Jimmy Buffett appeared on the Today Show this morning on NBC. He talked with Matt Lauer about his new album, the France Ecstasy incident, and Buffett’s continued success. He then performed “Bama Breeze” and “It’s Five O’Clock Somewhere.”

Watch the appearance on MSN Video:

– The chat with Matt
– “Bama Breeze”
– “It’s Five O’Clock Somewhere”

Be sure to catch Jimmy Buffett performing on the Today Show Thursday morning on NBC.

It doesn’t look like Jimmy is going to repeat the magic of debuting at No. 1 with his new album Take The Weather With You.

Projections based on first day sales have the album moving about 100,000 copies. License To Chill debuted at No. 1 on sales of about 239,000 copies.

Right now it looks like Buffett will be outpaced by Rod Stewart and Lloyd Banks. Each of those albums are projected to sell about 160,000 to 165,000 copies.

Factor in Evanescence who moved 400,000 copies of their new disc last week. It is highly unlikely that they’ll sell that many again this week and will probably struggle to retain No. 1 next week.

These numbers are based on early reports from retailers. The numbers could change slightly, though it is unlikely the change would be enough to push Buffett into the hunt for No. 1.

FYI – these are actual sales, not shipments. Actual sales (people buying the CD) are used to determine the charts like Billboard’s album chart. Shipments are used to determine RIAA’s certificatoins (Gold and Platinum, for instance). So, Jimmy could sell 245,000 copies and still be certified Gold if 500,000 discs were shipped to retailers, distributors, rack jobbers, etc.

Chart Update – “Bama Breeze” has moved up three spots this week on the Country Radio Charts to number 60.

Buffett is mentioned today in a Houston Chronicle article on campaign donations to Texas gubernatorial candidates:

Kinky Friedman’s largest donor is John McCall, who made a fortune in the shampoo business. McCall has donated $851,000, but in smaller chunks.

Read the entire article here.

The anticipation is finally over. Buffett’s first studio album since 2004 comes out today. Pick up a copy of “Take The Weather With You” today at your nearest store, get it through iTunes, or order it online.

Share your thoughts on the new album with us by writing a review on the Discussion Board.