“Precious Memories” (ACR/Arista Nashville) – Alan Jackson

With 10 gigantically successful CDs already in his portfolio and his stature secure among the giants in today’s country music world, Alan Jackson has the professional flexibility to put out about anything he wants with the expectation of having success.

In “Precious Memories,” the three-time CMA Entertainer of the Year indeed takes his musical journey in a decidedly different direction from some of his less reverent staples like “It’s Five O’Clock Somewhere” or “Chattahoochie.”

This collection of 15 classic gospel hymns, originally intended as a Christmas present for his mother, harkens back to the era when religious music was a major building block for virtually every country artist’s resume – but which is reserved today for a more select group that includes the likes of Randy Travis, Ricky Skaggs and Amy Grant.

What’s more, Jackson stays true to the simple tenor of the original message on all 15 tracks, relying just on his own baritone vocals, acoustic guitar, a piano and an organ to get the messages of such traditional classics as “I Love to Tell the Story,” “What a Friend We Have in Jesus,” “The Old Rugged Cross,” and “How Great Thou Art.”

He did get vocal help on one song, “‘Tis So Sweet to Trust in Jesus,” but that came from his wife Denise and daughters Mattie and Ali.

This is about as unpretentious as a CD can get, almost to the point of being musically monotonous. In this case, the fact that the songs total just 37 minutes of music is a good thing, because by the time any sense of monotony might begin to sink in, the CD’s finale, “I Want to Stroll Over Heaven with You,” is ending.

But one thinks that doesn’t really matter to Jackson, who in this offering seemingly was more concerned with the message than the market.

And it has found a market, selling 107,218 copies in its first week and reaching No. 1 on three Billboard charts, Top Country Albums, Top Christian Albums and Top Christian & Gospel Albums.

It may not be typical Alan Jackson, and it may not find a place among the regular rotation of your CD collection. But if your country music scope includes traditional as well as contemporary influences, “Precious Memories” has a place in that collection.