Alan Jackson boots fellow countryman from top spot

The No. 1 album on the national pop charts is a country recording for the third consecutive week, but it’s Alan Jackson, not Tim McGraw, who is getting the congratulations this time.

Jackson’s “What I Do” collection takes over the No. 1 spot after selling 178,000 copies in its first week in stores, Nielsen SoundScan reported Wednesday. That ended McGraw’s two-week hold on the top spot with his “Live Like You Were Dying” CD, which sold an additional 153,000 copies last week. The album’s three-week sales total is 1.1 million.

Ray Charles’ “Genius Loves Company” duets package and Jill Scott’s “Beautifully Human: Words and Sounds Vol. 2,” which entered the charts at No. 2 and 3, respectively, last week, fell to No. 3 and No. 7 on Wednesday’s chart. Their sales last week were 135,000 and 79,000, respectively.

Besides Jackson, the only new release to enter the Top 30 this week is Anita Baker’s “My Everything.” The singer’s first studio album in 10 years sold 131,000 copies in its first week in stores.

Usher’s “Confessions,” which fell from No. 11 to No. 12 this week, remains the year’s biggest selling album by far. The R&B-pop; package has sold more than 5.5 million copies since its release in March.