Keys’ ‘Songs’ Opens With an A-Plus

Alicia Keys’ debut album, “Songs in A Minor,” surprised even the 20-year-old singer’s own label by entering the sales chart at No. 1 Wednesday after selling 236,000 copies last week, according to SoundScan.

“We were confident the album over time would sell a couple of million albums, but I think the speed of the sales last week caught everybody by surprise,” said Charles Goldstuck, president of New York-based J Records. “I believe a big factor was word of mouth. People bought the album and told their friends about it.”

Keys, who is also a songwriter and record producer, is the latest discovery of Clive Davis, who helped launch the careers of Whitney Houston, Janis Joplin and Patti Smith.

After years as head of Columbia and Arista Records, he started the J label last year as a joint venture with BMG and brought Keys with him from Arista. An appearance last month on “The Oprah Winfrey Show” and heavy airplay for Keys’ “Fallin”’ video also helped build public interest.

Keys’ album knocked D12’s “Devil’s Night” from the No. 1 spot after just one week. The album by the group, which includes Eminem, sold 221,000 copies last week for a two-week total of more than 590,000 copies. R&B; vocal group Jagged Edge’s “Jagged Little Thrill” finished third after selling 215,000 copies in its first week in the stores.

Other Top 10 arrivals: rapper Beanie Sigel at No. 5, and country’s Lonestar at No. 9. The nation’s No. 1 single is Usher’s “U Remind Me.”