‘Genius’ gets a Grammy bounce

Ratings for the Grammy Awards telecast Feb. 13 were down nearly 30% from the 2004 ceremony, but Ray Charles’ fans sure got the word.

Thanks, apparently, to the late soul singer’s many awards that night, Charles’ posthumous “Genius Loves Company” album leaped from No. 15 on the national sales chart to No. 1, with a more than 200% gain in sales -- up from 74,000 two weeks ago to 224,000 last week.

The dramatic Grammy bounce gave Charles his first No. 1 pop album since his landmark “Modern Sounds in Country & Western Music” topped the charts for 14 weeks in 1962.

“Genius” entered the national sales chart at No. 2 last September, but it had fallen to No. 35 for the week ending Jan. 30 before starting its rebound. Total sales to date: 2.4 million, according to Nielsen SoundScan.

Billboard magazine reports that several other Grammy winners or performers on the show also experienced post-Grammy bounces of more than 50% last week.

They included Alicia Keys (whose “The Dairy of Alicia Keys” jumped from No. 47 to No. 11, as sales increased from 30,000 to 74,000), John Mayer (“Heavier Things” from No. 42 to No. 19, sales from 32,000 to 60,000), Los Lonely Boys (“Los Lonely Boys” from No. 51 to No. 22, sales from 27,000 to 53,000) and Kanye West (“The College Dropout” from No. 99 to No. 33, sales from 15,000 to 44,000).

Three other high-profile Grammy winners also experienced sales boosts. Green Day’s “American Idiot” remained No. 2 as sales increased from 136,000 to 202,000 for the week. Usher’s “Confessions” climbed from No. 10 to No. 5 based on a sales jump from 87,000 to 110,000. And Maroon5’s “Songs About Jane” soared from No. 22 to No. 9 as sales increased from 58,000 to 78,000.

Of all these albums, “Confessions” remains the biggest seller to date. Since its release early last year, Usher’s CD has sold 8.5 million copies. Keys’ album is the second biggest seller of the Grammy crowd: 4 million.

Rapper the Game, whose “The Documentary” album was released too late for Grammy consideration, is No. 3 this week after selling 131,000 more copies. Total sales since its release in January: 1.3 million.

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By the Numbers: Southland CD rankings

Here are the 10 bestselling CDs in Southern California last week, along with their national rankings.

*--* TITLE, ARTIST NAT’L RANK LAST WEEK

1 “American Idiot,” Green Day 2 3

2 “Genius Loves Company,” Ray Charles 1 8

3 “2005 Grammy Nominees,” various 4 7

4 “Documentary,” the Game 3 1

5 “Confessions,” Usher 5 14

6 “Love.Angel.Music.Baby,” Gwen Stefani 15 10

7 “Songs About Jane,” Maroon5 9 15

8 “Diary of Alicia Keys,” Alicia Keys 11 --

9 “Hot Fuss,” Killers 13 11

10 “It’s Time,” Michael Buble 17 2

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Source: Nielsen/SoundScan Inc.