B.B. King, Sonic Youth Added to Library of Congress List

Posted in News on April 17, 2006

The Library of Congress has announced the fourth annual selection of 50 sound recordings to be preserved in the National Recording Registry. The news conference, held April 11 in Washington, D.C., featured a wide variety of outstanding spoken and musical recordings that span the years 1903 through 1988.

This year's selections include such renowned BMI songwriters and composers as Dave Brubeck (Time Out), B.B. King (Live at the Regal), Martha and the Vandellas ("Dancing in the Street"), Edwin Hawkins ("Oh Happy Day"), Sonic Youth (Daydream Nation) and Elliot Carter ("Variations for Orchestra").

The National Recording Preservation Board, comprising experts from the music industry and preservation field including BMI's David Sanjek, culled its list from nominations made by the public for recordings considered "culturally, historically or aesthetically significant." Recordings must be 10 years old to be considered for preservation and final selections are made by the Librarian of Congress, James H. Billington.

The National Recording Registry was created by the National Recording Preservation Act of 2000, legislation that promotes and supports audio preservation. The registry celebrates the richness and variety of the nation's audio legacy and underscores the responsibility to assure the long-term preservation of that legacy for future generations.

2005 National Recording Registry (in chronological order):

1. "Canzone del Porter" from "Martha (von Flotow)," Edouard de Reszke (1903)
2. "Listen to the Lambs," Hampton Quartette; transcribed by Natalie Curtis Burlin (1917)
3. "Over There," Nora Bayes (1917)
4. "Crazy Blues," Mamie Smith (1920)
5. "My Man" and "Second Hand Rose," Fanny Brice (1921)
6. "Ory's Creole Trombone," Kid Ory (June 1922)
7. Inauguration of Calvin Coolidge (March 4, 1925)
8. "Tanec pid werbamy/Dance Under the Willows," Pawlo Huemiuk (1926)
9. "Singin' the Blues," Frankie Trumbauer and his Orchestra with Bix Beiderbecke (1927)
10. First official transatlantic telephone conversation (Jan. 7, 1927)
11. "El Manisero" ("The Peanut Vendor"), Rita Montaner, vocal with orchestra (1927); "El Manisero," Don Azpiazu and his Havana Casino orchestra (1930)
12. Light's Golden Jubilee Celebration (Oct. 21, 1929)
13. Beethoven's Egmont Overture, Op. 84, Modesto High School Band (1930)
14. "Show Boat," Helen Morgan, Paul Robeson, James Melton and others; Victor Young, conductor; Louis Alter, piano (1932)
15. "Wabash Cannonball," Roy Acuff (1936)
16. "One O'Clock Jump," Count Basie and his Orchestra (1937)
17. Archibald MacLeish's "Fall of the City," Orson Welles, narrator, Burgess Meredith, Paul Stewart (April 11, 1937)
18. "The Adventures of Robin Hood" radio broadcast of May 11, 1938
19. Joe Louis-Max Schmeling fight, Clem McCarthy, announcer (June
22,1938)
20. "John the Revelator," Golden Gate Quartet (1938)
21. "Adagio for Strings," Arturo Toscanini, conductor; NBC Symphony (1938)
22. "Command Performance" show No.21, Bob Hope, master of ceremonies (July 7, 1942)
23. "Straighten Up and Fly Right," Nat "King" Cole (1943)
24. "The Fred Allen Show"(Radio broadcast of Oct. 7, 1945)
25. "Jole Blon," Harry Choates (1946)
26. "Tubby the Tuba," Paul Tripp (words) and George Kleinsinger (music) (1946)
27. "Move on up a Little Higher," Mahalia Jackson (1948)
28. "Anthology of American Folk Music," edited by Harry Smith (1952)
29. "Schooner Bradley," performed by Pat Bonner (1952-60)
30. "Damnation of Faust," Boston Symphony Orchestra with the Harvard Glee Club and Radcliffe Choral Society (1954)
31. "Blueberry Hill," Fats Domino (1956)
32. "Variations for Orchestra," Louisville Orchestra (1956)
33. "Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On," Jerry Lee Lewis (1957)
34. "That'll Be the Day," The Crickets (1957)
35. "Poeme Electronique," Edgard Varese (1958)
36. "Time Out," The Dave Brubeck Quartet (1959)
37. Studs Terkel interview with James Baldwin (Sept. 29, 1962)
38. William Faulkner address at West Point Military Academy (1962)
39. "Dancing in the Street," Martha and the Vandellas (1964)
40. "Live at the Regal," B.B. King (1965)
41. "Are You Experienced?" Jimi Hendrix Experience (1967)
42. "We're Only in It for the Money," Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention (1968)
43. "Switched-On Bach," Wendy Carlos (1968)
44. "Oh Happy Day," Edwin Hawkins Singers (1969)
45. "Don't Crush That Dwarf, Hand Me the Pliers," Firesign Theatre (1970)
46. "The Revolution Will Not Be Televised," Gil Scott-Heron (1970)
47. "Will the Circle Be Unbroken," Nitty Gritty Dirt Band (1972)
48. The old foghorn, Kewaunee, Wis., recorded by James A. Lipsky (1972)
49. "Songs in the Key of Life," Stevie Wonder (1976)
50. "Daydream Nation," Sonic Youth (1988)

SOURCENews TAGS Dave Brubeck Elliott Carter Fats Domino B.B. King Nitty Gritty Dirt Band David Sanjek Sonic Youth