Angeles (1.2 million impressions), KKBQ Houston (885,000), KEEY Minneapolis (803,000), WUSN Chicago (742,000) and KPLX Dallas (727,000).

Florida Georgia Line freshened up the Country Airplay top 10 with “Stay” (Republic Nashville), which made a 12-9 hop. It marked their fourth straight top 10 for the twosome. All four of FGL’s top 10s are from its debut album, Here’s to the Good Times, which gets a new life just in time for Thanksgiving Holidays with five new tracks and a subtitle in a deluxe edition, released Nov.25th with an updated title is “Here’s to the Good Times: This Is How We Roll”.

Zac Brown Band, meanwhile, claimed its 13th top 10 with “Sweet Annie” (Atlantic/Southern Ground), which stepped 11-10. The track is the fourth single from the band’s Grammy Award winning UNCAGED album.

Jason Aldean snagged the Most Increased Audience and Most Added honours with “When She Says Baby” (Broken Bow), which moved 34-24 in its fifth chart week which gained a 6.347 million audience logging a total of 11.576 million audience impressions and received 1,803 radio plays (+1,020) thanks to a hefty 50 new radio commitments (ADDS) at 122 of the 145 stations monitored for the chart with fresh airplay at 50 of those signals.

Kip Moore took home the week’s Hot Shot Debut trophy matching his career-high debut on Country Airplay, as “Young Love” (MCA Nashville) made its bow at No.51, repeating the opening-week rank set by “Somethin’ ’Bout a Truck” on the Oct. 22, 2011, chart. That single eventually spent two weeks at No.1 in June 2012.

Country Airplay

*** No. 1 (1 week)*** "We Were Us" Keith Urban and Miranda Lambert

** Most Increased Audience/Breaker/Most Added **  No.24 "When She Says Baby" Jason Aldean

** Hot Shot Debut **  No.51 "Young Love" Kip Moore

Debut No.53 "We Are Tonight" Billy Currington

Debut No.59 “The Mona Lisa” Brad Paisley

Debut No.60 “Makin’ This Boy Go Crazy” (Curb/Sidewalk) Dylan Scott

Billboard Country Digital Singles Chart Week of December 7, 2013

Florida Georgia Line scored a second week at No. 1 on Country Digital Songs with “Stay” (Republic Nashville), which sold 49,000 and made a new peak with a 4-2 hop on Hot Country Songs. A deluxe edition of the duo’s Here’s to the Good Times

album (subtitled This Is How We Roll) was released Nov. 25.

Luke Bryan picks up the Digital Gainer trophy on Hot Country Songs with “Drink a Beer” (Capitol Nashville), selling 36,000 downloads sold, up 8,000 and improved 9-4 on Country Digital Songs.

David Nail “Whatever She’s Got” (MCA Nashville) moved up 6-5 selling 34,000 downloads during the tracking week for total sales of 375,000, according to Nielsen SoundScan

Top 30 Digital Singles in Country Music (published November 27, 2013)

 (LW) Last Week  (TW) This Week 

Country Aircheck/ Mediabase chart

Keith Urban and Miranda Lambert with “We Were Us” made a 2-1 climb to top of the Country Aircheck/ Mediabase chart for the tracking week Nov 17 – Nov 23.  It logged 6,886 radio plays (+341) with an audience of 54.207 million impressions.

For a detailed report check out Country Aircheck Weekly Issue 373 - November 25, 2013 [PDF File]