Will Competition ‘Rain’ on His Parade?

Can “Driving Rain” sink in with old fans--or christen some new ones--for Paul McCartney? The former Beatle and knighted pop icon delivers “Driving Rain,” his first pop album since 1997, to stores this week. But despite some prominent recent appearances, it’s unclear how Sir Paul will contend with other big-name releases--new albums from Garth Brooks, Jewel, a Madonna greatest-hits package and a Radiohead concert album--on the same day.

There’s no doubt about McCartney’s lasting star power when it comes to his past work. The Beatles compilation “1” was a sales sensation last year, and five months later a Wings anthology titled “Wingspan” also enjoyed brisk sales. Moreover, McCartney’s show-closing performance at the all-star Concert for New York was one of the highlights of last month’s Madison Square Garden benefit for Sept. 11 victims and their families. That performance featured some Beatles classics but also included new material that was warmly received.

Will that high-profile forum create hunger for “Driving Rain”? Sir Paul’s last album of new pop songs, “Flaming Pie” in 1997, debuted at No. 2 on the U.S. pop chart with 121,000 copies sold (it went on to sell 663,000), and retailers say a similar total seems plausible for the new disc. “There’s strong competition with other releases, but I think it has a strong chance of being in the Top 10,” says Chris Stidman, music merchandise manager for the Best Buy chain. “It’s definitely not a slam-dunk, though.”

The new album, with heartfelt lyrics about McCartney’s life and loves, may appeal to longtime fans, but The Times’ pop music critic, Robert Hilburn, says it probably won’t resonate with uninitiated listeners. He says, “The chances are, the more you know about McCartney’s music and personal life, the more you’ll like the album because there are several tender moments, including tunes apparently inspired by his fiancee, Heather Mills. If you come into the album cold, however, it may just sound like a bunch of silly love songs.”

Record Advance Sales for ‘Potter’

“Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone” won’t debut in U.S. theaters until Friday, but the Warner Bros. film about an orphaned boy with magical powers is already bewitching the box office with record advance ticket sales.

“We’ve never seen anything like this,” said Mitch Rubenstein, co-chief executive of Movietickets.com, a Boca Raton, Fla.-based online ticket distributor for AMC Theaters, National Amusements and other theater chains.

“We are seeing it track six times the sales of the biggest movie that we ever sold online, which was ‘Planet of the Apes,”’ Rubenstein said. “So it’s easy to say this will be bigger. How much bigger? I think it has the potential to be the No. 1 grossing movie of all time.”

Fandango.com, another online ticket distributor, said it was swamped too.

“We sold more tickets [in the first eight days] than we sold for the entire run of ‘Planet of the Apes,”’ said John Singh, spokesman for Santa Monica-based Fandango. “We’re into the hundreds of thousands of tickets sold now.”

Fandango.com represents such theater chains as Edwards, General Cinema, Loews Cineplex, Century, Regal Cinemas and Cinemark.

Warner Bros. plans to roll out “Harry Potter” at more than 3,400 theaters in North America. The 21/2-hour running time could affect the size of the box office, but Singh noted that many megaplexes are showing the film on four or five screens. “What they might lose in the number of showings per screen, they’ll make up in beginning a show every half-hour,” he explained.

Brooks Switches to CBS for 3 Concerts

There was “This Is Garth Brooks” in 1991 and “This Is Garth Brooks Too!” in 1993 and “The Hits” two years later. There was even a guest-starring role in the sitcom “Empty Nest.” But the country star’s newest television special won’t be on NBC, as Brooks ends his long relationship with the Peacock network and takes his guitar, cowboy hat and wireless microphone ensemble over to CBS for “Garth Brooks: Coast to Coast Live,” a series of three live concerts to be broadcast on consecutive Wednesday nights at 10.

Brooks kicks off the specials this week at the Forum in Inglewood, then does a Thanksgiving show Nov. 21 aboard the aircraft carrier USS Enterprise in Norfolk, Va. The locale for the third show has yet to be announced.

So why did Brooks and NBC part? Karen Byrd, the singer’s publicist, never returned phone calls with an answer to that one, and it’s hard to pin down a specific reason, with new faces at NBC, Capitol Nashville (Brooks’ record label) and his own management. Among the theories is that Brooks was put off by the fact that no NBC executives called him when he celebrated passing the 100-million mark in record sales last year in Nashville. (The network said it sent its regards.) But more to the point, by going to a new suitor at CBS, Brooks got a better TV deal (three hours of prime time, during the November ratings sweeps period) than he perhaps would have at NBC.

*

--Compiled by Times staff writers