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tures in which he appears, he set up the camera, struck a
pose, and had his bus driver click the shutter.
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At first, the Jacksons thought they’d press about ■
50 copies of the album for friends and family, then con- 1
sidered increasing to several hundred copies in case some *
members of his fan club wanted it. Joe Galante, head of
Sony/BMG Records, the umbrella for Jackson s own ACR
label, asked to hear the album and took it to California with
him on Christmas break.
“I was out running an errand, and 1 popped it in the rental car,
and 1 went down Highway 101 just blaring this gospel CD," Galante
recalls. “I loved it! I thought it was just such an emotional journey."
When he got back home to Nashville, Tenn., Galante coaxed
Jackson to let him release the album commercially. On the sur
face, such a project might have seemed a risky move, since not
many mainstream country superstars record gospel records any
more, at least not while they’re at the height of their careers. As
someone who had seen Elvis Presley, Ronnie Milsap and Charley
Pride record gospel albums in years past, Galante felt the current
dearth of such projects suggested "we had lost part of our roots.”
He also saw the gospel CD as completing Jackson's honestly
earned reputation as a star who, despite awards and riches, stays
true to himself and keeps close to his common-man roots.
The surprising success of Precious Memories makes an impressive
statement about the public's hunger for faith-based music, particularly
since the album attained its commercial peak without radio airplay.
At least one radio programmer thinks broadcasters erred in their
decision not to play it. "People now more than ever feel comfortable
talking about their spirituality," says Stephen Giuttari, the former
country program director of WYGY, a Cincinnati-bused radio station.
“Precious Memories is a musical masterpiece that strikes at the choal of
who we are as members of God’s family, and the buying public has
confirmed that. We as radio pa>grammers need to be reminded that
there is always a way to promote great music within die confines of
what you do at a radio station.”
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As with the enormous popularity of his 9/11 anthem, “Where
Were You (When the World Stopped Turning)," Jackson, a private
person who reveals more about himself in his songs than in his inter
views, is a little embarrassed by all the attention.
"He’s always thought that it should be about die music,” says his
manager, Nancy Russell. "He doesn't feel that comfortable talking
about himself, and probably doesn't understand why folks want to
know more about him. He just doesn’t grandstand or pound his chest.
He makes his own sratements in his own soft-spoken way. You can see
it in everything he does."
With more than 44 million albums sold and 31 No. 1 hits,
the Grammy-winning superstar mixes things up on his next
albums. Due out this summer is a live CD with fishing and
boating buddies George Strait and Jimmy Buffett, which the trio
recorded in concert at Texas Stadium in Dallas in 2004. And this
fall will bring a new studio album produced by Alison Krauss,
who approached Jackson about the idea last November, when
they played New York’s Carnegie Hall as part of a special Grand
Ole Opry appearance. The two first collaborated in 1993 when
they sang a duet for Jackson’s Christmas album.
The new CD won’t exactly be a bluegrass album, but the three
new songs lie and Krauss have completed have a texture and fee! that
bring out Jackson’s richer, deeper tones. “There’s a sexiness to (his
voice)," Galante says. “Very warm, almost sensual” is the way Russell
describes the vocals. "They’re definitely different sounding than what
he’s done before.”
American Profile
Page 7
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“It doesn’t have a drinking or a cheatin’ song on it.”
Alanna Nash is a frequent contributor to American Profile.
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No matter how the new projects turn out, Precious Memories will
always be special to the Jackson family, which today worships in
a "laid-back kind of church” (“You can wear shorts or a suit,"
ft, Jackson says) not far from their home in Nashville. Jackson
K remembers his wife and daughters, Mattie and Ali, were ner
! I vous about singing on the album, but now "they’re just tickled
I to death with it." But Jackson's mother is the proudest of all.
"Every time 1 talk to her, she can't tell me enough how
F much she loves it,” he says. “She never was a real heavy-duty
country music fan, so she loves it better than any music I ever
made.” And, he notes with a smile curling under his trademark
blonde moustache, he’s released an album his mom and all her friends
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