Jason Isbell’s “Something More Than Free” Inches Out Alan Jackson for #1 Album
Along with his multiple Americana Music Awards, and many accolades from critics declaring him one of the best songwriters of this generation, Jason Isbell is now the owner of the #1 album in all of country music according to Billboard. Isbell’s album Something More Than Free—released by Isbell’s Southeastern Records via Thirty Tigers—pulled off a last-minute rally to best Alan Jackson’s latest Angels & Alcohol to claim the #1 spot.
Both artists sold a rounded off 46,000 copies of their respective albums, but according to Billboard, Jackson fell “just a few hundred shy” of Isbell’s tally for the week ending July 23rd. The previous numbers from HITS Daily Double had Alan Jackson with a slight edge. Their unofficial tally had Jackson at 42,341 albums, edging out Isbell by less than 500 units at 41,870. Isbell came on strong at the end. Both albums were released on the second official Friday release day as part of a global initiative to make the release date for albums universal.
Something More Than Free also comes in at #1 on the Indie, Rock, and Folk charts, and #4 on the all-genre Billboard 200. Jason Isbell’s best showing previously was with his last record, 2013’s Southeastern, which came in at #23 on Billboard’s all-genre Billboard 200, and #7 on the rock charts.
READ: Album Review Jason Isbell’s “Something More Than Free”
The 36-year-old Alabama native began his career with the Drive-By Truckers at the age of 22 as a singer, songwriter, and guitar player before branching off on a solo career beginning in 2007. Since then he has become the poster boy for the new generation of Americana artists, racking up multiple Americana Music Awards and regularly selling out theater-sized venues to appreciative crowds. Just as much a rock musician as country, Jason Isbell’s sound crosses traditional genre lines to unite a fervent fan base around quality and taste.
“I’m overwhelmed by the early success of the album,” Isbell told Billboard. “I never expected my music to be accepted by anything resembling mainstream., and in all honestly it makes me realize I have more in common with my fellow music fans than I had previously thought … I’m just glad people still want to hear the music I’m making. As long as they do, I’ll keep doing it.”
Jason spent last weekend performing at the Newport Folk Festival. You can listen to his full performance via NPR.
July 27, 2015 @ 7:49 pm
Awesome! Go Jason!
July 27, 2015 @ 8:01 pm
That’s awesome! Way to go Isbell! Although we all know Isbell, Blackberry Smoke and Aaron Watson really don’t exist haha
July 28, 2015 @ 6:25 am
Good one Brett, neither does Lucero, Chris Knight, and Whiskey Myers.
July 28, 2015 @ 7:39 am
Who are these names you’re throwing out? Can I hear them on the radio?
July 28, 2015 @ 6:20 pm
Yeah AD. All u gotta do is download a radio station out of Texas haha. Koke Fm and 95.9 the Ranch is where it’s at
July 27, 2015 @ 9:49 pm
Wow Congratulations Jason for having your first #1 cd on the country charts.
July 28, 2015 @ 2:19 am
Not bad for not existing…
July 28, 2015 @ 5:13 am
Great news! I am curious to see what kind of staying power this album has on the charts. It seems like these artists that are not in mainstream have a big first week due to their fans buying the album first week, then they dramatically fade after that. One thing that was cool about Sturgills last album was that it didn’t sale big at all in the first week really (only 5,500 copies), but by word of mouth just kept getting bigger and bigger (140,000 copies) , which kept it in the top 10 for quite a while.
July 28, 2015 @ 5:40 am
He’s such an incredible writer but somehow he used excepted instead of accepted. This album is doing so well across genres it’s almost unbelievable. I think the ball is in Sturgill’s court now to see if he can keep up with his new release. I actually have s section now on my cd shelf just for releases that went #1 on country radio without radio play.
July 28, 2015 @ 5:52 am
WSM out of Nashville plays Sturgill Simpson. So, I guess that counts toward mainstream play.
July 28, 2015 @ 5:54 am
Sturgill’s next album will go #1 right off the bat. It could have some big staying power as well.
We have seen a lot of these artist go #1 for a week or two then it tumbles fast. Hopefully isbell can hold on to it for a while.
July 28, 2015 @ 7:05 am
i think he was quoted by billboard, I don’t think he used the wrong word. Listen to him talk about grammar, its a huge deal to him.
July 30, 2015 @ 6:06 am
Right. I remember reading something where he said that his father has a sign outside the house or maybe on the door that read “The Isbell’s.” “Drives me crazy,” was the quote from him, I believe.
July 30, 2015 @ 4:52 am
Read where Cobb said a few days ago the new SS album is “probably going to piss a lot of people off”……..should be interesting what people Dave is referring to……
July 30, 2015 @ 8:16 am
Sturgill has been saying that as well. It’s all of US. It’s true country fans. At least that’s what I’m assuming. If it isn’t, I’ll be pleasantly surprised. I’ve been working under that assumption since the record was recorded. I’m already prepared to be colossally let down. Anything above that is gravy.
July 30, 2015 @ 8:28 am
Agreed. He has also been on record in several interviews saying he wants to cover 80 pop songs redone in his style. I heard him say one time that he was going to do it and it would probably piss a lot of people off. So maybe there is some of that. After hearing what he was able to do with ‘The Promise’, I am all for the guy covering whatever he wants to! Guy has serious game, bottom line.
July 28, 2015 @ 6:21 am
Trigger – Technical question I hope you can answer… How are the billboard categories determined? Does the label get to say an album belongs in rock and country, for instance? Is it Billboard?
July 28, 2015 @ 8:20 am
I’m in no way an expert on this, but from my understanding there’s a few different ways. Chart managers for Billboard can determine if a record deserves to be on a certain chart and put it there. In the case of Isbell, they believed he deserved to be on numerous charts. There’s also ISRC data, short for International Standard Recording Code. This is filled out usually by a label to be distributed with the codes for the music itself as the sales are tracked through Mediabase and Soundscan, and will include genre distinctions for the music in the coding. Sometimes artists only include one genre, sometimes they can include multiple genres. Sometimes that is considered in charting, sometimes it isn’t. So there’s no real hard and fast determination with an artist like Isbell like there might be for Luke Bryan.
July 28, 2015 @ 10:15 am
Thanks. Sounds like it is as murky as I thought. On one hand, I am glad for his success, but at the same time, I would be irritated if a pop act had done the same. I do think it is fair to say he has elements of all three genres, but that is Americana.
July 28, 2015 @ 12:13 pm
When it comes to Billboard specifically, it is ultimately the call of the chart manager. A pop act is not going to be able to get on the rock and folk charts just because they fill out their ISRC data saying as much. Jason Isbell’s sound cuts across multiple genres, and this was Billboard’s way of reflecting that. I agree there should be more defined borders.
July 28, 2015 @ 5:24 pm
Thanks for clarifying – and your work here in general.
July 28, 2015 @ 11:59 am
hmm
July 28, 2015 @ 7:31 am
So he didn’t need that exposure from The Voice after all.
July 28, 2015 @ 9:21 am
hahaha perfect
July 28, 2015 @ 7:32 am
Got to see Jason and Sturgill at the Newport Folk Festival. Both incredible. The Sturgill hype is real, people. He had the crowd in the palm of his hands.
July 28, 2015 @ 7:46 am
I also was lucky enough to see both of them at NFF this past weekend and they were both amazing. Sturgill was surprisingly rocking and his band was technically flawless. So thrilled to see Jason Isbell achieve some commercial success with his exceptional music. It almost renews my cynical heart’s trust in people’s musical taste in America. There is hope!
July 28, 2015 @ 5:01 pm
Listened to the NPR feed. Palmetto Rose sounds better live. Played the songs I thought he’d play off the new album. Will be interesting to see if he develops some of the other songs live as time goes on. Still ending with Super 8? Hmm…needs a new closer…
July 28, 2015 @ 9:21 am
Country music fans are the real winners in this. The success of Isbell, Sturgill, Stapleton, Blackberry Smoke all without much, if any, radio play can only open the eyes of the machine pumping out what they think country music fans want to hear. Whether the radio plays it or not, I’ll continue to buy these CD’s and go to see these guys live!
July 28, 2015 @ 9:38 am
Trigger- speaking of good music, corb Lund just announced his new album “things that can’t be undone” produced by Cobb in October.
July 28, 2015 @ 11:53 am
Whoa. Great news.
July 28, 2015 @ 1:31 pm
Best news I’ve heard all day! Corb Lund is such an incredibly talented person…
July 28, 2015 @ 10:22 am
*Second official Friday release day.
July 28, 2015 @ 4:57 pm
And on his own label, hopefully he banks some cash for his new baby 🙂
Congrats to Jason, he’s earned it.
July 28, 2015 @ 7:14 pm
So glad for Jason. While Alan getting it would have also been great, I think this is better for music as a whole. If Alan had gotten the #1 album, supporters of Country radio would have simply said the man still has a massive, built-in audience. The fact someone like Isbell gets it, much like Aaron Watson and Blackberry Smoke, shows to naysayers that Country radio continues to become more and more irrelevant.
July 28, 2015 @ 8:14 pm
Dang it. I would prefer that Alan received the honor.
July 28, 2015 @ 8:17 pm
He very well might. Next week. Right now he is in the lead, and either Ashley Monroe would have to knock him off, or Isbell could come from behind for a second week. But my guess is Jackson will get his #1 next week, and both artists can gloat.
July 28, 2015 @ 8:55 pm
Interesting that alanjackson.com is claiming the number one spot on Billboard country.
July 28, 2015 @ 9:01 pm
Yes, and there’s a couple of news stories that are also claiming this, but it’s pretty clear from Billboard they are saying Jason Isbell has the #1 spot. That is what Billboard is saying both in print and online. My guess is some people were caught off guard by Isbell’s late rally, and either didn’t get the memo or are refusing to read it.
July 28, 2015 @ 9:12 pm
Yeah it’s definitely Isbell as there is an article on the front page of Billboardbiz about Isbell pipping Jackson by a few hundreds.
July 28, 2015 @ 9:14 pm
Dewey Defeats Truman!
July 29, 2015 @ 5:22 am
I hope Jackson gets it next week. I expect he will beat Isbell next week. A disproportionate number of Isbell fans are music nerds who preorder and pay attention to release dates, which I would guess is a little less true of Jackson fans. I think that many bought Isbell’s in advance off of the strength of Southeastern.
July 29, 2015 @ 8:02 am
I suspect they bought Something More Than Free off the strength of his entire album catalogue. Isbell has been on a critical winning streak for quite some time now.
July 29, 2015 @ 11:20 am
He did gain a lot of new fans, and much wider coverage, with Southeastern, so I think it is a mix. I certainly bought it based on his entire catalog, but I didn’t pre-order the other ones. (Or buy it from the local record on the release date, which is what I actually do for something I am particularly excited about. I only pre-order from them if it is something obscure that they might not get in.))
July 29, 2015 @ 12:12 pm
According to the CMT article Isbell bested AJ by only 475 copies sold (45,785 vs 45,310), but awesome that there is actually a headline article that says “Jason Isbell Claims Top Album Slot…” on CMT.com of all places. Never never thought I would see the day, but oh how sweet it is. Been following him since his DBT days and met him in Augusta, GA somewhere around 2003-4 on one his solo “tours” on a DBT tour break. There could not have been more than 20-25 people at the bar, but Isbell could not have been more approachable nor any nicer. Bought him a shot of Jack (his drinking days…now gone), hung out with him and his merch guy, and he even sat with my friend and I during set breaks and turned me on to American Spirit cigarettes which he let me bum (my smoking days…now gone). Success could not happen to a nicer fellow and very happy for him and his bride. Also, a big thanks to Trigger for keeping us all posted and informed on news like this and for doing an excellent job with stories on Isbell frequently for the last few years. Keep up the excellent work, Trig!
July 29, 2015 @ 6:16 pm
This is great for Isbell, and the album is killer, but does anyone else think the music video is god awful?
July 31, 2015 @ 8:50 pm
Yes… the video for SMTF is completely cheesy… though I read they used local people, not actors. The guy really is a firefighter, which I think is kinda cool.
July 29, 2015 @ 7:33 pm
I know there isn’t much that hasn’t been said about Jason Isbell, but for someone at this day and age who can dominate the Billboard charts for country, rock, folk, and even indie in addition to standing high on the Billboard 200, that is a big accomplishment. I just wonder if either my local country or rock stations would even play his songs though during their “all request hours.” I ought to try and call them about that.
August 2, 2015 @ 9:51 am
First to here of you being from Alabama always good to here a new voice. keep up the good lyrics. your amazing Jason