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Santana, Stewart make J’s Davis proud

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Congratulations must be pouring into record executive Clive Davis’ office after two of “his” albums entered the Top 5 of the national sales chart Wednesday: Santana’s “Shaman” and Rod Stewart’s “It Had to Be You ... The Great American Songbook.”

As head of Arista Records in 1999, Davis helped Carlos Santana orchestrate the smash album “Supernatural.” Davis has since moved on to form J Records, but he still worked as co-producer on the new album, which entered the chart at No. 1 by selling 299,000 copies.

At J, Davis signed Stewart and encouraged the rock singer’s idea of recording pop standards. The CD sold 115,000 copies last week to finish No. 4 on the chart. The only other newcomer in the Top 10 was the Foo Fighters’ “One by One,” which finished No. 3 after selling 122,000 copies.

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Retailers expect Eminem’s “8 Mile” to be No. 1 next week, possibly selling 700,000 copies or more.

-- Robert Hilburn

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