A full list of all Registry-named recordings with descriptions noting their aesthetic, historic or cultural significance. For many recordings, nationally-known scholars have kindly contributed short essays describing further the work's importance, and are available as indicated.

Note: This is a national list and many of the items listed are housed in collections across the country. The Library of Congress does not currently hold copies of all the recordings listed.

Recordings are listed in chronological order:

Phonautograms. Edouard-Leon Scott de Martinville. (c. 1853-1861)

In late 1853 or early 1854, Edouard-Leon Scott de Martinville captured the first recorded sounds by etching onto blackened glass plates the movements of a boar's-bristle stylus, vibrating in sympathy with a guitar and a human voice. Later, Scott made recordings on paper wrapped around a drum. The resulting "phonautograms" proved crucial to the development of recorded sound. Scott was interested solely in the visible tracings of sound waves in order to study acoustics and did not record with the intention of playing back or listening to his recordings. Nevertheless, in 2008, researchers from the First Sounds group, using contemporary audio dtechnology (developed with the support of several institutions, including the Library of Congress and the National Recording Preservation Board) were able to play back Scott's recordings for the very first time. Selected for the 2010 registry.

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Radio Feature (MP3)

Edison's "St. Louis tinfoil" recording (1878)

It is quite possibly a record of the oldest playable recording of an American voice. It is a survivor—the earliest extant document that captures a musical performance. The recording is on a piece of tinfoil. It lasts 78 seconds and was made on a phonograph in St. Louis, Missouri, on June 22, 1878, just months after Thomas Edison invented his magic recording machine. For years the foil endured and went, not surprisingly, unplayed. Then, in the summer of 2013, the Museum of Science and Innovation (a.k.a. miSci) in Schenectady, New York, announced that physicists at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory had recovered the sound from this slip of shiny silver. The result was a surprisingly listenable musical and vocal interlude. Selected for the 2020 registry.

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Edison Talking doll cylinder. (1888)

Few, if any, sound recordings can lay claim to as many "firsts" as the small, mangled artifact of a failed business venture discovered in 1967 in the desk of an assistant to Thomas Edison. This cylinder recording, only 5/8-inches wide, represents the foundjohations of many aspects of recording history. It was created in 1888 by a short-lived Edison company established to make talking dolls for children, and it is the only surviving example from the experimental stage of the Edison dolls production when the cylinders were made of tin. As such, this recording of "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star," as sung by an anonymous Edison employee, is the earliest known commercial sound recording in existence. It is also the first children's recording and, quite possibly, the first recording to be made by someone who was paid to perform for a sound recording. Due to its poor condition, the recording was considered unplayable until 2011 when its surface was scanned in three dimensions using digital mapping tools created at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and developed in collaboration with the Library of Congress. Selected for the 2011 registry.

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The 1888 London cylinder recordings of Col. George Gouraud. (1888)

Thomas Edison debuted his "perfected" wax-cylinder phonograph in the summer of 1888, rendering obsolete his 1877 tinfoil model and preventing a coup against his "favorite invention" by Bell and Tainter's insurgent Graphophone. The first phonograph to leave Edison's factory was sent to his friend and agent, Civil War hero Col. George Gouraud, an American living in London, who had a knack for promoting and marketing new technologies. In the second half of 1888, Gouraud marketed the machine by hosting recording demonstrations with celebrity guests and, perhaps accidentally, preserved for posterity the voices of prominent poets, scientists, musicians and politicians, including future Prime Minister William Ewart Gladstone and Sir Arthur Sullivan of Gilbert & Sullivan. The first of these recordings was the Handel Festival at the Crystal Palace. Hugh DeCoursey Hamilton, who worked for Gouraud and Edison, captured a 4,000-voice chorus performing "Israel in Egypt" from the press balcony 100 yards away. Gouraud also recorded his friends, family and business partners. Selected for the 2016 registry.

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Edison exhibition recordings (group of three cylinders): "Around the World on the Phonograph"; "The Pattison Waltz"; and "Fifth Regiment March." (1888-1889)

A trio of cylinders selected by Edison contemporaries to represent the birth of commercial sound recording--as an industry, as a practical technology, and as a means to preserve music and spoken word. Selected for the 2002 registry.

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Listen—"Pattison Waltz" (MP3)

Jesse Walter Fewkes field recordings of the Passamaquoddy Indians. (1890)

Fewkes' cylinder recordings, 30 in total and made in Calais, Maine, are considered to be the first ethnographic recordings made produced "in the field," as well as the first recordings of Native American music. The cylinders are held by the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress. Selected for the 2002 registry.

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And more
Listen—"Snake Dance Song" (MP3)

"The Lord's Prayer" and "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star." Emile Berliner recordings. (c. 1890)

Emile Berliner, the inventor of the microphone and founder of the first disc record company, lived and worked in Washington, D.C. A contemporary of Thomas Edison, Berliner believed that the wax cylinder developed by Edison and his partners was too soft and fragile for making a permanent recording. Hence, he developed the first process for mass-production of disc recordings. These are two of his early recordings. Selected for the 2003 registry.

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Listen—"Twinkle Twinkle Little Star"

Vernacular Wax Cylinder Recordings at UC Santa Barbara Library (c. 1890-1920)

Offering a rare and revealing glimpse into the lives of regular people, the Vernacular Wax Cylinder Recordings consists of 600 homemade cylinder recordings made primarily during the 1890s, 1900s, and 1910s. The core of the collection is based on several decades of purposeful acquisition by anthropologist Donald R. Hill and sound historian David Giovannoni. From its commercial introduction in the 1890s through its demise in the 1920s, the cylinder phonograph allowed its owners to make sound recordings at home. These UCSB audio "snapshots" of everyday life are perhaps the most authentic audio documents of the period: songs sung by children, instrumentals, jokes, and ad-libbed narratives. The vast majority of vernacular wax recordings remain in private hands or uncatalogued in institutions. UCSB's extensive collection serves as a beacon for the recognition and assertive preservation of these highly endangered audio treasures. Selected for the 2014 registry.

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The Benjamin Ives Gilman Collection Recorded at the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition at Chicago (1893)

Benjamin Ives Gilman, Harvard psychologist, and, later, curator for the Boston Museum of Fine Arts, made 101 wax cylinder recordings at the 1893 Chicago World's Fair. These recordings contain Fijian, Samoan, Uvean, Javanese, Turkish, Kwakiutl or Vancouver Island Indian songs and ceremonies along with recordings of other Middle Eastern, South Seas and Native American musicians and singers who performed in specially constructed "villages" along the midway. In addition to being the first recordings ever made at any World's Fair, these are also the earliest known recordings of many non-western musical styles, such as the Javanese Gamelan. Selected for the 2014 registry.

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"The Laughing Song." George Washington Johnson. (c. 1896)

George W. Johnson was the first African American to make commercial records; he began in 1890. Born near Wheatland, Virginia, Johnson made his living as a street singer during the 1870s, busking in New York City. "The Laughing Song" was Johnson's most famous and long-lived number. This familiar sounding and uncomplicated tune was sung by Johnson in a down-home, gruff baritone and completed with his infectious laughter, all remarkably free of the caricature and forced dialect that marked most African American-themed material of the period. "Laughing Song" was tremendously successful, with versions released in the US and Europe. With its ragtime-imbued accompaniment, its stature is inestimable: here is perhaps the most popular recording of the 1890s, and probably the first "hit" sung by an African American. Selected for the 2013 registry.

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"Stars and Stripes Forever." Military Band. (1897)

The first recording of America's favorite march. "The Stars and Stripes Forever," John Philip Sousa's most famous composition, was recorded by the company of the inventor of the 78-rpm gramophone disc, Emile Berliner, for his company Berliner Gramophone. Selected for the 2002 registry.

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"Gypsy Love Song." Eugene Cowles. (1898)

Victor Herbert's 1898 operetta, "The Fortune Teller," was the composer's first popular success for the stage. The Berliner Gramophone Company captured bass Eugene Cowles' performance of one of the operetta's hits, "Gypsy Love Song," on what was one of the very first "original cast recordings." Selected for the 2004 registry.

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"Honolulu Cake Walk." Vess Ossman. (c. 1900)

During the era of ragtime music's greatest popularity -- the late 19th and early 20th centuries -- the syncopated music was typically recorded by bands, orchestras, or small ensembles, or accordion, xylophone, or banjo soloists. Vess Ossman, called "The Banjo King," was the one of the most prolific recording artists of that time. His "Honolulu Cake Walk" is a prime example of recorded ragtime banjo. Selected for the 2003 registry.

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Ragtime compositions on piano rolls. Scott Joplin. (1900s)

Scott Joplin is today regarded as the pre-eminent composer of ragtime compositions. Joplin himself performed some of these "rags" for piano roll sales. These rolls represent the way these compositions were originally listened to and enjoyed--on home player pianos. They are outstanding examples of a less-familiar, now nearly-obsolete sound recording format. This selection consists of the titles "Maple Leaf Rag," "Magnetic Rag," "Weeping Willow Rag," "Something Doing," "Pleasant Moments," and "Ole Miss Rag." Selected for the 2002 registry.

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Listen—"Maple Leaf Rag"

Lionel Mapleson cylinder recordings of the Metropolitan Opera. (1900-1903)

In the early 1900s, Lionel Mapleson set up a phonograph in the New York City Metropolitan Opera House to record excerpts of live performances there. These cylinders preserve a special window on the spontaneous artistry of this era and are the only known extant recordings of some performers, including Jean de Reszke. Selected for the 2002 registry.

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Listen—"La Fille du Regiments: Rataplan"

Bert Williams and George Walker. Victor Releases. (1901)

This vaudeville and musical theater duo, among America's first African-American recording artists, recorded many sides for the Victor Talking Machine Company in 1901. But as effective as the comic duo were on record, George Walker disliked recording and made only one other disc. Bert Williams, however, had a very successful recording career, which included two versions of his signature song, "Nobody," before his death in 1922. The Victor discs are quite rare. Two of them, "The Fortune Telling Man " (Victor 1083) and "The Ghost of a Coon" (Victor 998), are missing from any known collection. Selected for the 2003 registry.

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Yiddish Cylinders from the Standard Phonograph Company of New York and the Thomas Lambert Company. (c. 1901-1905)

These cylinders originally produced by the Standard Phonograph Company of New York are believed to be the earliest recordings of Yiddish songs. Eventually released by the Thomas Lambert Company of Chicago, these releases (some manufactured in unusually vibrant colors) also represent the first releases by an ethnically-owned and ethnically-focused record company, a risky venture at a time when a US-based audience for foreign-language music had yet to be established. These surviving 20 cylinders of 48 once produced, provide an insight not only into the Yiddish-speaking community of the era but also into the difficult assimilation of Jewish immigrants arriving to America at the turn of the century. In 2016, the Archeophone label lovingly restored and packed the cylinder into a CD-set. Selected for the 2018 registry.

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Listen—"Dos Biselle Mashke" (MP3)

"Canzone del Porter" from "Martha." Edouard de Reszke. (1903)

Representative of the Columbia Grand Opera Series. Columbia Records' 1903 "celebrity" series of discs featured seven Metropolitan Opera stars who were considered some of the most significant singers of the period. Perhaps of greatest historical significance within the Series are the three recordings made by bass Edouard de Reszke. They are his only known published recordings, made when he was approaching the end of his performing career. Other performers included in the Series are Giuseppe Campanari, baritone; Marcella Sembrich, soprano; Suzanne Adams, soprano; Ernestine Schumann-Heink, contralto; Antonio Scotti, baritone; and Charles Gilbert, baritone. Selected for the 2005 registry.

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"Uncle Josh and the Insurance Company." Cal Stewart. (1904)

Cal Stewart was among the most prolific and popular recording artists of the first 20 years of commercial recording. His "Uncle Josh" monologues offer humorous commentary on American life at the turn of the 20th century. His "rural comedy" describes life in the imaginary New England village of Pumpkin Center, painting humorous pictures of Uncle Josh's encounters with new technologies as well as pointing out the comic contrasts between agrarian and urban life in America. Stewart's influence can be heard in the comedy of Will Rogers, in Fred Allen's character, Titus Moody, and in Garrison Keillor's stories about Lake Wobegon. "Uncle Josh and the Insurance Company" is especially notable as the first recording of the humorous folk tale and urban legend "Barrel of Bricks." Selected for the 2006 registry.

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"Casey at the Bat." DeWolf Hopper. (1906)

This extraordinarily popular comic baseball recitation (poem) is read by the vaudevillian, DeWolf Hopper. Hopper reportedly recited this poem over 10,000 times in performance. Selected for the 2002 registry.

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"You're a Grand Old Rag [Flag]." Billy Murray. (1906)

Billy Murray was one of the most popular recording artists in the U.S. in the acoustic recording era. His distinct tenor voice was featured on hundreds of records issued by Victor, Columbia, Edison, and other labels. Some of Murray's best-loved and most popular recordings were of George M. Cohan's songs. "You're a Grand Old Rag" was the original title of this recording and Cohan's song "You're a Grand Old Flag." Despite the song's clear patriotic message, "rag" was considered by many to be an undignified and inappropriate way to refer to the American flag. Selected for the 2003 registry.

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"Vesti la giubba." Enrico Caruso. (1907)

Tenor Enrico Caruso was probably the most popular recording artist of his time. His recording of this signature aria from Pagliacci by Leoncavallo was a bestseller. Selected for the 2002 registry.

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“The Very First Mariachi Recordings.” Cuarteto Coculense. (1908-1909) (album)

Mariachi music and its imagery are now emblematic of Mexican national identity, but it was once a rural style of music played mainly in the state of Jalisco. In 1908, four musicians from the town of Cocula, Jalisco, led by the vihuela player Justo Villa, made the very first recordings of it in Mexico City, where two years earlier they had introduced the style to the capital when they performed for the Mexican president Porfirio Diaz. These performances lack the trumpet now inextricably associated with mariachi, but even the early recording technology of the time could not fail to capture the group’s drive and spirit, and the recordings remained in print for many years. Thanks to the efforts of scholars and record collectors, the group’s work was collected and reissued in 1998 by Arhoolie Records, revisiting and reviving an otherwise lost chapter in mariachi’s history and paying overdue homage to these recording pioneers. Selected for the 2023 registry.

Listen - “The Parakeet” (MP3)

Frances Densmore Chippewa/Ojibwe Cylinder Collection. (1907-1910)

Frances Densmore's Chippewa recordings, a three-hundred cylinder sub-set of the ethnomusicologist's thirty-year collecting effort, are some of the earliest recordings she made. Her collections, housed at the Library of Congress, document Native American traditions and performances, many of which have since been lost even within their native communities. Selected for the 2003 registry.

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Booker T. Washington's 1895 Atlanta Exposition Speech. (1908 recreation)

In 1906, Booker T. Washington recreated his controversial 1895 Atlanta Exposition speech in which he promotes inter-racial cooperation as well as African-American self-reliance. This address drew criticism from other black leaders who interpreted it as giving in to segregation. Selected for the 2002 registry.

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"No News, or What Killed the Dog." Nat M. Wills. (1908)

This recording captured a gifted monologist at his best and became one of the most popular performances on early records. The "No News" monologue, with its roots in oral tradition, was one of vaudeville's most famous and often-copied routines. The monologue unfolds as a piecemeal report by a servant to his master who recently returned from a trip, assuring him that there is nothing new to report from home, except that his dog has died. Nat M. Wills displays masterful comic timing as he slowly reveals, in a escalating hierarchy of domestic disasters, the events that led up to the dog's demise. Selected for the 2008 registry.

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"Take Me Out to the Ball Game." Edward Meeker. (1908)

This popular song has become an unofficial national anthem of America's national pastime. It was composed in 1908 and was recorded by all three of the major U.S. record companies, Victor, Columbia and Edison. Few copies of these recordings are now extant, which may indicate that initially the song was not as popular as it was to become later. Comic vocalist Edward Meeker, whose duties for Edison included announcing the titles and artists on hundreds of cylinders, sings on this Edison recording. Meeker delivers the song in his stentorian, but good-natured baritone, including both verses, which remind us that the song is about a baseball-loving woman. Selected for the 2010 registry.

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"Swing Low, Sweet Chariot." The Fisk Jubilee Singers. (1909)

The Fisk Jubilee Singers helped establish the black spiritual in the history of American music. They were also the first to introduce these songs to white audiences through concert tours and recordings. "Swing Low" is their first commercial recording. Selected for the 2002 registry.

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"Some of These Days." Sophie Tucker. (1911)

Vaudeville singer and comedienne Sophie Tucker first recorded her signature song for the Edison company on cylinder. It was the beginning of a recording career that extended nearly 50 years. This Sheldon Brooks song was an ideal vehicle for the earthy star known as "the Last of the Red-Hot Mamas." Selected for the 2004 registry.

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"Dream Melody Intermezzo: Naughty Marietta" (single). Victor Herbert and His Orchestra. (1911)

Victor Herbert's "Dream Melody Intermezzo" is one of several iterations of the immortal song "Ah, Sweet Mystery of Life" heard throughout Herbert's most successful operetta, "Naughty Marietta." This recording is the intermezzo version of "Sweet Mystery," which is heard near the beginning of Act II as a transitional piece during which time the locale moves from the marionette theatre to the Juenesse Doree Club's ballroom. As "Ah, Sweet Mystery of Life," the work has lived on as a free-standing song, heard to both dramatic and comic effect. In this 1911 Edison cylinder recording, listeners are transported back to the fall of 1910. The arrangement calls for a sprightly, annunciatory introduction by brass and pizzicato strings. The new cylinder recording process made it possible to capture nuances of the orchestra not possible with disc recording technology of the time. Selected for the 2017 registry.

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"Let Me Call You Sweetheart." Columbia Quartette (The Peerless Quartet). (1911)

The Columbia Quartette was, in reality, the Peerless Quartet, led by tenor Henry Burr. Burr's distinctive forward-sounding, nasal voice gave the Peerless a unique and easily identifiable tone. The blend and balance of the harmonized quartet is rich and satisfying, providing us with an authentic taste of the music of the 1910s. "Let Me Call You Sweetheart," a product of Tin Pan Alley, composed and written by Leo Friedman and Beth Slater Whitson, has an uncomplicated rhyming scheme and predictable melodic contour, making it a song that has endured for more than a century with its unabashed, expression of love. Selected for the 2015 registry.

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Cylinder recordings of Ishi. (1911-1914)

Recorded on 148 wax cylinders between September 1911 and April 1914, this is the largest collection of the extinct Yahi language. Ishi, the last surviving member of the Northern California Yahi tribe and the last speaker of its language, sings traditional Yahi songs and tells stories, including the story of "Wood Duck" recorded on 51 cylinders. The complete recordings, totaling 5 hours and 41 minutes, were made by anthropologists Alfred Kroeber and T.T. Waterman during Ishi's five-year residency at the University of California Museum of Anthropology in San Francisco (now the Phoebe A. Hearst Museum of Anthropology, UC Berkeley). The cylinders are held at the Hearst Museum in Berkeley. Selected for the 2010 registry.

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"Come Down Ma Evenin' Star." Lillian Russell. (1912)

"Come Down Ma Evenin' Star" is the only surviving recording of Lillian Russell, one of the greatest stars the American musical stage has ever known, a versatile performer at home in operetta, burlesque and vaudeville whose personal life often generated as much publicity as her performances. Born in 1861, she was a star before movies and recordings, which in their early days could not do justice to her famous beauty, voice, style and stage presence. "Come Down" was her signature song. She introduced it in the 1902 burlesque review "Twirly-Wirly," parodying the nouveau-riche society figure she had become, but investing it with a poignancy that reflected its troubled history. The song was written by her former music director John Stromberg, who committed suicide over the pain of chronic, untreatable rheumatism hours after finishing it. Russell recorded it in 1912, but it was not released. In 1943, rare record dealer Jack L. Caidin found a lone test pressing of it, inscribed by Russell herself, and released it on his own specialty label, providing us with a brief echo of the Lillian Russell phenomenon, and a fleeting glimpse into nineteenth century American theater. Selected for the 2011 registry.

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Lovey's Trinidad String Band. (1912)

These Trinidadian instrumental musicians were recorded for Columbia Records in New York City during a tour in 1912. Lovey's String Band exemplifies a pre-jazz "hot" style common in the Caribbean at the time. Selected for the 2002 registry.

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Listen—"Manuelita"

"Fon der Choope (From the Wedding)." Abe Elenkrig's Yidishe Orchestra. (April 4, 1913)

Barber and trumpeter Abraham Elenkrig recorded this lively number for Columbia Records in the spring of 1913 and the ten songs were among the first klezmer recordings made in America. While chiefly colored by Romanian musical influences, the cornet and trombone on "Fon der Choope" lend it a brassy sound typical of John Phillip Sousa, Arthur Pryor and other popular military bands of the time. It was a sound characteristic of early klezmer recordings in the United States. Selected for the 2009 registry.

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"The Castles in Europe One-Step (Castle House Rag)." Europe's Society Orchestra. (1914)

James Reese Europe was the first black bandleader to record in the United States and was the personal conductor for the immensely popular 1910s dance team, Irene and Vernon Castle. Europe's recordings were important stepping stones in the development of jazz. They exhibit a frenetic quality with more looseness and greater syncopation than is heard in any other dance bands of the era. Selected for the 2004 registry.

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"Memphis Blues" (single). Victor Military Band. (1914)

Though he would eventually be acclaimed as "The Father of the Blues," W.C. Handy was only a moderately successful bandleader in 1912 when he published "The Memphis Blues" in sheet music form. It caught on quickly and was soon being performed by bands around the country, introducing Handy's style of 12-bar blues to a wide audience. With the help of bandleader James Reese Europe, the dancers Vernon and Irene Castle used it to promote their version of the emerging popular dance the foxtrot, but no recording of it was made until July 15, 1914, when the Victor Military Band cut their hit version, helping to pave the way for the jazz and blues crazes that would sweep the country within a few years. "Memphis Blues" was soon standard repertoire and was re-recorded as late as 1942 by swing era bandleader Harry James. Selected for the 2018 registry.

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"They Didn't Believe Me." Harry Macdonough and Alice Green. (1915)

Elegant, charming and unexpected, Jerome Kern's "They Didn't Believe Me" was a late arrival—or interpolation—into the musical "The Girl from Utah." Its appearance marked a turning point in American theater music and popular song. Its melody has been described as "natural as walking," free from the formal-sounding, stilted phrases and form that typified most show music of the period. The song quickly became an enormous hit and greatly accelerated Kern's career. This recording by Macdonough and Green (nee Olive Kline) is the first known recording of the song and represents well its forward-looking informality. Although the song" is in standard eight-measure phrases, the melody and words (by Herbert Reynolds) fall into delightful anacrusis, and the singers create a relaxed, free-flowing effect. Selected for the 2013 registry.

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"Il mio tesoro" from "Don Giovanni." John McCormack; orchestra conducted by Walter Rogers. (1916)

Tenor John McCormack's recording of "Il mio tesoro" from "Don Giovanni" is considered a model of Mozart performance. His rich voice, seamless phrasing and superb technical skill contribute to making this reading the standard by which other performances of this aria have been measured. Selected for the 2006 registry.

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The Bubble Book (the first Bubble Book). (1917)

The Bubble Books, published by Harper Columbia between 1917 and 1922, were the first series of books and records published together especially for children. Authors were Ralph Mayhew and Burges Johnson, while Rhoda Chase provided the beautiful, full-color line drawings. Each book contained three 5 1/2-inch discs to accompany the three nursery rhymes printed in the books. The singer is not listed on the discs but is thought to be Henry Burr. Millions of the books were sold to delighted children in the U.S. and abroad. Selected for the 2003 registry.

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"Listen to the Lambs." The Hampton Quartette. (1917)

Representative of the Hampton Quartet Collection at Hampton University. Natalie Burlin, a pioneer in the study of American minority cultures, was one of the leading collectors and transcribers of indigenous music of Africa and the United States. Beginning around 1903, she worked to document and preserve Native American culture and, in 1910, extended her work to studies of African-American and African culture. Burlin published four volumes of transcriptions taken from performances by students at Virginia's Hampton Normal and Agricultural Institute in 1918-1919. Recordings by the Hampton Quartette made on wax cylinders during the 1880s, including this recording of "Listen to the Lambs," were probably the basis of some of her published transcriptions. Selected for the 2005 registry.

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"Nikolina" (single). Hjalmar Peterson. (1917)

In "Nikolina," a young Swedish man tells of his comical difficulties with the father of the girl he is courting. The song was brought to America by Hjalmar Peterson (1886-1960), who settled in Minnesota and became a hugely popular entertainer among Swedish-Americans. He recorded "Nikolina" three times in the 'teens and 20s, in the process, selling more than 100,000 copies. In 1936, Ted Johnson, a former member of Peterson's troupe, re-recorded it with traditional instruments and it became a hit again, the first of many successful revivals. Selected for the 2020 registry.

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"Over There." Nora Bayes. (1917)

Inextricably associated in popular imagination with World War I, Nora Bayes' recording introduced George M. Cohan's song and became an international hit. Cohan had specifically requested that Bayes be the first singer to record his composition. A former member of the Ziegfeld Follies and an extremely popular vaudevillian and a Broadway star, she recorded a number of other songs to boost morale during the war and performed extensively for the troops. Selected for the 2005 registry.

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Acoustic Recordings for Victor Records. Jascha Heifetz. (1917-1924)

Sixteen-year-old Jascha Heifetz made his debut at Carnegie Hall in October 1917. He was immediately hailed as one of the greatest violinists of the time, praised for his immaculate technique and exceptional tonal beauty. Soon after his debut, Heifetz started recording for the Victor Talking Machine Company. He would maintain a relationship with Victor, and later RCA Victor, over the course of his career. These acoustic recordings, made between 1917 and 1924, were mostly light recital pieces with piano accompaniment. The Victor Records brochure promoting his first four recordings touted "his phenomenal technique, complete mastery of bow and control of finger" and proclaimed his performances "as Mozart might have played." Selected for the 2008 registry.

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"After You've Gone." Marion Harris. (1918)

In one of the first recorded versions of this American standard, cabaret star Marion Harris, in a profound departure from then-current singing styles, sang in a relaxed, loose-limbed, near swinging style. Her performance matched perfectly the lyric of this unsentimental love song by Turner Layton and Harry Creamer, and also its sleek, blues-inflected melody and harmony. Layton and Creamer were part of a small group of African American songwriters to write for Broadway revues during the 1910s. This recording of "After You've Gone" led the transition in American popular singing from a full-throated, relatively stilted style, to a manner more relaxed, subtle and evocative. Selected for the 2012 registry.

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"Tiger Rag." The Original Dixieland Jazz Band. (1918)

The Original Dixieland Jazz Band was the first jazz band to make a commercial recording. This all-white New Orleans-style group from Chicago featured cornetist Nick LaRocca. While not the best ensemble of its day, the first recordings of the Original Dixieland Jazz Band initiated a craze for a new art form--jazz. Selected for the 2002 registry.

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"Crazy Blues." Mamie Smith. (1920)

With her recording of "Crazy Blues," Mamie Smith became the first black vocalist to make a commercial vaudeville blues record. The recording was a surprise hit, reputedly selling more than 250,000 copies. It revealed to record companies a previously neglected market for records--African-Americans. Subsequently, thousands of recordings were made of black jazz and blues artists, invigorating the record business and enabling the documentation and preservation of one of the richest eras of musical creativity in the United States. Selected for the 2005 registry.

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"Swanee." Al Jolson. (1920)

George Gershwin and Irving Caesar's song "Swanee" was interpolated into the show "Sinbad" for Al Jolson. The song became Gershwin's first hit and remained associated with Jolson throughout his career. This recording captures the energy of Gershwin's work and Jolson's unique ability to "put over" a song with exuberance. Selected for the 2004 registry.

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"Whispering" (single). Paul Whiteman and his Orchestra. (1920)

Paul Whiteman's blockbuster hit "Whispering" was the first in a long series of popular recordings that sharply defined a new style and direction in instrumental dance music one — that would have long-lasting effects. Although rather quaint to modern ears, "Whispering" was at the pinnacle of up-to-date dance music and directly led to the Big Band Era. Among its attributes were bold, clean lines with the melody clearly in front. Gone was the old fashioned-ness of the lead being handed off to different voices mid-chorus. Also, harmonic and rhythmic support was pared down to a sleek, tasteful profile, one that encouraged the smart-looking updated fox-trot of 1920. With his pianist-arranger, Ferde Grofe, and ace trumpet man Henry Busse, Whiteman would both codify a type of jazz and be popularly considered its king. Selected for the 2019 registry.

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Guy B. Johnson cylinder recordings of African-American music. (1920s)

These cylinders comprise some of the earliest field recordings of African-American music. They were recorded on St. Helena Island, South Carolina, in the 1920s. They are held primarily at the Southern Folklife Collection of the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, with smaller numbers in the collections of the Library of Congress Archive of Folk Culture and the Indiana University Archives of Traditional Music. Selected for the 2003 registry.

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"Cross of Gold." Speech by William Jennings Bryan. (1921)

William Jennings Bryan's "Cross of Gold" speech is one of the best-known political addresses in American history. The speech was originally delivered at the 1896 Democratic convention. In it, the "Great Commoner," as the populist candidate was called, advocated the replacement of the gold standard by silver. The speech is said to have won Bryan the Democratic nomination for President. Bryan recorded excerpts of the speech for Gennett Records twenty-five years after the 1896 convention. Selected for the 2003 registry.

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“Harlem Strut” (single). James P. Johnson. (1921)

James P. Johnson (1894-1955), a native of New Brunswick, New Jersey, was one of the creators of the jazz piano style known as “Harlem Stride,” which fused elements of ragtime with an active left hand that provided a bass characterized by wide leaps, or “strides.” “Harlem Strut,” a multi-strain work and a Johnson original, was his first recorded selection, although he did cut piano rolls prior. This recording, along with Eubie Blake’s “Sounds of Africa,” lays claim to being the first recordings of Harlem Stride piano. Today, James P. Johnson is best remembered as the composer of “The Charleston,” and as the mentor of pianist and composer Thomas “Fats” Waller. Selected for the 2022 registry.

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"My Man" and "Second Hand Rose." Fanny Brice. (1921)

Performed by Fanny Brice in the "Ziegfeld Follies of 1921," "My Man" and "Second Hand Rose" were recorded by her for Victor Records the same year and issued together on a double-faced 78-rpm disc. Known for her comedic songs in Yiddish and other dialects, Brice was in the midst of marital woes when she recorded "My Man." Audiences, connecting strongly with her passionate performance, concluded she was singing about herself. "Second Hand Rose" was a follow-up to a previous hit song, "Rose of Washington Square," and was a rare instance of the sequel exceding its predecessor. Selected for the 2005 registry.

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"Arkansaw Traveler" and "Sallie Gooden." Eck Robertson. (1922)

Eck Robertson, master old-time fiddler, is recognized as the first performer to make country music recordings. This Victor disc features Robertson as a soloist on "Sallie Gooden" and, in a duet with fiddler Henry Gilliland, performing "Arkansaw Traveler" on the flip side. Selected for the 2002 registry.

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"The Boys of the Lough/The Humours of Ennistymon" (single). Michael Coleman (1922)

Irish fiddler Michael Coleman (1891-1945) left his native county of Sligo for New York City in 1914, never to return home. Though there was a large Irish and Irish-American audience there, a somewhat homogenized version of Irish music incorporating various influences had taken hold, and even a rural, traditional fiddler of Coleman's singular caliber must have seemed well behind the times. Nevertheless, Coleman achieved unprecedented commercial success and a long-lasting impact on both sides of the Atlantic. He remains a vital figure in Irish music to this day. His brisk, highly ornamented playing set new standards and brought traditional music a level of respect it had never had even in Ireland. This coupling of two older tunes that he made distinctively his own was not his first commercial disc, but proved to be his breakthrough. Selected for the 2014 registry.

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"OKeh Laughing Record." (1922)

This odd OKeh record label recording of a bad cornet solo interspersed by a laughing woman and man was one of the most popular discs of the 1920s. The laughing was infectious to listeners, so much so that the disc was re-recorded several times and inspired imitations by other record companies. Selected for the 2003 registry.

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"Ory's Creole Trombone." Kid Ory. (June 1922)

This ensemble of trombonist Kid Ory, originally called "Spikes' Seven Pods of Pepper," was the first recording ever issued of a black jazz band from New Orleans. It was recorded by Andrae Nordskog for his Santa Monica, California-based Nordskog record label. Later under confusing circumstances, the record was issued on the Sunshine label belonging to Los Angeles music promoters the Spikes Brothers. Selected for the 2005 registry.

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“St. Louis Blues” (single). Handy’s Memphis Blues Band. (1922)

Even during his lifetime, W.C. Handy was often called the “Father of the Blues.” And while he might not be responsible for an entire genre of music, there is little question that it was largely Handy’s creative output that ennobled the blues to cross America’s race and cultural lines. One of the songs he did it with was “St. Louis Blues,” which Handy both wrote and played. It was one of the first blues songs to enjoy success as a pop song. Later, the tune would be incorporated into the repertoire of numerous other legends including Bessie Smith, Bing Crosby, Glenn Miller, Count Basie and Benny Goodman. Meanwhile, Handy, beyond his own composition and performing prowess, created detailed, written exegeses of blues music (including his own compositions) which have long served to educate others about the artistry of blues and aid in their appreciation for this American artform. Selected for the 2023 registry.

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"Down Hearted Blues." Bessie Smith. (1923)

"Down Hearted Blues" is the best-selling and most enduring first release by the "Empress of the Blues." Bessie Smith first recorded in 1923, launching a blues career that would have no parallel during the classic blues era. She recorded more than 150 songs over her 14-year recording career. Selected for the 2002 registry.

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"Lift Every Voice and Sing." Manhattan Harmony Four. (1923); Melba Moore and Friends. (1990)

With text written by James Weldon Johnson in 1900 and set to music by his brother John Rosamond Johnson, the hymn "Lift Every Voice and Sing" has served as the "Black National Anthem" since its adoption by the NAACP in 1919. As with "The Star-Spangled Banner," no single recording captures the hymn's essence or its overall meaning to Americans. Therefore, the registry recognizes two recordings: the 1923 version by the Manhattan Harmony Four, one of the last discs issued by the short-lived Black Swan Company—a pioneering African-American-owned record label based in Harlem—and a modernized 1990 version headed by Melba Moore. Moore sought to restore the standing of the song among young African-Americans. Among the many participants in her latter, all-star recording were Stevie Wonder, Anita Baker, Dionne Warwick and Bobby Brown. The resulting single, which benefited charity, made headlines at the time and helped to raise public awareness of the Johnsons' anthem. Selected for the 2016 registry.

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"Wild Cat Blues." Clarence Williams' Blue Five. (1923)

Clarence Williams' "Wild Cat Blues" is among the earliest jazz recordings to have a widespread influence on other musicians. Pianist, composer, vocalist and entrepreneur Clarence Williams led hundreds of recording sessions during the 1920s, featuring some of New York's finest black talent. He was a primary figure in Okeh Records's "race series," the first label to target the African-American audience. "Wild Cat Blues," composed by "Fats" Waller, was one of the first jazz recordings to feature a virtuoso instrumentalist, in this case Sidney Bechet, who demonstrates an instrumental command combined with a compelling jazz feel on his saxophone. Selected for the 2015 registry.

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"See See Rider Blues." Gertrude "Ma" Rainey. (1924)

"Ma" Rainey, called by some "the Mother of the Blues," was a pioneering blues artist whose career began in tent shows and vaudeville. She is credited with influencing many blues singers, most notably Bessie Smith. Although others recorded blues songs before Rainey and had begun to refine the genre, her recordings retain the powerful directness and poignancy that made her famous. Rainey made numerous recordings for the Paramount label; this recording is from a session she recorded with Louis Armstrong and Fletcher Henderson. Selected for the 2004 registry.

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"Canal Street Blues." King Oliver's Creole Jazz Band. (April 5, 1923)

This recording of April 5, 1923, is the second title recorded by Oliver's ensemble. Of the group, "Early Jazz" author Gunther Schuller wrote, "The glory of the Creole Jazz Band is that it sums up…all that went into the New Orleans way of making music: its joy, its warmth of expression, its Old World pre-war charm, its polyphonic complexity, its easy relaxed swing...." Oliver's 1923 band included Oliver on first trumpet; Louis Armstrong, second trumpet; Johnny Dodds, clarinet; Honore Dutrey, trombone; and Baby Dodds, drums; and others. Selected for the 2009 registry.

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Armistice Day broadcast. Woodrow Wilson. (November 10, 1923)

This recording of former President Woodrow Wilson made by phonograph technician Frank L. Capps is the earliest surviving sound recording of a regular radio broadcast. It is also believed to be the earliest known example of a recording made by electrical, rather than acoustic, means. Selected for the 2004 registry.

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"Rhapsody in Blue." George Gershwin, piano; Paul Whiteman Orchestra. (1924)

The first recording made of this classic American composition featured the composer at the piano and Paul Whiteman conducting. The recording was made several months after the 1924 Aeolian Hall premiere of the work. Selected for the 2002 registry.

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National Defense Test (USA). (September 12, 1924)

In the 1920s, before national radio networks existed, a group of radio stations from across the country cooperated in a test to determine how radio stations might respond in a national emergency. This is the recording of that experiment. It is notable as one of only a handful of extant recorded radio broadcasts from this era. Furthermore, it is technologically significant as an experiment of real-time switching between stations in 14 different cities. Featured on the recording are conversations between General John J. Pershing and other generals stationed throughout the country. Selected for the 2006 registry.

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"Adeste Fideles." The Associated Glee Clubs of America. (1925)

In 1925, Columbia Records chose to promote its new electrical recording process by recording a chorus of several thousand voices at the Metropolitan Opera House in New York City. Fifteen glee clubs participated in the March 31, 1925 concert. In the finale, concert performers and audience combined forces to record "Adeste Fideles." By recording electrically with a microphone rather than an acoustic recording horn, the sound produced was indeed more faithful to the actual performance, and louder, than any recording made by the other older method. Selected for the 2003 registry.

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"Charleston." The Golden Gate Orchestra. (1925)

The musicians on this Edison disc recording included such notable musicians as Red Nichols, Tommy Dorsey, Jimmy Dorsey, and Adrian Rollini. This selection represents the Edison Disc Record Master Mold Collection at the Edison National Historic Site in West Orange, New Jersey. The Edison Phonograph Works used these metal molds to mass-produce disc records from 1910 to 1929 and, as such, are the generation closest to original wax masters. They are the best-sounding sources for Edison disc recordings, as well as the most archivally stable. Selected for the 2004 registry.

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Inauguration of Calvin Coolidge. (March 4, 1925)

Calvin Coolidge's inauguration in 1925 was the first presidential inauguration to be broadcast. Using the latest technology, RCA and Bell Telephone aired the ceremonies over a makeshift network of radio stations. "The New York Times" estimated that more than 25 million Americans would be able to hear the President's address, thus making it a national event in a manner not previously possible. Twenty-one radio stations, linked in a circuit throughout the country, broadcast the president's 47-minute inaugural address from the steps of the U.S. Capitol. Selected for the 2005 registry.

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“Sugar Foot Stomp.” Fletcher Henderson. (1925)

“Sugar Foot Stomp” was a milestone recording that incorporated jazz into a dance band setting. Henderson was one of the most successful African American bandleaders of his time. From its inception in 1921, his band played rather polite dance music, laced with a well-intended yet ponderous style of jazz, typically found in New York during the early 1920s. This changed suddenly upon the October 1924 arrival of New Orleans cornetist Louis Armstrong into the Henderson ensemble. Based on Armstrong’s collaboration with Joe Oliver’s “Dipper Mouth Blues,” “Sugar Foot Stomp” — in a smart, forward-looking arrangement by Don Redman — becomes streamlined and timelessly hip. Its most salient feature was the 36-bar solo by Armstrong, based on Oliver’s own “Dipper Mouth Blues” solo.  Selected for the 2023 registry.

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The first transatlantic radio broadcast. (March 14, 1925)

Representing a technological breakthrough, this early orchestral broadcast originated in London, traveled by land line to station 5XX in Chelmsford, England crossed the Atlantic where it was picked up by an RCA transmitter in Maine, and then relayed to stations WJZ in New York and WRC in Washington, D.C. Although the fidelity is low, the recording is significant as documentation of a technical achievement and is a rare instance of an extant example of a complete radio broadcast of the 1920s. Selected for the 2007 registry.

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Hot Five and Hot Seven recordings. Louis Armstrong. (1925-1928)

Louis Armstrong was jazz's first great soloist and is among American music's most important and influential figures. These sessions, his solos in particular, set a standard musicians still strive to equal in their beauty and innovation. Selected for the 2002 registry.

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"Black Bottom Stomp." Jelly Roll Morton's Red Hot Peppers. (1926)

"Black Bottom Stomp" is a masterly example of Ferdinand "Jelly Roll" Morton's creative talents as a composer, arranger and pianist. Moreover, it is an authentic representation of the New Orleans jazz tradition, which relied strongly on an ensemble polyphony where the frontline instruments of trumpet, clarinet and trombone played simultaneous but complementary themes. "Black Bottom Stomp" has more than one theme, or "strain," a carryover from ragtime. Arranged with harmonized passages, breaks and solos, and a changing balance between the instrumentalists, Morton fashioned a unique, continuous whole. Selected for the 2006 registry.

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"Fascinating Rhythm." Fred and Adele Astaire; George Gershwin, piano. (1926)

"Lady, Be Good," George and Ira Gershwin's debut Broadway score, produced such standards as "Fascinating Rhythm" and "Oh, Lady Be Good!" The show starred siblings Fred and Adele Astaire. Several songs from the score were recorded in 1926 when the musical was touring in London. The recordings offer an opportunity to appreciate the innocent appeal of Adele, who retired from show business in 1932, and the piano accompaniments of composer George Gershwin. Selected for the 2004 registry.

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"Tanec Pid Werbamy/Dance Under the Willows." Pawlo Humeniuk. (1926)

Pawlo Humeniuk was a renowned violin player in Ukrainian communities before beginning his recording career with Columbia, for which he made this dance number. After learning the violin in western Ukraine at the age of 6, he enjoyed a busy career playing concerts, dances and vaudeville theaters. This song is an excellent example of the ethnic releases that record labels began to produce in the 1920s for sale to immigrant communities in the United States. Selected for the 2005 registry.

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"Black Snake Moan" / "Match Box Blues." Blind Lemon Jefferson (1927)

By the time of this recording in 1928, Blind Lemon Jefferson, an African-American street singer from a small country town outside of Dallas, Texas, had reshaped and expanded the blues genre on record. With only his guitar for accompaniment, and a high wailing tenor of a voice, Jefferson recorded a series of powerfully individualistic performances on record from 1925 to 1929, the year of his death. Though he used what were already traditional frameworks for many of his songs, Jefferson personalized them with the interplay between his voice and guitar, extending vocal phrases with long intricate lines of notes, adding or omitting measures in the song as it suited him. This 1928 coupling issued by the Okeh label, and holds two of Jefferson's best performances—"Matchbox Blues," later recorded by Carl Perkins, the Beatles, and many others, and the eerie, lascivious "Black Snake Moan." Selected for the 2014 registry.

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"Blue Yodel (T for Texas)." Jimmie Rodgers. (1927)

The "blue yodels" of Jimmie Rodgers, the "Father of Country Music," helped to define country music. Rodgers' compositions and recorded performances combined black and white musical forms and popularized American rural music traditions. Selected for the 2004 registry.

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"Dark Was the Night, Cold Was the Ground." Blind Willie Johnson. (1927)

Blind Willie Johnson (1897-1945), a blind African-American guitar-evangelist from Beaumont, Texas, recorded 30 titles between 1927 and 1930. Although most of them were classics, none were quite like "Dark Was the Night, Cold Was the Ground." To create this singular work, Johnson drew on an 18th-century hymn of English origin known as "Gethsemane," which begins with the lines "Dark was the night, cold was the ground/On which my Lord was laid." Instead of singing the lyrics, however, he evoked the sorrowful intensity of the hymn's subject matter by humming and moaning wordlessly in the manner of a church congregation, reinforcing and ornamenting his voice with sliding notes on his guitar. Johnson has distilled the essence of the text and the tradition into an unforgettably intense evocation of Christ on the eve of the Crucifixion as relived in the music of the churches he knew in his youth. Selected for the 2010 registry.

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"Singin' the Blues." Frankie Trumbauer and His Orchestra with Bix Beiderbecke. (1927)

Saxophonist Frankie Trumbauer and cornetist Bix Beiderbecke created some of the most significant jazz recordings of the 1920s, works still noted for their beauty and influence on fellow musicians. Trumbauer and Beiderbecke later worked together in the orchestras of Jean Goldkette, Adrian Rollini and Paul Whiteman. Together with guitarist Eddie Lang and other members of the ensemble, Trumbauer and Beiderbecke recorded "Singin' the Blues," which contains one of Beiderbecke's greatest solos. Selected for the 2005 registry.

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"Stardust." Hoagy Carmichael. (1927)

"Stardust" was songwriter Hoagy Carmichael's first great success. It was performed at a rapid tempo when it was first recorded in 1927 by Hoagy Carmichael on piano and His Pals. In later, slower interpretations, "Stardust" became one of the most recorded ballads in jazz and popular repertories. Lyrics were added to the song in 1931. Selected for the 2004 registry.

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Victor Talking Machine Company sessions in Bristol, Tennessee. The Carter Family, Jimmie Rodgers, Ernest Stoneman, and others. (1927)

Victor Records, searching for performers of "hillbilly" music, recorded performances by 19 local musicians in Bristol, Tennessee, in 1927. The amazing display of talent yielded such future country music recording stars as the Carter Family, Jimmie Rodgers, and Ernest Stoneman. The sessions are considered a watershed moment in the history of country music. Selected for the 2002 registry.

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"El Manisero" ("The Peanut Vendor") (Rita Montaner, vocal with orchestra); "El Manisero" (Don Azpiazu and His Havana Casino Orchestra). (1927; 1930)

Popular Cuban singer and radio artist Rita Montaner recorded the first version of the traditional song "El Manisero" in Havana in 1927. The Don Azpiazu and His Havana Casino Orchestra version of "El Manisero," adapted from Montaner's recording, was made in New York City three years later. It is the first American recording of an authentic Latin dance style composition. This later recording launched a decade of "rumbamania," introducing U.S. listeners to Cuban percussion instruments and Cuban rhythms. Selected for the 2005 registry.

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"Protesta per Sacco e Vanzetti," Compagnia Columbia; "Sacco e Vanzetti," Raoul Romito. (1927)

"Compagnia Columba" were a group of actors who recorded this and other scenes for the Columbia label, including sketches about the death of Rudolph Valentino and the Lateran Treaty that recognized Vatican City as an independent state. This 1927 release combines a spoken, dramatic set piece on it's A side with a protest song on the B side. Both sides decry the impending execution of Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti, two Italian American immigrants convicted of murder in 1920 but believed by many to have been railroaded because of their anarchist political beliefs. "Protesta per Sacco e Vanzetti" presents a scene at a rally for the two men, with actors, representing different regions of Italy, speaking on their behalf as well as others wrongly accused: "Friends, you already know what has brought us together here, and I am happy to see in this solemn moment a crowd made up not just of Italians but of people of all nationalities: Italians, Americans, Jews, English, Japanese. At this fatal hour we have come together to form a single race: the human race! With no differences based on age, on class, or on party." The scene was written by Frank Amodio, who specialized in dramatic and comedic sketches aimed at Italian-Americans. Side B features Raoul Romito, a popular Neapolitan tenor residing in the U.S., performing a song written by Renzo Vampo and F. Penisero, of whom little is known, though they wrote at least one other song also in defence of Sacco and Vanzetti. Selected for the 2019 registry.

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First official transatlantic telephone conversation. (January 7, 1927)

Upon the opening of the transatlantic telephone circuit for commercial service, W.S. Gifford, president of the American Telephone & Telegraph Co., called Sir Evelyn P. Murray, secretary of the General Post Office of Great Britain, offering felicitations. Selected for the 2005 registry.

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Charles A. Lindbergh's arrival and reception in Washington, D.C., NBC radio broadcast coverage. (June 11, 1927)

NBC radio's June 11, 1927 coverage of the arrival of Charles A. Lindbergh in Washington D.C. was a landmark technical as well as journalistic achievement for the fledgling network. Radio reporters were stationed at the three locations in Washington to provide successive, live descriptions of the pilot's arrival: the Washington Navy Yard; the procession along Pennsylvania Avenue; and his reception at the foot of the Washington Monument by President Calvin Coolidge. Selected for the 2004 registry.

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"Allons à Lafayette." Joseph Falcon. (1928)

"Allons à Lafayette," a lively two-step, was the first commercial recording of traditional Cajun music. Accordionist Joe Falcon and guitarist Cleoma Breaux, his future wife, recorded this song for Columbia Records in a New Orleans field session on April 17, 1928. Falcon began playing the accordion as a child and soon became a well-known and sought-after dance hall musician, performing throughout Louisiana and other states. His recording career ended soon after Cleoma's death, but he continued to play and perform live with his second wife, Theresa, until his death in 1965. Selected for the 2007 registry.

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"Smyrneikos Balos" (single). Marika Papagika. (1928)

Born on the Greek island of Kos in 1890, singer Marika Papagika immigrated to New York City in 1915 with her musician husband Gus. She began recording in 1918, and quickly became one of the most popular singers in the Greek-American community, eventually recording well over 200 sides, often accompanied by her husband on the cimbalom. "Smyrneikos Balos," a lament for lost love that is also a couples' dance, was one of her most popular songs and she recorded it three times. Selected for the 2020 registry.

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Standing Rock Preservation Recordings. George Herzog and Members of the Yanktoni Tribe. (1928)

The voices of several of the Sioux's Yanktoni-Dakota band, recorded at the Standing Rock Reservation in 1928, preserve a snapshot of a culture in a moment of great transition. Comprised of nearly 200 fragile wax cylinders, George Herzog's work documented both old songs, remembered from before the band was relocated to Standing Rock, and modern songs that try to harmonize that past with the life they have found in their new home. Today, Herzog's scholarship complements and contextualizes these field recordings and contributes to their value as a resource. This collection tells the extraordinary story of collaboration and indigenous scholarship, archiving and advocacy. Selected for the 2017 registry.

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"Statesboro Blues." Blind Willie McTell. (1928)

This haunting blues recording exhibits an unforgettable intensity. McTell's unusual voice is compelling, bearing a confidential quality, as though he is telling a secret. He is a captivating storyteller. McTell's voice is accompanied brilliantly by his 12-string guitar as the latter darts and dodges among the vocal phrases, creating many layers of rhythm. The guitar is also somewhat out-of-tune which combines with a reverberant room to lend the record an eerie effect. McTell is also very free with meter, in the manner of old-time country performers, adding and subtracting the standard number of measures. His performance never appears self-conscious, but rather, flows like a river. His confidence and quiet bravado make this a performance for the ages. Selected for the 2015 registry.

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"Wildwood Flower." The Carter Family. (1928)

The legendary Carter Family's most famous recording, "Wildwood Flower," showcases Mother Maybelle Carter's legendary "Carter Scratch," her trademark guitar technique in which she plays melody on the bass strings with her thumb while strumming the rhythm on the treble strings. The Carter Family's close harmony singing, unique picking style and popularization of folk tunes, as well as other song genres, formed the foundation of modern country music and continues to significantly influence musicians today. Selected for the 2006 registry.

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"Casta Diva" from Bellini's "Norma." Rosa Ponselle; accompanied by the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra and Chorus, conducted by Giulio Setti. (December 31, 1928 and January 30, 1929.)

The gifted American soprano Rosa Ponselle was known for her brilliant portrayal of Norma, Bellini's Druid priestess who sacrifices herself on the funeral pyre of her Roman lover. A native of Connecticut, Ponselle made her Metropolitan Opera debut at the age of 21, playing Leonora opposite Enrico Caruso in "La Forza del Destino." Previously, she and her sister Carmela appeared in vaudeville and in New York film theaters. The range, warmth and beauty of Ponselle's art represented vocal perfection to many listeners and earned her a long and successful operatic and recording career. Selected for the 2007 registry.

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"Ain't Misbehavin'." Thomas "Fats" Waller. (1929)

"Fats" Waller's solo piano recording of his now-classic composition "Ain't Misbehavin'" preserves the composer's inventive talents as one of jazz's greatest pianists. In this recording Waller took the "stride" piano tradition to a new level of musical expression. Selected for the 2004 registry.

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Cajun-Creole Columbia releases. Amédé Ardoin and Dennis McGee. (1929)

Amédé Ardoin was an African-American accordionist whose passionate singing and syncopated playing left an influential legacy to both Cajun and Zydeco music. He first recorded in 1929 with fellow sharecropper Dennis McGee, a Cajun violinist. The popularity of their music, exhibiting a fine synthesis of Cajun and Creole styles, transcended racial barriers. Selected for the 2003 registry.

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"Gregorio Cortez." Trovadores Regionales. (1929)

This vocal duet with guitar, by Pedro Rocha and Lupe Martinez, is an outstanding example of the "corridos" style of ballad. Reflecting the cultural conflicts between Mexican-Americans and Anglo-Americans in the American Southwest, it describes the heroics of a vaquero falsely accused of murder. The Vocalion label recording of "Gregorio Cortez" is representative of the significant recordings being preserved in the Arhoolie Foundation's Strachwitz Frontera Collection of commercially-produced Mexican and Mexican-American recordings at the University of California, Los Angeles. Selected for the 2004 registry.

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Piano Concerto No. 2 in C Minor. Sergei Rachmaninoff, piano; Leopold Stokowski, conductor; Philadelphia Orchestra. (1929)

Sergei Rachmaninoff's piano performances of his own compositions are considered by many to be unparalleled. Rachmaninoff first recorded the complete 2nd piano concerto in 1929. Two of its three movements were released on acoustically recorded discs in 1924. Selected for the 2004 registry.

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"Pony Blues." Charley Patton. (1929)

This is the signature recording of Charley Patton, one of the first and finest blues musicians to ever come out of the Mississippi Delta region. "Pony Blues" showcases Patton's characteristic trademarks: powerful vocals, heavily accented guitar rhythms and unusual vocal phrasing. Patton was an enormous influence on his contemporaries and future blues performers, notably Howlin' Wolf, Bukka White and Big Joe Williams. Selected for the 2006 registry.

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"Puttin' on the Ritz." Harry Richman. (1929)

Irving Berlin's timeless "Puttin' on the Ritz" has been an enduring hit since its introduction in the film of the same title. This is remarkable given the rhythmic complexities of the first four measures. Musicologist and author Alec Wilder wrote in "American Popular Song," "It is the most complex and provocative I have ever come upon." The song was introduced in the film by Harry Richman (1895-1972), a song-and-dance man and star of radio, movies and nightclubs. Although Richman is little remembered today, his top-hatted presence, with cane and tails, set the tone and stage for this swanky tune. His enduring features—a slight lisp and a tendency to over-pronounce the syllable "oo"—have been parodied in animated cartoons and by musician/comedian Spike Jones. On this recording, Richman is accompanied by Earl Burtnett and his Los Angeles Hotel Biltmore Orchestra, who supply sophisticated accompaniment. Since its debut, the song has become a favorite on television and in movies, most memorably in Mel Brooks' "Young Frankenstein." International artist Taco also turned it into a Top 10 "Billboard" hit for the MTV generation. Selected for the 2016 registry.

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"Light's Golden Jubilee." (October 21, 1929)

Celebrating the 50th anniversary of the invention of incandescent light, inventor Thomas Edison was honored at a dinner held on October 21, 1929. Portions of the celebration were broadcast over the NBC radio network. Hosted by announcer Graham McNamee, the radio program included speeches by President Herbert Hoover, Marie Curie, Henry Ford and, speaking over shortwave from Berlin, Albert Einstein. Messages from the Prince of Wales, President Von Hindenberg and Commander Richard Byrd from the South Pole were also read during the broadcast. Selected for the 2005 registry.

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Melville Jacobs Collection of Native Americans of the American Northwest. (1929-1939)

Melville Jacobs (1902-1971) was an anthropologist and linguist whose research and field recordings have made a crucial contribution to the preservation of Native American languages of the Northwestern United States including Athabascan, Chinook, Coos, Kalapuya, Lummi, Lushootseed, Sahaptin, Tillamook, Tlingit and Tsimshian. In all, Jacobs made nearly 170 recordings (on both cylinder and disc), in 23 separate languages, documenting some of the final speakers of many of these dialects. But since their creation, Jacobs's recordings and documentation have not languished in the archives as examples of forgotten traditions. Various tribes have taken a keen interest in this documentation of the language, stories, music and culture, and, in the case of the Miluk language, they have even been utilized in classes attempting to revive this vanishing native tongue. Selected for the 2018 registry.

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Beethoven's Egmont Overture, Op. 84. Modesto High School Band. (1930)

This 1930 recording of the Modesto, California High School Band is the only known recording made by a high school band participating in the National High School Band contests held between 1926 and 1934. Under the direction of Frank Mancini, Modesto High School placed third in the 1927 and 1928 contests and second in 1929. An important educator and conductor who directed band programs in California area schools, Mancini was a former member of the bands of John Philip Sousa and Patrick Conway. Limited edition high school band recordings were once common, produced as fundraising tools for school bands and treasured as souvenirs by band members. However, few high school bands were recorded before the advent of tape recording and long-playing discs in the late 1940s. Selected for the 2005 registry.

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"Lamento Borincano" (single). Canario y Su Grupo. (1930)

"Lamento Borincano" was written about the plight of the Puerto Rican farmer during the Great Depression. It is well known in Puerto Rico and throughout Latin America to this day and has been recorded dozens of times, including versions by contemporary singers such as Marc Anthony and Placido Domingo. The song's success launched the careers of three major Puerto Rican artists: songwriter Rafael Hernández, bandleader "Canario" (Manuel Jiménez) and singer "Davilita" (Pedro Ortiz Dávila), who was just 18 when he recorded the song. The term "Borincano" derives from the indigenous name for Puerto Rico—Borinquen. The song tells of a proud mountain farmer who rides into the cities of Puerto Rico to sell his wares, but finds them empty and abandoned and returns home wondering "what will become of Borinquen … what will become of my children and my home?" Selected for the 2017 registry.

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"Sitting on Top of the World" (single). Mississippi Sheiks. (1930)

Guitarist Lonnie Chatmon and violinist Walter Vinson styled themselves as the "Mississippi Sheiks" when they were recorded by an OKeh Records field recording team in Shreveport, Louisiana, in February 1930. At the time, the word "sheik" was slang for a suave lover, inspired by Rudolph Valentino's success in the films "The Sheik" and "Son of the Sheik." They had recorded before with other players, and the name might not have stuck but for the success of a song from the session entitled "Sitting on Top of the World." Though the guitar and violin pairing was not unique in blues at the time, the song was structured differently than most other commercial blues records, and the melody, as well as the ironic, defiant refrain of the title, stayed with listeners from the first hearing. The song, composed by Vinson, quickly became part of the Southern and Southwestern musical vernacular, with distinctive versions recorded by black and white artists, including Charlie Patton, Bob Wills and the Texas Playboys, Bill Monroe, Ray Charles, Howlin' Wolf and many others. Selected for the 2017 registry.

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"Night Life." Mary Lou Williams. (1930)

When a record producer asked for an impromptu solo piano performance, 20-year-old Mary Lou Williams created an original three-minute collage of stride, ragtime, blues and pop styles that summarized the art of jazz piano up to that time while pointing to the future of that genre and her own career in it. At the time, she was a pianist, composer and arranger for Andy Kirk and His Twelve Clouds of Joy, one of the great jazz bands of the Midwest. She later said that thoughts about the nightlife of Kansas City had driven this composition. Selected for the 2008 registry.

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"Ten Cents a Dance." Ruth Etting. (1930)

Singer Ruth Etting was one of the first great singers of the electrical era of recording, the period after the mid-1920's when the microphone replaced the acoustic recording horn. As with the best of the male crooners of the period, Etting's vocal delivery was artfully understated and personal. In the words of popular music writers Phil Hardy and Dave Laing, Etting, "[b]y turns peppy, fragile, and gallant...evinced the contradictory spirits of America in the Depression: sometimes beaten down, sometimes bearing up, whenever possible blithe." All these characteristics are evident in her recording of Rodgers and Hart's "Ten Cents a Dance," recorded only two weeks after Etting introduced the song on stage in the musical "Simple Simon." Selected for the 2011 registry.

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"The Suncook Town Tragedy." Mabel Wilson Tatro of Springfield, Vermont. (July 1930)

This ballad about a New Hampshire tragedy is one of the earliest recordings recorded by Helen Hartness Flanders. She recorded many similar vernacular story-songs in her extensive documentation of the vernacular music of Vermont. Copies of the recording are held by Middlebury College and the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress. Selected for the 2004 registry.

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Highlander Center Field Recording Collection. Zilphia Horton, others. (1930s-1980s)

The Highlander Center has played an important role in many political movements. These discs document Zilphia Horton, who introduced "We Will Overcome" to the Southern Labor Movement, and later, to Pete Seeger. The Collection also includes recordings of activists Myles Horton, Rosa Parks, Esau Jenkins, and Septima Clark. Selected for the 2002 registry.

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And More (PDF, 186KB)
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"It's the Girl." The Boswell Sisters with the Dorsey Brothers Orchestra. (1931)

The Boswell Sisters—Connie, Martha and Vet—produced vocal harmonies that were magical. While polished, their creamy blend revealed their New Orleans roots with its relentless swing and deep feeling for the blues. "It's the Girl," a popular song of 1931, is given a classic Boswell treatment: rhythmic variations on the original song, perfect diction projected with relaxed ease and a fast tempo—with sudden tempo and mood changes—and a sprint to the end. The Dorsey Brothers Orchestra accompaniment, like the Boswell Sisters' performance, pairs the brisk, loose ease of New Orleans jazz within a tight knit ensemble. Selected for the 2010 registry.

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"Minnie the Moocher" (single). Cab Calloway. (1931)

By 1931, songs about Dens of Iniquity were nothing new, but one so deliberate, not to mention as entertaining, as Cab Calloway's "Minnie the Moocher," was indeed remarkable. "Minnie" bears more than a slight resemblance to a 1920s ditty titled "Willie the Weeper," a song about a "chimney sweeper" with a drug addiction. Minnie, herself, is characterized as both "rough and tough" and big-hearted, and one who hung around with types as disparate as "Cokey Joe" and the King of Sweden. An equally unlikely pairing was the wild abandon, yet perfect control, with which Cab Calloway sang this minor-keyed fable. Calloway sang "Minnie" throughout his long career, including a rousing version he performed in the 1980 film "The Blues Brothers," when he was an agile septuagenarian. Selected for the 2018 registry.

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"Bacon, Beans and Limousines." Will Rogers. (October 18, 1931)

Will Rogers had starred on the stage and screen and even made records, but when he entered radio broadcasting, it proved to be a natural medium for his folksy but pointed ruminations on topical matters. At one of the lowest points of the Great Depression, he took part in a national broadcast with President Herbert Hoover to kick off a nationwide unemployment relief campaign. Rogers praised Hoover's integrity and intentions, but also decried the tragedy of such hard times in a land of plenty: "We'll hold the distinction of being the only nation in the history of the world that ever went to the poor house in an automobile," he observed. "The potter's fields are lined with granaries full of grain. Now if there ain't something wrong in an arrangement like that, then this microphone here in front of me is—well, it's a cuspidor, that's all." The broadcast demonstrates the status Rogers had gained as a spokesperson for the "common man," who used popular culture to satirize financial and political corruption, especially as the country went from the extravagant twenties into economic depression. Although Rogers is sardonic, the talk also conveys his fundamental optimism and faith in the good-heartedness of the American people. Selected for the 2012 registry.

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Bell Laboratories experimental stereo recordings. Philadelphia Orchestra; Leopold Stokowski, conductor. (1931-1932)

Experimental recordings made by the Bell Laboratories in early 1930s resulted in the first high-fidelity, stereo recordings. Among them were recordings which feature this great American orchestra under its renowned, and controversial, conductor Leopold Stokowski. Selected for the 2002 registry.

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"Brother, Can You Spare A Dime." Bing Crosby; Rudy Vallee. (both 1932)

Composed by Jay Gorney and E.Y. "Yip" Harburg, "Brother, Can You Spare a Dime" was the show-stopping number of the 1932, Depression-era musical "American Revue." The minor-key melody, according to Gorney, was inspired by a Yiddish lullaby. The song's lyrics underscored the irony of Depression-era American working class who had once built railroads and fought wars only to now find themselves waiting in bread lines. With its bittersweet melody and bold, unsentimental lyrics, this arresting anthem to America's "forgotten man" became a major hit. Recordings by Bing Crosby and Rudy Vallee—both issued the same year—were best sellers and emphasized the song's strengths in different ways. Crosby's nuanced baritone played to the song's drama; his use of rubato during the verse being especially effective. On the other hand, Vallee's light tenor is more emotionally removed and allows the song to stand more on its own merits. Selected for the 2013 registry.

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The Complete Beethoven Piano Sonatas (album). Artur Schnabel. (1932-1935)

Ludwig van Beethoven's 32 sonatas for piano alone are legendary in the history of classical music. The German conductor and pianist Hans von Bülow called them music's "New Testament," while the scholar Charles Rosen referred to them as "a bridge between the worlds of the salon and the concert hall." It was Artur Schnabel who first committed the entire 32 sonatas to disc. The Austrian pianist was already a towering intellectual and artistic figure in 1932 when His Master's Voice launched the Beethoven Sonata Society, through which subscribers could purchase Schnabel's discs as they became available. Today, there are countless complete collections of these works by others, but it is Schnabel who remains the pre-eminent Beethoven pianist on record. Selected for the 2017 registry.

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Rosina Cohen oral narrative from the Lorenzo D. Turner Collection. (1932)

African-American linguist Lorenzo D. Turner recorded numerous Gullah dialect stories, songs, sermons, and accounts of slavery during the summers of 1932 and 1933. In this oral narrative, Rosina Cohen recounts her memories of slaves being freed by Yankees on Edisto Island. The recording is significant as a permanent record of a vanishing American regional dialect and as a document of African-American cultural history. Selected for the 2004 registry.

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"Show Boat" (album). Victor Young, conductor; Louis Alter, piano. (1932)

Original cast recordings of hit musicals were not made at the time of Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein's landmark 1927 show, "Show Boat." In 1932, however, Brunswick Records recorded 10 sides of selections from the musical and issued them as an album set. The most notable performances on the set are those of Helen Morgan, the original "Julie," and Paul Robeson, who played "Joe" in the London cast. The set also includes discs of the musical's overture and finale, making it as close to an original cast album as one may encounter from this period. Selected for the 2005 registry.

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"Voices from the Days of Slavery." Various Speakers. (1932-1975)

In 2002, the American Folklife Center created the online presentation"Voices from the Days of Slavery,"gathering together 24 interviews with former African-American slaves conducted mostly between 1932 and 1941 and across nine Southern states as part of various field recording projects. During this period, thousands of slave narratives were also collected on paper from by WPA workers, but these are the only known audio recordings of former slaves. As historian C. Vann Woodward said of the WPA narratives, these recordings "represent the voices of the normally voiceless," but with all the nuances of expression that written transcriptions cannot reproduce. They recall aspects of slave life and culture, including family relations, work routines, songs, dances, and tales, as well as their relationship with masters, punishments, auctions, and escapes. They recount experiences of the Civil War, Emancipation, and Reconstruction. One interviewee worked for Confederate President Jefferson Davis, as did his father and grandfather. These are fragments of history, and reflect the technical and social limitations of the recording sessions, but the voices of these ex-slaves provide invaluable insight into their lives, communities, and the world of slavery they left behind. Selected for the 2011 registry.

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Voices from the Days of Slavery

"Goodnight, Irene." Lead Belly. (1933)

Huddie Ledbetter, better known as Lead Belly or Leadbelly, sang spirituals, popular songs, field and prison hollers, cowboy and children's songs, dance tunes and folk ballads, as well as his own compositions throughout his career. Lead Belly was first recorded in 1933 by John and Alan Lomax when the singer was serving time in the Louisiana State Penitentiary. "Goodnight, Irene," Lead Belly's best-known song, became a bestseller for the Weavers in 1950, just months after Lead Belly's death. This is the first recording of "Irene," which includes some lyrics that were later changed. Selected for the 2003 registry.

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"Stormy Weather." Ethel Waters. (1933)

Ethel Waters began her career as a blues singer but became a pioneer jazz singer, adapting her voice to a conversational style in which the meaning of the song lyrics are conveyed with subtle theatricality. Waters' rendition of "Stormy Weather" became a bestseller, bringing her tremendous exposure and respect as a jazz singer and incomparable interpreter of the American Songbook. "Stormy Weather" composers Harold Arlen and Ted Koehler originally intended their 1933 song to be sung by Cab Calloway in a revue to take place at Harlem's Cotton Club. However, it quickly made its way to Waters instead who then made it her own. Selected for the 2004 registry.

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"Fireside Chats." President Franklin D. Roosevelt's radio addresses. (1933-1944)

The Fireside Chats were an influential series of radio broadcasts in which Roosevelt utilized the media to present his programs and ideas directly to the public and thereby redefined the relationship between the President and the American people. Selected for the 2002 registry.

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Complete Presidential Speeches. Franklin D. Roosevelt. (1933-1945)

The most famous speeches by Franklin D. Roosevelt are tied to singular events—such as the attack on Pearl Harbor—but many of his most influential addresses were actually made on otherwise mundane occasions in the 1930s such as on a tour of a flood control project in 1936, when he delivered the blistering “I Hate War” speech, anticipating World War II. Others reverberate in our time for different reasons, such as when he spoke on behalf of the campaign against polio, now nearly eradicated but a dreaded scourge in that era of which he was the disease’s most famous victim. His speeches are far more than sources for historical soundbites, they are defining political and social texts of their day that form a narrative of the 12 years of his presidency, and of an historical epoch. Selected for the 2022 registry.

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Harvard Vocarium record series. T.S. Eliot, W.H. Auden, others. (1933-1956)

From the 1930s to the 1950s The Harvard University Poetry Room produced the Harvard Vocarium record label which featured prominent authors reading their own works. Among the writers recorded were T.S. Eliot, W.H. Auden, and Tennessee Williams. Selected for the 2002 registry.

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Listen—Ezra Pound reads from “The Cantos”

"If I Could Hear My Mother Pray Again." Thomas A. Dorsey. (1934)

The acknowledged father of modern gospel music, Thomas A. Dorsey made only a handful of gospel recordings himself. Recording first as "Georgia Tom" and "Barrelhouse Tom," Dorsey was a noted blues artist and composer during the 1920s and early 1930s. In 1932, he dedicated the remainder of his life exclusively to gospel music. In four sessions in 1932 and 1934, Dorsey recorded several songs for Vocalion, including his popular composition "If I Could Hear My Mother Pray Again," which were released under his own name. His voice, although well-suited to his earlier blues and jazz recordings, was said to have lacked the qualities needed for gospel music and he made no further recordings, concentrating instead on songwriting and publishing. (Thomas Dorsey is not related to big-band leader Tommy Dorsey.) Selected for the 2007 registry.

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"Mal Hombre." Lydia Mendoza. (1934)

Singer Lydia Mendoza (1916-2007) once said, "It doesn't matter if it's a corrido, a waltz, a bolero, a polka or whatever. When I sing that song, I live that song." Mendoza had been performing and recording with her family's band since the late 1920s, and was only 16 when she recorded "Mal Hombre," investing the song's bitter lyrics with an artistic maturity that belied her age: "Cold-hearted man, your soul is so vile it has no name." "Mal Hombre" launched her solo career, her stark voice and graceful 12-string guitar lines resounding strongly with the Spanish-speaking audience of Texas. The Houston-born singer was soon known as "La Alondra de la Frontera," The Lark of the Border. Selected for the 2010 registry.

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"Tumbling Tumbleweeds." The Sons of the Pioneers. (1934)

The cowboy vocal group The Sons of the Pioneers was formed in 1933 by Roy Rogers, Tim Spencer and Bob Nolan. The group became America's premier western singing group and remained so for decades. They still perform today with different singers. The Sons of the Pioneers are widely admired for their smooth and adventurous harmonies. Their songs serve as the foundation of non-traditional, popular cowboy music. "Tumbling Tumbleweeds" was one of the songs cut at the Sons' first recording session, and it became the group's theme song, beautifully evoking the cowboy's love of the land. Selected for the 2010 registry.

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"You're the Top." Cole Porter. (1934)

"You're the Top" is a work by composer/lyricist Cole Porter at the top of his form. Seamlessly, the words and music of this quintessential "list song" convey wit, exuberance, and charmingly high- and low-cultural references. This solo performance, by Porter, invites the listener to become part of Porter's universe and imagine the composer performing, much as he might have for friends on a luxury cruise or in his own Waldorf Astoria suite. Selected for the 2006 registry.

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"New Music Quarterly" recordings. (1934-1949)

This series of 30 discs was published by Henry Cowell as part of his ground-breaking efforts to promote avant-garde music in the United States. The discs were issued in conjunction with his scholarly journal, "New Music," and include works by Walter Piston, Otto Luening, Edgard Varese, Cowell, and Charles Ives. Selected for the 2002 registry.

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Listen—"Three Dance Movements for Percussion Group" (William Russell)

"Every Man a King." Speech by Huey P. Long. (February 23, 1934)

Huey Long, governor of Louisiana from 1928 to 1932, was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1930 but did not take his Senate seat until 1932, after he had handpicked a successor for the governorship. A radical populist, he proposed a "Share the Wealth" plan with the motto "Every Man a King." The wealth was to be shared by increases in inheritance taxes which would "guarantee a family wealth of around $5,000; enough for a home and automobile, a radio, and the ordinary conveniences." In this 1934 radio speech, the Senator outlines his plan and explains why he no longer supports President Franklin D. Roosevelt. Selected for the 2003 registry.

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"I Want to Be a Cowboy's Sweetheart." Patsy Montana. (1935)

Singer Patsy Montana's signature song, "I Want to Be a Cowboy's Sweetheart," was written at a time in 1934 when she was feeling lonely and missing her boyfriend. Montana recorded the song a year later when Art Satherly, of ARC Records, needed one more song for a recording session with the Prairie Ramblers. Her song's lively, quick polka tempo and yodeling refrain, and Montana's exuberant delivery, resulted in it being requested at every performance; it became one of the first hits by a female country and western singer. A popular performer on the WLS radio program "National Barn Dance," Montana was the soloist with the Prairie Ramblers, a group that successfully melded jazz and string band music. Montana's film appearance in a Gene Autry film, "Colorado Sunset" in 1939 introduced her to a wider audience, and her independent air, high-spirited personality, and singing style quickly secured her popularity as a singing cowgirl. Patsy Montana was named to the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1996. Selected for the 2011 registry.

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Reflections by Suzy Bogguss (PDF, 266KB)
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Sounds of the ivory-billed woodpecker. (1935)

In 1935, on their expedition to document rare North American birds, Arthur Allen and Peter Paul Kellogg of Cornell University recorded a pair of ivory-billed woodpeckers in an old-growth Louisiana swamp forest known as the Singer Tract. These recordings of the birds' calls and foraging taps are presently the last confirmed aural evidence of what was once the largest woodpecker species in the United States. The last universally accepted sighting of an ivory-bill occurred in 1944. However, since that time, many scientists believe there have been credible sightings of the species, suggesting the bird might not be extinct. These 1935 recordings have been vital to recent searches and have been used to train searchers on what to listen for. They have also been used to develop pattern-recognition software, enlisting computers to analyze new field recordings identifying similar sounds. Selected for the 2008 registry.

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"Tristan und Isolde." Metropolitan Opera, featuring Kirsten Flagstad and Lauritz Melchior, NBC broadcast. (March 9, 1935)

This recording captures Wagnerian singing at its dramatic best by two of the greatest voices of the twentieth century and prime interpreters of the lead roles. The beauty and purity of Flagstad's singing, captured at the beginning of her worldwide fame, combined with Melchior's heroic scale and nobility creates an unsurpassed performance in this profoundly influential opera. This recording is an early example of the Metropolitan Opera's Saturday matinee broadcasts, which have brought live performances of complete operas into homes throughout the world for more than 75 years. Selected for the 2009 registry.

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"Gang Busters." (July 20, 1935)

The radio crime drama series "Gang Busters" was the creation of Phillips H. Lord, producer of the successful "Seth Parker" radio series. Capitalizing on the public's fascination with gangsters, Lord based his new show on true crime stories, going so far as to obtain the cooperation of the FBI director J. Edgar Hoover. "G-Men," as the series was known initially, premiered on July 20, 1935, but the FBI's enthusiasm waned quickly and its cooperation diminished. Revised as "Gang Busters," the show remained on the air until the late 1950s. The program's spectacular opening, which included sirens, police whistles, gunshots and tires screeching, inspired the slang expression, "come on like gangbusters!" Selected for the 2008 registry.

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"La Chicharronera" (single). Narciso Martinez and Santiago Almeida. (1936)

Martinez and Almeida, two pioneers of the Tex-Mex conjunto music, introduced the classic accordion (Martinez) and bajo sexto (Almeida) combination on this, their first recording for Bluebird Records. Martinez was known as the "Father of Conjunto Music" and had a long career in Texas, performing from a huge repertoire of regionally popular dance tunes and styles including polkas, redovas, schottisches, waltzes, mazurkas, boleros, danzones and huapangos. Almeida developed the bajo sexto guitar as the distinctive accompanying instrument in the classic conjunto style. Their music exemplified the blending of Central European instruments and dance genres with those of Mexican Texas that had been going on for at least a generation before they made their first recordings. This conjunto sound remains popular in Tex-Mex music in an expanded and amplified form. Martinez and Almeida were later honored with the NEA's National Heritage Fellowship artist award in 1983 and 1993, respectively. Selected for the 2019 registry.

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"Wabash Cannonball." Roy Acuff. (1936)

Fiddler and vocalist Roy Acuff's "Wabash Cannonball" was first recorded in 1936 and featured the vocals of Sam "Dynamite" Hatcher of Acuff's band, the Crazy Tennesseans. Acuff later changed the band's name to the Smoky Mountain Boys while continuing to make himself well known through motion picture appearances, recordings and personal tours. He first appeared as a regular on the "Grand Ole Opry" in 1938 and was its top star by 1942. "Wabash Cannonball" was recorded again by Acuff, this time with his own vocals, in 1947. In 1962, Acuff became the first living artist to be elected into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1962. Selected for the 2005 registry.

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"The Complete Recordings." Robert Johnson. (1936-1937)

The recordings made by Delta bluesman Robert Johnson in 1936 and 1937 had a significant impact on fellow bluesmen, as well as on such rock musicians as Eric Clapton and Keith Richards. Considered by some to be the "King of the Delta Blues Singers," Johnson's emotive vocals, combined with his varied and masterful guitar playing, continue to influence blues and popular music performers to this day. Selected for the 2003 registry.

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"One O'Clock Jump." Count Basie and His Orchestra. (1937)

This landmark of the big band Swing Era first came together as a "head arrangement." Head arrangements, worked out in rehearsal and committed to memory rather than written down, gave much freedom to soloists and allowed the musicians to concentrate on the rhythmic drive for which Kansas City jazz and the Basie orchestra is noted. The Basie orchestra, like most Kansas City-style bands, was organized around its rhythm section. The interplay of brass and reeds on the "One O'Clock Jump" serves as a backdrop for the unfolding solos of the band's extraordinary players, including Lester Young, Herschel Evans and Buck Clayton. Selected for the 2005 registry.

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"Bonaparte's Retreat." W.H. Stepp. (1937)

"Bonaparte's Retreat" is representative of the 1937 recordings of Library of Congress folk historians Alan and Elizabeth Lomax during their musicological tour of the state of Kentucky. In the 1930s, "Bonaparte's" was a common dance tune, but the musician they recorded that day, William Hamilton Stepp, played it very differently from other renditions. Stepp's rollicking reel became the basis for one of the most famous pieces of American classical music ever composed, the "Hoe-Down" section of Agnes De Mille's "Rodeo," as written by Aaron Copland. Since then, "Hoe-Down" has been performed by symphonies such as Arthur Fiedler and the Boston Pops (1943). Rock fans might know the 1972 version of "Hoedown" by Emerson, Lake and Palmer, which reached number five on the charts. It was even used in a series of commercials for beef in the 1990s. Selected for the 2015 registry.

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"Fall of the City" ("The Columbia Workshop"). (April 11, 1937)

As broadcast on "The Columbia Workshop," Earle McGill's production of Archibald MacLeish's chilling vision of a not-so-future war featured Orson Welles as narrator. This program brought experimental radio, as pioneered by "The Columbia Workshop," to maturity and profoundly influenced a generation of creative radio producers and directors. Also featured were Burgess Meredith and Paul Stewart. Selected for the 2005 registry.

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Crash of the Hindenburg. Herbert Morrison, reporting. (May 6, 1937)

An emotional, never-to-be-forgotten moment of news broadcasting in which a tragedy is witnessed and spontaneously reported. This actuality was the first exception to network radio's ban on the airing of recordings. Selected for the 2002 registry.

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"Vic and Sade." Episode: "Decoration Day Parade." (May 28, 1937)

Created by Paul Rhymer, "Vic and Sade" was a long-running daytime serial devoid of the usual formula of melodrama. First broadcast in 1932 as a 15-minute weekday show on NBC, "Vic and Sade" did not follow the usual structure of a serial drama. Instead, each episode was complete in itself. This representative broadcast—in which Vic laments the decline in Decoration Day recognition—is one of the earliest surviving examples of this highly-praised, still beloved program. Although it is estimated that Rhymer wrote more than 3,500 scripts for the show only a few hundred original recordings have survived to present day. Selected for the 2015 registry.

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"The Lone Ranger." Episode: "The Osage Bank Robbery." (December 17, 1937)

This broadcast is the earliest known recording of this popular series to surface. It features a pair of brothers who rob a bank, hide out in an abandoned mine, and are eventually discovered and brought to justice by the Lone Ranger. The series had been on the air since early 1933 and its popularity was enormous. In fact, the show reversed the failing finances of Detroit station WXYZ, and, when WXYZ banded with several other stations to form the Mutual Broadcasting System in 1934, the show proved central to the success of the network. Selected for the 2006 registry.

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"Begin the Beguine." Artie Shaw & His Orchestra. (1938)

To have ended up as one of the indisputable classics of the Swing Era, "Begin the Beguine" had an inauspicious start. Cole Porter wrote it for the 1935 musical "Jubilee" which, despite good reviews, closed after a short run. Artie Shaw remarked on how close he came to not knowing about the song: "I happened to get to the theater on Friday and the show closed Saturday." Shaw remembered the song, however, and in 1938, wanted to record "Beguine" in spite of its long, complicated structure. According to guitarist Al Avola, Shaw changed the usual slow tempo of a beguine to a 4/4 time called "bending the Charleston." With some reluctance, RCA Victor, his new record company, allowed Shaw to release the recording as the "B" side to "Indian Love Call." "Begin the Beguine" quickly became a hit and brought fame to Shaw and his band. Although Shaw became disenchanted with having to play "Begin the Beguine," his de facto theme song, at every performance, the impact of this powerful recording of such a complex tune has remained a milestone in recorded sound history. Selected for the 2012 registry.

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"Bei Mir Bist Du Schoen." The Andrews Sisters. (1938)

This English-language version of a popular song from a Yiddish musical by Jacob Jacobs and Sholom Secunda brought the Andrews Sisters to national attention. In the version by Sammy Cahn, the only Yiddish retained was the song title (translation: "To me, you are beautiful"), a phrase which is repeated throughout. Vic Schoen, the Sisters' bandleader and arranger, turned the number into a swing sensation that showcased the girls' close harmony and smooth vocal syncopations. Selected for the 2008 registry.

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"The Cradle Will Rock" (album). Original cast recording. (1938)

The recording of this controversial musical about labor unions by Marc Blitzstein was the first complete recording of a Broadway show. The work was originally intended for production by the Federal Theater Project. Selected for the 2002 registry.

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"Fascinating Rhythm." Sol Hoopii and His Novelty Five. (1938)

In the 1890's, Hawaiian musicians began playing open-tuned guitars flat in their laps, fretting the strings with steel to produce distinctive sliding tones. The style soon reached the mainland United States, and when young Sol Hoopii arrived in California in 1924, the Hawaiian steel guitar was a mature and demanding instrument with national popularity. Hoopii emerged as its greatest exponent, applying it to traditional hulas, ragtime, jazz, and pop. He and his peers influenced blues and country slide guitarists, and Dobros and pedal steel guitars are descended from the Hawaiian model. Hoopii switched to electric guitar in the 1930's and on "Fascinating Rhythm," he displays formidable technique, deftly mixing a chord solo and bass runs into a swinging improvisation on the Gershwin standard, departing far from the main melody, with beautiful tonal variations throughout. Selected for the 2011 registry.

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Franz Boas and George Herzog Recording of Kwakwaka'wakw Chief Dan Cranmer. (1938)

Franz Boas is considered the father of American anthropology and is the founder of both the American Anthology Association and the American Folklore Society. In 1938, Boas and his former student, ethnomusicology pioneer George Herzog, recorded 22 aluminum discs of the Kwakwaka'wakw (sometimes spelled "Kwakiutl") chief Dan Cranmer. Cranmer had been jailed in Canada in the 1920s for carrying on his people's potlatch traditions, which were still being suppressed in the 1930s. Cranmer's recordings for Boas and Herzog documented the tribe's native language and the songs, speeches, games, feasts and ceremonies of the potlatch.  Today, only about 5,500 Kwakwaka'wakw tribespeople remain in British Columbia with only about 250 of them still fluent in the tribe's original language. Selected for the 2013 registry.

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"John the Revelator." The Golden Gate Quartet. (1938)

This pioneer Virginia gospel quartet of the 1930s and 1940s had a profound influence on gospel music, furthering the development of gospel vocal quartets from the Jubilee-style of the 19th century to one influenced by 20th century jazz and popular music. The Quartet's smooth Mills Brothers-influenced harmonies, humor and vocal improvisations brought the quartet large audiences that extended far beyond the church. Selected for the 2005 registry.

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Jelly Roll Morton interviews conducted by Alan Lomax. (1938)

In 1938, folklorist Alan Lomax recorded an extensive series of interviews at the Library of Congress with musician Ferdinand "Jelly Roll" Morton. Morton performed his own compositions and those which influenced him, and told the story of his life over his piano vamping. Morton did not "invent" jazz, as he claimed to in the interviews, but he was the art form's first great composer. These recordings offer a fascinating, if not entirely accurate, autobiography of the musician, and a rich picture of life in early 20th century New Orleans. Selected for the 2003 registry.

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Mahler Symphony No. 9. Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra; Bruno Walter, conductor. (1938)

This recording was made in Vienna in 1938. Critics disagree about the quality of this performance. Many praise its intensity; Tony Duggan described the orchestra as playing like "the world was on the verge of going smash." Others, however, hearing the same intensity from a different perspective, feel that the music flies out of control. But regardless of any perceived performance shortcomings, no recording of the ninth has as much historical significance. This recording was made just two months before Germany invaded Austria in the run-up to World War II. Shortly thereafter, 13 Jewish members of the Vienna Philharmonic were fired; some would later die in Jewish ghettos or concentration camps. The valedictory Symphony No. 9 is one of the most important works in Mahler's oeuvre. Its composition signaled the end of a musical era; this recording, the end of a historical one. Selected for the 2015 registry.

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"When the Saints Go Marching In" (single). Louis Armstrong & his Orchestra. (1938)

In this first jazz recording of the famous hymn, Louis Armstrong, in the guise of "Rev. Satchelmouth," introduces this unusually atmospheric recording. From J.C. Higginbotham's shouting, preaching trombone, to Rev. Satchelmouth's respectful vocal (accompanied by some members of the "congregation") to the soaring and majestic trumpet solo, the performance commands attention. Armstrong fondly remembered "The Saints" from his childhood in New Orleans. His democratic attitude towards music saw little difference between the church and the dance hall, and as a result, he received backlash from clergy and fans for daring to mix the sacred with jazz. While that juxtaposition may seem mild today, the music certainly is not; it stands as a timeless testament to Louis Armstrong's many gifts. Selected for the 2020 registry.

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"When You Wish Upon A Star." Cliff Edwards. (recorded 1938; released 1940)

Cliff Edwards ("Ukulele Ike") was an enormously popular singer in the 1920s and early 1930s, a star in vaudeville and early sound films. His "When You Wish Upon a Star" in Disney's "Pinocchio," however, remains the song for which he is best remembered. Edwards' natural tenor and clear falsetto, along with the beauty of the composition, written by Ned Washington and Leigh Harline, continues to touch listeners. This recording was one of the very first from a film soundtrack to be issued commercially. Selected for the 2009 registry.

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"Carnegie Hall Jazz Concert" (album). Benny Goodman. (January 16, 1938; released 1998)

This live concert recording catches clarinetist and band leader Benny Goodman, touted as the "King of Swing," at his peak, fronting top performers and appearing before an energetic audience for the debut of jazz at Carnegie Hall. Goodman's stellar bandsmen were joined by Lionel Hampton and members of the Count Basie and Duke Ellington ensembles for this famous festival of jazz during the height of the swing music era. "Swingtime in the Rockies," a jam on "Honeysuckle Rose," and Goodman's signature piece, "Sing, Sing, Sing" are highlights. Selected for the 2003 registry.

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"The Adventures of Robin Hood." (May 11, 1938)

Prior to the release of its 1938 film "The Adventures of Robin Hood," Warner Bros. studio arranged to promote the motion picture by broadcasting portions of its musical score over its Los Angeles radio station, KFWB. The radio broadcast included composer Erich Wolfgang Korngold's symphonic scoring of 10 sequences from the film, with narration by actor Basil Rathbone. "Robin Hood" is one of Korngold's most respected dramatic scores, an outstanding example of what he termed "operas without words." Because commercial recordings of motion picture scores did not exist in 1938, this unusual film score recording was not published until 1975. Selected for the 2005 registry.

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Joe Louis-Max Schmeling fight. Clem McCarthy, announcer. (June 22, 1938)

It is believed that more than 70 million people, the largest audience up to that date for a single radio broadcast, listened to NBC's broadcast of the boxing rematch between American Joe Louis and German Max Schmeling. From its inception, the fight was viewed as more than a sporting event. The symbolism of an African-American defeating a citizen of the political state that proclaimed the superiority of the white race was lost on no one. Veteran announcer Clem McCarthy delivered a blow-by-blow account of the 124-second match to radio audiences from a packed Madison Square Garden. Selected for the 2005 registry.

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"Who's on First?" Abbott and Costello. Earliest existing radio broadcast version. (October 6, 1938)

Already a staple of their vaudeville shows, Abbott & Costello first performed their beloved baseball routine, "Who's On First?" on radio's "The Kate Smith Hour" in March 24, 1938. The bit's crescendoing wordplay and the team's expert timing immediately grabbed and entranced listeners. "Who's On First?" became the duo's signature routine and the pair performed encores of it often. Though the recording of its March 1938 debut is thought to be lost, this recording—believed to be their second radio rendition as also heard on "Kate Smith"—has survived, as an example of Americana and timeless comedy. Selected for the 2002 registry.

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"War of the Worlds" ("The Mercury Theatre on the Air"). (October 30, 1938)

Orson Welles' Mercury Theatre's finely-crafted radio drama about Martian invaders is one of the best-written and produced works in its genre. Its realistic format caused considerable alarm to many listeners across the U.S. at the time of its original airing. Selected for the 2002 registry.

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"Adagio for Strings." Arturo Toscanini, conductor; NBC Symphony. (November 5, 1938)

"Adagio for Strings," adapted for orchestra by Samuel Barber from a movement of his 1936 String Quartet No. 1, Op. 11, was created for maestro Arturo Toscanini. It was premiered to a widely enthusiastic audience on a November 5, 1938 radio broadcast of the NBC Symphony. Its tense melodic line and taut harmonies have made this moving composition one of the most popular of all 20th century classical works. The work is often performed and can be heard in the scores of many motion pictures and television programs, most notably "Platoon" and an episode of "Seinfeld." Selected for the 2005 registry.

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"God Bless America." Kate Smith. Radio broadcast premiere. (November 11, 1938)

Originally composed by Irving Berlin in 1918, and reworked by him in 1938, "God Bless America" has become the nation's de facto anthem. Songstress Kate Smith performed her soon-to-be signature song for the first time on her radio show on November 11, 1938. It was an immediate sensation whose power and patriotism has not been diminished in the decades since. Though subsequently covered by innumerable other artists, Smith's resounding version remains the best known and most beloved rendition. Selected for the 2002 registry.

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"Bach Six Cello Suites" (album). Pablo Casals. (c. 1939)

Casals' role in rediscovering the Bach cello suites has tended to be somewhat overstated in a way that both exaggerates and denigrates his real accomplishment. The cello suites were fairly well-known among cellists and composers during the nineteenth century but where Casals differed from his predecessors was in understanding and cultivating the musical nature of the suites themselves. He seemed to grasp intuitively the intense depth of the music and give it the study that it demanded. Although his approach to the music seems, to our ears, quite romantic, his realization of the value of the music for concert performance (in contradiction to hundreds of years of tradition among cellists) was a profoundly modern gesture and one that helped change the reputation of the cello and modified not just cello performance, but the nature of string playing more generally. Selected for the 2018 registry.

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"Body and Soul." Coleman Hawkins. (1939)

An unlikely jukebox hit, this recording by Hawkins was the most popular and influential recording he made and one of the best-known recorded jazz performances in history. Through the influence of this recording, "Body and Soul" became a standard for tenor sax players, with many later recordings referencing parts of Hawkins' solo. Selected for the 2004 registry.

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"If I Didn't Care" (single). The Ink Spots. (1939)

In 1939, when songwriter Jack Lawrence brought his new song to Bill Kenny and the other three members of his group—The Ink Spots—Kenny and his bandmates were at first reluctant to record it. Yet, they did, and soon after, it became one of the best-selling singles in history, eventually moving 19 million copies worldwide. The song's lovely opening guitar riff, flawless countertenor-singing and arresting mid-song spoken-word passage created a recording that is charming, haunting, evocative and both timely and timeless more than 75 years after its release. "If I Didn't Care" has since been covered by everyone from Connie Francis to Bryan Ferry, while the original has become a go-to standard for use in movies, television shows and even video games. Selected for the 2017 registry.

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"In the Mood." Glenn Miller and His Orchestra. (1939)

"In the Mood," composed by Joe Garland and Andy Razaf, was one of Glenn Miller's most popular recordings and remains one of the best known musical themes of the World War II era. Miller led one of the most popular dance bands of the swing era. His arrangements were distinguished by a doubled melody on saxophone with a clarinet an octave higher. The sound his band produced was seamless and precise. Selected for the 2004 registry.

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The John and Ruby Lomax Southern States Recording Trip. (1939)

John Lomax, honorary consultant and curator for the fledgling Archive of American Folk Song at the Library of Congress, recorded hundreds of ballads, blues, cowboy songs, field hollers, spirituals, and work songs in a late 1930s sweep of nine southern states. Many ethnomusicologists consider the recordings made on this field trip to be among the most important of this genre. Selected for the 2002 registry.

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"O Que é que a Bahiana tem." Carmen Miranda. (1939)

This recording, with its lively exchange between singer and dancer Carmen Miranda and the band, embodies the merriment of Brazilian Carnival songs. "O Que é que a Bahiana tem" ("What does the Bahian girl have?") was an enormously successful recording in Brazil that celebrated Bahia culture at its roots and solidified samba's hold on Brazilian popular music. The recording helped to introduce both the samba rhythm and Carmen Miranda to American audiences. It was also the first recording of a song by Dorival Caymmi, who went on to become a major composer and performer. Selected for the 2008 registry.

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"Over the Rainbow." Judy Garland. (1939)

One of the best-known ballads of all time, "Over the Rainbow," from the classic American fantasy film "The Wizard of Oz," expresses a poignant yearning for escape as sung by the film's young star, Judy Garland. "Over the Rainbow" became an anthem for Garland, a song she cherished throughout her life as her favorite. "It represents everyone's wondering why things can't be a little better," she said in a 1967 interview, two years before her death. Lyricist E. Y. "Yip" Harburg settled on the image of the rainbow as the "only colorful thing that she's [the Garland character] ever seen in her life," he recalled, and created a symbol of hope that also became a reason for the film's creators to shift its cinematography from sepia tones to Technicolor once Dorothy landed in the Land of Oz. Garland credited the song's "childlike, wistful quality" to its composer, Harold Arlen. The song won an Academy Award, and the 1939 Decca recording by Garland—released a few weeks after the film's premiere—with accompaniment by Victor Young and his orchestra, became a best-seller. Selected for the 2016 registry.

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"Peter and the Wolf" (album). Serge Koussevitzky, conductor; Richard Hale, narrator; Boston Symphony Orchestra. (1939)

Composer Sergey Prokofiev brought his "orchestral fairy tale" "Peter and the Wolf" to Moscow audiences in 1936, having composed the music and written the narration as an introduction to orchestral music for children. This premiere recording of the work was performed by the Boston Symphony, under the direction of Serge Koussevitzky, with narration by Richard Hale. Selected for the 2004 registry.

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"Strange Fruit." Billie Holiday. (1939)

This searing song is arguably Billie Holiday's most influential recording. It brought the topic of lynching to the commercial record-buying public. Selected for the 2002 registry.

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NBC Radio coverage of Marian Anderson's recital at the Lincoln Memorial. (April 9, 1939)

By the end of the 1930s, African-American opera singer Marian Anderson had already been hailed as the greatest contralto of her generation. Yet this did not prevent the Daughters of the American Revolution from prohibiting her from performing at Constitution Hall in Washington, D.C. in 1939. In response, and with the assistance of President Franklin Roosevelt and his wife Eleanor, Anderson was, on Easter Sunday of that year, invited to perform for a racially desegregated audience at the Lincoln Memorial. There she sang to an audience of over 75,000 people, with a national radio audience of millions more. Though brief newsreel excerpts of her brilliant performance have become familiar and even iconic since that time, the contemporary impact of this live, continuous radio coverage cannot be underestimated, and is now our most complete documentation of this key event in the struggle for civil rights. Selected for the 2008 registry.

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Dorothy Thompson: Commentary and Analysis of the European Situation for NBC Radio. (August 23-September 6, 1939)

Dorothy Thompson spent most of the 1920s and early 1930s in Europe, covering politics and culture throughout the continent as a print journalist, interviewing subjects as varied as Sigmund Freud and Adolph Hitler. From 1936 on, she wrote a thrice-weekly column, “On The Record,” in which she drew on her unique experience and knowledge of the issues and people in the news in the US and Europe. She also became a frequent presence on network radio, and in late August, 1939, as the European situation worsened and war was imminent, she made daily broadcasts on NBC analyzing developments during the last days of peace and the first days of war in Europe, which form a unique broadcast record of this complex period. Selected for the 2023 registry.

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WJSV (Washington, D.C.). Complete day of radio broadcasting. (September 21, 1939)

This aural time capsule preserves a full day (6:00 AM to 1:00 AM) of broadcasting by a CBS network affiliate radio station. It is the first known recording of an American station. Highlights include Arthur Godfrey, soap operas, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt's address to Congress, coverage of the war in Europe, a baseball game, "Amos 'n' Andy," and "Major Bowes' Amateur Hour," as well as contemporary commercials. Selected for the 2003 registry.

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"Grand Ole Opry." First network radio broadcast. (October 14, 1939)

Begun in Nashville over WSM on November 25, 1925, when it was originally known as the "WSM Barn Dance," the "Grand Ole Opry" is today the longest, continuously-running program in radio history. As it was then, the "Opry" broadcast (which has been broadcast from various locations over the years, including the legendary Ryman Auditorium in downtown Nashville), remains a showcase for top drawer country music talent. Regional for the first 14 years of its airing, the "Opry" went national over the NBC network in 1939. This inaugural broadcast featured the seminal talents of long-time "Opry" performer Uncle Dave Macon, as well as relative newcomer Roy Acuff, and the "Opry" announcers George D. Hay and David Stone. Selected for the 2002 registry.

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"Arch Oboler's Plays." Episode: "The Bathysphere." (November 18, 1939)

Arch Oboler was one of radio's great suspense writers, later bringing his talents to the terrifying and beloved "Lights Out!" radio program. Prior to that assignment, he helmed this eponymous series and one of his best known plays, "The Bathysphere," began is legend there. "Bathysphere" concerns the descent of a diving bell to a depth of 3,200 feet with an unlikely two-man crew: a scientist and a dictator, one of whom may not be entirely trustworthy. After taking over "Lights Out!," Oboler restaged this radio play, in 1943, with new actors but with the same spine-tingling suspense. Years later, Rod Serling would acknowledge Oboler as one of his greatest influences. Selected for the 2019 registry.

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Bela Bartok, piano, and Joseph Szigeti, violin, in concert at the Library of Congress. (1940)

Hailed by critics as a "landmark performance," this recorded performance at the Library of Congress' Coolidge Auditorium captures the electric, live-performance chemistry between composer/pianist Bela Bartok and his champion and fellow countryman, violinist Joseph Szigeti. They perform works by Bartok, Beethoven, and Debussy. Selected for the 2002 registry.

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"New San Antonio Rose." Bob Wills and His Texas Playboys. (1940)

Bob Wills is considered one of the pioneers of the musical amalgam of old-time fiddle music, blues, pop, and jazz that came to be known as western swing. This recording of Wills' signature song became an American standard. Earlier recorded by Wills as an instrumental, this horn-laden version added the "Deep within my heart . . ." lyrics that are still popular. Selected for the 2003 registry.

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"The Rite of Spring" (album). Igor Stravinsky, conductor; New York Philharmonic. (1940)

This U.S. recording, released on the Columbia label, of this 20th century masterwork, as conducted by its composer, is considered by many to be the best recording ever of Stravinsky conducting his own work. Selected for the 2002 registry.

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"Sweet Lorraine." Art Tatum. (1940)

People who listened to an Art Tatum record often wondered if it featured multiple pianists. Tatum's cascading runs up and down the keyboard, the scales, arpeggios, broken bass lines and two-fisted piano choruses, often taken at blistering speeds, easily gave this impression. Although contemporary critics found his playing "ornate" and devoid of improvisation, Tatum won his spurs as a jazz pianist. "Sweet Lorraine" is one of his signature tunes. Its relaxed tempo allows one to hear and follow all the typical Tatum action, including the harmonies and dissonances that give any Tatum performance undisputed originality. Selected for the 2007 registry.

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"Tom Dooley." Frank Proffitt. (1940)

Frank Proffitt first sang the murder ballad "Tom Dula" for Frank and Anne Warner in 1938 in Beech Mountain, North Carolina, and recorded a portion of it two years later, accompanying himself on a banjo of his own making. Although Proffitt's performance would not be commercially released until many years later, it nevertheless provided the basis for Frank Warner's national performances of the song and for the arrangement of the song, now known as "Tom Dooley," that appeared in John and Alan Lomax's "Folk Song USA" songbook in 1948. Selected for the 2008 registry.

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"Were You There." Roland Hayes. (1940)

Lyric tenor Roland Hayes was the child of former slaves and from an early age sang spirituals in church. As a young man, he studied European concert vocal techniques and refined his approach to spirituals as a member of the Fisk Jubilee Singers. In recitals, he regularly performed a mixture of spiritual and classical repertoire, eventually garnering considerable fame. Hayes recorded extensively, but his 1940 unaccompanied rendition of the spiritual "Were You There (When They Crucified My Lord)" may be his finest moment on record, and remains hauntingly moving over seventy years later. Selected for the 2013 registry.

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"You Are My Sunshine." Jimmie Davis. (1940)

Jimmie Davis, country music singer and two-term governor of Louisiana, adopted "You Are My Sunshine" for his successful 1944 election campaign after recording it in 1940. It subsequently became one of the most popular country music songs of all time and has been recorded by artists in the U.S. and abroad in many styles. At least three recordings preceded Davis's, and while Davis is credited on sheet music as co-composer of the song, the song's authorship is the subject of dispute. Davis's recording, featuring guitar, steel guitar, trumpet, clarinet, bass, and piano, added jazz styling to the simple tune. "You Are My Sunshine" became the official song of Louisiana in 1977. Selected for the 2012 registry.

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"Porgy and Bess" (album). "Original" cast recording. (1940; 1942)

Although the 1935 original production of "Porgy and Bess" was not a commercial success, the edited 1942 revival won popular as well as critical acclaim. These recordings of 1940 and 1942 were the first to feature the originators of the title roles and stars of the revival, Todd Duncan and Anne Brown. George Gershwin's score beautifully exhibits mastery of combining his Broadway idiom with jazz, folk, and classical elements. It includes the well-known "Summertime," "My Man's Gone Now," "I Got Plenty O' Nuttin'," and "Bess, You is My Woman." Conceived as an "American folk opera," Gershwin envisioned his work as a "combination of the drama and romance of 'Carmen' and the beauty of 'Meistersinger.'" Selected for the 2003 registry.

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Blanton-Webster era recordings. Duke Ellington Orchestra. (1940-1942)

Duke Ellington is considered one of the greatest composers and band leaders of the 20th century. His band's recordings for RCA Victor, while bassist Jimmy Blanton and tenor sax player Ben Webster were among its personnel, are thought by many to represent a period of unparalleled creativity in jazz history. Billy Strayhorn, arranger and composer, and Duke's son, Mercer, also contributed to these recordings. Selected for the 2002 registry.

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Beethoven String Quartets. Budapest Quartet. (1940-1950)

The Budapest Quartet, known for its virtuosity, drive, and depth of interpretive insight, was among the most honored and respected chamber ensembles of the 20th century. As the Library of Congress' Quartet-in-Residence for 22 years, the Budapest brought the Beethoven string quartets, in concert and on Columbia Records, to a wider audience than ever before. Many subsequent string quartets have acknowledged their indebtedness to the Budapest. Selected for the 2003 registry.

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King James version of the Bible. Alexander Scourby. (1940-1944)

An actor known for his rich bass voice, Alexander Scourby began his career in New York as a Shakespearean stage actor but was soon appearing in radio dramas, narrating television documentaries, hosting opera broadcasts, and providing voice-overs for commercials. Recording for the blind for over 40 years, his was the voice of great literature. He recorded the King James version of the Bible for the American Foundation for the Blind, recording all 66 books from 1940 to 1944. It became a bestseller when it was commercially released in 1966 by the American Bible Society. Selected for the 2004 registry.

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"Fibber McGee and Molly." Fibber's closet opens for the first time. (March 4, 1940)

The hall closet at 79 Wistful Vista, home of Fibber McGee and Molly (played by Jim and Marian Jordan), was the source of one of radio's most successful running sound gags and was America's best-known pile of junk as it tumbled out each time the door was opened. The effect played on the strength of the sound medium. Frank Pittman, the program's sound-effects engineer, created the comic catastrophe. The initial click of the door latch tantalizingly opened the routine. Then the thump of several boxes hitting the floor followed and grew to a crescendo of falling bric-a-brac increasing in speed and intensity until the victim was buried under a mountain of pots, pans, fish poles, dumbbells, skates, pie pans and coffee pots. The coda of the avalanche was the tinkling of a little bell. The gag was so effective that crowded, cluttered storage areas in homes are still compared by some to the closet of Fibber McGee. Selected for the 2007 registry.

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Edward R. Murrow broadcast from London. (September 21, 1940)

Edward R. Murrow's eyewitness news broadcasts of the Battle of Britain conveyed the emotions and sounds of a city under siege to audiences throughout the United States. One of the best-remembered of that series of 1940 broadcasts was on September 21 when Murrow dispassionately described the bombing of London from a rooftop during the blitzkrieg. Selected for the 2004 registry.

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"Carousel of American Music." George M. Cohan, Irving Berlin, Johnny Mercer, Arthur Freed, Shelton Brooks, Hoagy Carmichael, others. (September 24, 1940)

These recordings, captured live at the Golden Gate International Exposition, document a once-in-a-lifetime concert which gathered together the top American songwriters of the day to perform their own compositions. Staged to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the composers' rights organization, ASCAP, the all-day event featured an afternoon symphony concert by the San Francisco Symphony followed by an evening of remarkable performances. Included here: Albert Von Tilzer (singing "Take Me Out to the Ball Game"); Ann Ronnell (singing "Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf"); Arthur Freed (singing "Singin' in the Rain"); Hoagy Carmichael (singing "Stardust"); Joseph E. Howard (singing "I Wonder Who's Kissing Her Now"); George M. Cohan (singing a rousing "Over There"); and Irving Berlin (performing "God Bless America").  Selected for the 2015 registry.

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"Talking Union" (album). The Almanac Singers. (1941)

Proponents of progressive causes and pioneers of the American folk revival movement, the Almanac Singers in 1941 recorded spirited performances of songs that have become labor-movement anthems. The members of the Almanac Singers on this recording are vocalists Lee Hays, Millard Lampell, Sam Gary, Carol White, Bess Lomax Hawes, Pete Seeger (vocals and banjo) and Josh White (vocals and guitar). First issued on the Keynote label as a 78-rpm album and expanded for long-playing disc in 1955 by Folkways (now Smithsonian Folkways), the album includes songs by Lee Hays, Millard Lampell, Jim Garland and Woody Guthrie. Selected for the 2010 registry.

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"Me and My Chauffeur Blues" (single). Memphis Minnie. (1941)

Lizzie Douglas, better known as Memphis Minnie, was born circa 1897 in Algiers, Louisiana. She took up guitar as a child after her family moved to the Memphis, Tennessee area in 1904, and was singing and playing on Beale Street in Memphis by the age of 13. She started recording under the name "Memphis Minnie" for the Columbia label in 1929 and went on to record over 200 songs, more than any other female country blues artist. "Me and My Chauffer Blues" showcases her aggressive and uncompromising vocal delivery and stinging guitar work. It also is her best known song, thanks in part to later covers by Big Mama Thornton, Nina Simone and Jefferson Airplane. Selected for the 2019 registry.

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 "They Look Like Men of War" (single). Deep River Boys. (1941)

When they recorded "They Look Like Men of War" on a 1941 Lang-Worth transcription disc, made for radio stations but not sold in stores, the Deep River Boys were singing an old hymn with a rich history at the all-black college where they had met as students in 1933, Hampton Institute in Virginia. The song had been part of the musical life at Hampton since the school's founding in the late 1860s, and was much beloved by the school's first president, General Samuel C. Armstrong, who first heard it sung by black troops under his command during the Civil War: "…late one evening I was startled by a magnificent chorus from nearly a thousand black Union soldiers, which called me from my tent to listen [to] its most inspiring strains, and I caught the words of what I called the 'Negro Battle Hymn'—'They Look Like Men of War.'" Selected for the 2018 registry.

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“Walking the Floor Over You” (single). Ernest Tubb (1941)

If “Walking the Floor Over You” wasn’t the first honky-tonk hit in country music, it’s certainly on the short list. Recorded by “Texas Troubadour” Ernest Tubb, on April 26, 1941 at Bunny Biggs’ studio in Dallas, it was notable for the prominence of an electric guitar, played by Fay “Smitty” Smith. Although Bob Wills had used an electric guitar as early as 1935, Wills did so in the context of his large, Western swing group, the Texas Playboys. Reportedly, Tubb wanted to include an electric guitar so his records would sound louder on jukeboxes and be heard above the din of roadhouses and honky tonks, the noisy, sometimes rowdy clubs which gave the genre its name. So, the use of electric or steel guitar in songs like “Walking the Floor,” signified not the first appearance of those instruments in country music, but rather the emergence of a new style. “Walking the Floor Over You” was not only a hit, it was influential far beyond the confines of country music, begetting covers by artists as diverse as Bing Crosby, Georgia Gibbs, Pat Boone, and Brook Benton. Tubb himself recorded the song several times, but it’s this 1941 performance, originally released as Decca 5958, which is generally regarded as the classic. Selected for the 2022 registry.

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"America's Town Meeting of the Air: Should Our Ships Convoy Materials to England?" (May 8, 1941)

"America's Town Meeting of the Air" was a spirited public affairs program broadcast live from Town Hall in New York over NBC radio from the 1930s to the 1950s. This program aired seven months before the nation's entry into World War II, when most of the country opposed entry into the war. The featured speakers were Reinhold Niebuhr, chairman of the Union for Democratic Action and creator of the Serenity Prayer, and John Flynn, New York chairman and a founder of the America First Committee. Niebuhr supported U.S. aid to Britain; Flynn opposed it. Selected for the 2009 registry.

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World Series Game Four–New York Yankees vs. Brooklyn Dodgers. (October 5, 1941)

Game four of the 1941 World Series has long been remembered as the game when Mickey Owen dropped the ball. With two outs, no Yankees on base, and Brooklyn leading 4-3, a third strike on the Yankee's Tommy Henrich got past Dodgers catcher Owen and instead of clinching a victory to tie the series at 2-2, Brooklyn saw the Yankees go on to score four runs and win 7-4. New York won the series the following afternoon. This radio broadcast features the "Voice of the Dodgers," and later the Yankees, Red Barber, along with Bob Elson and Bill Corum as announcers. Colorful, innovative, and much respected, Barber remains a legend in the elite world of baseball broadcasters. Selected for the 2003 registry.

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Address to Congress. Franklin D. Roosevelt. (December 8, 1941)

"Yesterday, December 7, 1941, a date which will live in infamy, the United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan." The day after the assault on Pearl Harbor, President Franklin D. Roosevelt addressed a joint session of Congress asking for a Declaration of War against Japan, marking the entry of the United States into World War II. The president's voice, strong and confident, yet familiar and reassuring, rallied the American public and helped to prepare them for the sacrifices that lay ahead. Selected for the 2006 registry.

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"We Hold These Truths." (December 15, 1941)

Commissioned to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the Bill of Rights, radio prducer and writer Norman Corwin created "We Hold These Truths." The one-hour drama exploring American values aired one week after the invasion of Pearl Harbor. The broadcast was carried on all four radio networks simultaneously to an audience of more than 60 million listeners, roughly half of the U.S. population at the time. It was the largest audience in history to listen to a dramatic presentation. Selected for the 2004 registry.

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Christmas Eve Broadcast. Franklin D. Roosevelt and Winston Churchill. (December 24, 1941)

On December 24th, 1941, President Franklin Roosevelt lit the White House Community Christmas Tree for the first time as the leader of a nation at war. The attack on Pearl Harbor was less than three weeks ago and though Americans were uneasy, it was a glimmer of hope for the people of Great Britain, who had been fighting the Nazis since 1939, and were staring across the English Channel at a Europe increasingly dominated by Germany. Prime Minister Winston Churchill made the dangerous journey across the Atlantic to visit President Franklin Roosevelt and address Congress. While staying at the White House, Churchill took part in the lighting of the White House Christmas Tree. He and President Roosevelt were heard coast-to-coast on the major US radio networks, and by short wave to much of the rest of the world. Churchill observed: "Here, in the midst of war, raging and roaring over all the lands and seas, creeping nearer to our hearts and homes, here, amid all the tumult, we have tonight the peace of the spirit in each cottage home and in every generous heart." Selected for the 2020 registry.

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"Native Brazilian Music" (album). Recorded under the supervision of Leopold Stokowski. (1942)

Leopold Stokowski and his All-American Youth Orchestra performed in Rio de Janeiro as part of a goodwill tour to South America in the summer of 1940. Prior to his visit to Brazil, Stokowski asked composer Heitor Villa-Lobos to help him collect and record popular Brazilian music, of which the conductor was a great admirer. Villa-Lobos assembled an elite group of musicians, including Pixinguinha, Donga, Cartola, Jararaca, Ratinho and José Espinguela. Forty recordings were made onboard the ship carrying Stokowski and the orchestra. Seventeen of the recordings, embracing musical styles such as sambas, batucadas, macumba and emboladas, were released in 1942 by Columbia Records on a 78-rpm album, "Native Brazilian Music." Selected for the 2006 registry.

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"White Christmas." Bing Crosby. (1942)

The original 1942 commercial recording by Bing Crosby. Crosby's later 1947 rendition of this Irving Berlin classic is one of the best-selling records ever made, but it is actually a remake of his earlier 1942 version. The 1947 version was recorded under John Scott Trotter, the same music director as the original, and utilized the same arrangement, but Crosby's reading is slightly different than the 1942 original recording. Selected for the 2002 registry.

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"Wings Over Jordan." (May 10, 1942)

The Wings Over Jordan choir was founded in 1935 by Rev. Glenn T. Settle, pastor of the Gethsemane Baptist Church in Cleveland, Ohio. In 1937, they began appearing on the radio program, "The Negro Hour," singing spirituals and other traditional gospel songs over local station WGAR. By 1938, the choir had become nationally known, broadcasting on CBS. The show, renamed "Wings Over Jordan," featured prominent African-American artists and scholars as well as choir selections. It ran until 1947. Thankfully, many of these radio programs can be studied and appreciated today because they were pressed as electrical transcriptions for broadcast by the Armed Forces Radio Network. Selected for the 2007 registry.

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"Command Performance." Episode: No. 21. Bob Hope, master of ceremonies. (July 7, 1942)

Although Bob Hope is known for his tireless touring for the United Service Organizations (USO), he also lent his services to other entertainment projects for the troops during World War II including "Command Performance." Of the programs broadcast by the Armed Forces Radio Service–-a wartime broadcasting service for the troops-–"Command Performance" consistently attracted the biggest stars of the day. This episode features Hope and guest star Lena Horne. Selected for the 2005 registry.

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"The Goldbergs." Sammy Goes Into the Army. (July 9, 1942)

This pioneering, classic radio program was created, written, produced by and stared Gertrude Berg in the role of Molly Goldberg. It is the second longest running program in radio history (1929-1946) and was later transferred to television. "The Goldbergs"—mother Molly, husband Jake, children Sammy and Rosie—concerned a Jewish immigrant family's struggle in adapting to the perplexities of American life while also charting their upward progression which mirrored many American families. Along the way, Molly's malapropisms became famous along with her "yoo-hoo" greeting, her gentle meddling, and her common sense. This episode deals with the shared sacrifices all Americans were making during World War II, and was broadcast live from the middle of New York's Grand Central Station. As her son, Sammy, boards a train for the Army, Molly comforts another anxious mother with wartime wisdom and touching humanity. Selected for the 2013 registry.

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"Artistry in Rhythm." Stan Kenton and His Orchestra. (1943)

That Stan Kenton led a jazz orchestra, not a dance band, is obvious from the first notes of "Artistry in Rhythm." Though he composed "Artistry" in 1941, Kenton was unable to record it until 1943 because of the ban on recording imposed by the American Federation of Musicians over royalty payments. The music stood out then and its freshness remains obvious to listeners today. This was no smooth, melodic song intended to be played to swaying couples in the big band ballrooms, but a complex, jazz concert piece. Arranged as well as composed by Kenton, "Artistry in Rhythm" exhibits traits that are typical of his work: an aggressive sound, innovative for the layering of one section of the orchestra playing over another, then another layer over both. As one reviewer observed, Kenton's music "was always controversial, but never sleepy." Selected for the 2011 registry.

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"Oklahoma!" (album). Original cast recording. (1943)

"Oklahoma!" holds the distinction of being the first Broadway "original cast album" to be recorded and marketed by a major company. The 78-rpm disc album was enormously successful and led to the nearly systematic recording of new musicals on Broadway. The cast included Alfred Drake as Curly, Joan Roberts as Laurey, and Celeste Holm as Ado Annie. "Oklahoma!" was also the first major collaboration between Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II. Favorites from the score include "Oh, What a Beautiful Morning," "Surrey with the Fringe on Top," and "People Will Say We're in Love." Selected for the 2003 registry.

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"Othello" (album). Paul Robeson, Uta Hagen, Jose Ferrer, and others. (1943)

In the early 1940s, after no U.S. theatre company would cast the African-American actor Paul Robeson in the lead role in Shakespeare's "Othello," the actor/singer/activist/lawyer decamped for England where he triumphed in the role in the West End. Upon his 1943 return to the U.S., Robeson was able to assume the role on the Broadway stage. In the production, this multi-talented man with the rich bass voice mesmerized audiences. He and his co-stars, Uta Hagen and José Ferrer, helped make this production the longest-running Shakespearean play in New York theatre history. Selected for the 2003 registry.

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"Sorry, Wrong Number" ("Suspense"). (May 25, 1943)

Orson Welles once called the radio drama "Sorry, Wrong Number," "the single greatest radio script ever written." First broadcast on May 25, 1943, as part of the radio series "Suspense," its author Lucille Fletcher conceived of it as "a story which could happen in no other medium than that of pure sound," a radio tour de force. Centered around a telephone—which Fletcher called "the real protagonist of the piece"—the radio play proved so popular it was restaged seven times between 1943 and 1960. As in the original, acclaimed actress Agnes Moorehead always played the lead, that of a bedridden woman who overhears news of a soon-to-occur murder. In its original 1943 airing, the actress was brilliantly supported by sound effects artist Bernie Surrey. Selected for the 2014 registry.

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"Straighten Up and Fly Right." Nat "King" Cole. (1943)

The King Cole Trio, featuring Nat "King" Cole on piano and vocals, is one of most respected small-group ensembles in jazz history. Cole's astonishing technical command of the piano, featuring a deceptively light touch, influenced many great piano virtuosos, including Erroll Garner, Oscar Peterson and Bill Evans. His vocal solo on this recording introduced audiences to his beautifully smooth singing, immaculate diction and liquid style.It launched his career as a one of the most popular singers of the mid-20th century. Selected for the 2005 registry.

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"Mary Margaret McBride." Mary Margaret McBride and Zora Neale Hurston. (January 25, 1943)

Zora Neale Hurston's appearance on the Mary Margaret McBride program is a unique audio document of this vital African-American writer whose legacy continues to grow. It is also a fine example of McBride's widely heard and highly influential afternoon radio program at the peak of the host's fame. As a talk-show host, McBride pioneered the unscripted radio interview. While her interview of Hurston sounds casual and folksy, it is a very informative and focused discussion of Hurston's recent writings, her early life and education, and her ethnographic field work in Haiti and Jamaica. Selected for the 2008 registry.

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Piano Concerto No. 1, Op. 23, B-flat Minor. Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky. Vladimir Horowitz, piano; Arturo Toscanini; conductor; NBC Symphony Orchestra. (April 25, 1943)

To promote the purchase of bonds during World War II, Arturo Toscanini and Vladimir Horowitz donated their services for an Easter Sunday afternoon concert, held at Carnegie Hall on April 25, 1943. The performance raised more than $10 million dollars. The second half of the concert was broadcast by NBC. It consisted of Tchaikovsky's first piano concerto "The Nutcracker Suite" and the "Star-Spangled Banner." Selected for the 2004 registry.

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Debut performance with the New York Philharmonic. Leonard Bernstein. (November 14, 1943)

On November 14, 1943, 25-year-old Leonard Bernstein, then the little known assistant conductor of the Philharmonic-Symphony Orchestra of New York, made his conducting debut with the ensemble as a last minute substitute in unenviable circumstances. Guest conductor Bruno Walter was sick, regular conductor Artur Rodziński was hundreds of miles away, and the concert was to be broadcast live across the country by CBS Radio. Bernstein met briefly with Walter, but had no time to rehearse. Concertgoers and radio listeners were moved deeply as Bernstein led the orchestra through the program. After the second piece, he was brought back to the podium four times and excitement continued to grow. In Boston, Bernstein's mentor Serge Koussevitzky dictated a telegram: "Listening now. Wonderful." Bernstein's triumph made the front page of the next day's "New York Times" and was reported across the country. Selected for the 2011 registry.

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"Ac-Cent-Tchu-Ate the Positive" (single). Johnny Mercer (1944)

Written in 1944 for the film "Here Come the Waves" by prolific composer Harold Arlen and Johnny Mercer, "Ac-Cent-Tchu-Ate the Positive" was recorded by Mercer with the Pied Pipers and Paul Weston's Orchestra and released on Capitol Records in late 1944. It became one of the biggest hits of 1945. Mercer's literate and witty lyrics, combined with his genial vocal style and Southern accent, proved to be popular with the public both on recordings and the radio. Sung in the style of a sermon, Mercer used his song to cleverly explain how a positive outlook is the key to happiness, an attitude and message that was still strongly in demand by an increasingly war-weary US. Selected for the 2014 registry.

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"Down by the Riverside." Sister Rosetta Tharpe. (1944)

Sister Rosetta Tharpe, considered to be one of the greatest gospel singers of her generation, merged blues and jazz into her performances and influenced many gospel, jazz and rock artists. She sang at John Hammond's historic 1938 concert, "From Spirituals to Swing," in Carnegie Hall, and was a frequent performer in night clubs as well as before religious groups. "Down by the Riverside" captures her spirited guitar playing and unique vocal style, demonstrating clearly her influence on early rhythm-and-blues performers. Selected for the 2004 registry.

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"Hottest Women's Band of the 1940s" (album). International Sweethearts of Rhythm. (1944-1946; released 1984)

The International Sweethearts of Rhythm was an interracial all‑women jazz band formed in the late 1930's at the Piney Woods Country Life School, a boarding school for African-American children in Mississippi. The band made very few commercial recordings but toured extensively in the 1940's, performing in Europe as well as at predominantly African-American theaters and can also be seen in several motion pictures. Professional musicians who joined the band include vocalist Anna Mae Winburn, Viola Burnside on tenor saxophone, and Ernestine "Tiny" Davis on trumpet. Rosetta Records, founded by Rosetta Reitz, was a record label dedicated exclusively to reissuing performances by female jazz and blues artists. Rosetta Records' International Sweethearts of Rhythm album, released in 1984, includes commercially recorded tracks by the band and excerpts from an appearance on the Armed Forces Radio Service program "Jubilee." Selected for the 2011 registry.

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"This Land is Your Land." Woody Guthrie. (1944)

Woody Guthrie, a legendary folk poet, had a strong influence on the folksong revival of the 1950s. He wrote or adapted over 1,000 songs, including this classic. Guthrie intended the song to be a grassroots response to "God Bless America." Selected for the 2002 registry.

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"Uncle Sam Blues." Oran "Hot Lips" Page, accompanied by Eddie Condon's Jazz Band. V-Disc . (1944)

During the 1940s, the United States was in the record business. The V-Disc label was created to boost morale by providing recordings of familiar American artists to service camps overseas as well as on the home front. The V-Disc program took on added significance when, owing to a dispute between the record labels and the musicians' union over royalties, union musicians were forbidden to make commercial recordings. With the understanding that V-Discs would not be sold in the domestic market, the union permitted musicians to contribute their services for free so that some V-Disc releases could include fresh, new performances. Trumpeter Oran "Hot Lips" Page had played with the Bennie Moten Orchestra in Kansas City and was a featured performer with Artie Shaw during 1941-42. Page's V-Disc recording of the "Uncle Sam Blues," an ode to military conscription, must have resonated on both the war and home fronts. Selected for the 2008 registry.

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D-Day Radio Broadcast. George Hicks. (June 5-6, 1944)

The D-Day invasion was still secret when radio correspondent George Hicks committed his observations of it to a portable film recorder on the deck of a ship carrying troops to the beaches of France. The first official bulletins of the fighting aired in the early morning hours in the United States, but throughout the day the public had little more to go on than the occasional updates and speculation that filled radio airwaves. Hicks's recording aired late that evening, and when his voice was heard over the din of combat, audiences found it riveting. Highlights were later released on 78-rpm records, and his spontaneous descriptions and composure under fire won him wide praise. Until this point, recordings had only very rarely been used in reporting the news, but as one commentator stated later that week, Hicks's work showed that they could be "more alive than a 'live' program." Selected for the 2012 registry.

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General Dwight D. Eisenhower's D-Day radio address to the Allied Nations. (June 6, 1944)

General Eisenhower's radio address to European citizens on the day of the Allied Normandy Invasion announces the invasion, requests their support, and both promises and foretells liberation. Selected for the 2002 registry.

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"Jazz at the Philharmonic" (album). (July 2, 1944)

Jazz at the Philharmonic (JATP) was the title of a series of jazz concerts, tours and recordings produced by Norman Granz between 1944 and 1983. With these concerts, Granz took the concept of the jam session out of the club and brought it to wider audiences via concert halls. The first Jazz at the Philharmonic concert was held on July 2, 1944, in the auditorium of the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra. It featured many of the foremost jazz musicians of the time, including Charlie Parker, Illinois Jacquet, Nat "King" Cole, Les Paul, Meade Lux Lewis, Buddy Rich, J.J. Johnson, Shorty Sherock, Jack McVea and others. The audience that night heard a wide variety of styles, including Dixieland, Swing, early Bop, and rhythm and blues. With the publication of these selections from this concert, a wide audience was able to experience and enjoy the excitement of ad-hoc ensembles and extended solos common to jam sessions, but rarely heard on published recordings. Selected for the 2010 registry.

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The Library of Congress Marine Corps Combat Field Recording Collection, Second Battle of Guam. (July 20-August 11, 1944)

"It's machine gun fire! Spread out! Spread out…! [O]h, one boy's been hit…one boy's hurt now. Four men are putting him in the rubber boat."

So narrates battle correspondent Alvin Josephy while wading ashore with the first wave of soldiers in the battle to retake Guam on July 21, 1944. This collection owes its existence to the collaboration of Harold Spivacke, chief of the Library of Congress Music Division, and Brigadier General Robert L. Denig to provide war correspondents with recording machines to interview soldiers, record their songs, and document actual battles in the Pacific theater during World War II. While the larger collection includes battle coverage of Iwo Jima, Saipan, and Guadalcanal, the recordings made in Guam feature the most immediate coverage of battle. Among the dozens of recordings made on Guam, listeners can hear firsthand coverage of an officer's briefing before the invasion, reportage and battle sounds on the morning of the invasion, rare recordings of tank communications, an awards ceremony after the fighting has ended, native opinions of the Japanese occupation, and the personal reactions of the enlisted troops before, during, and after battle. Selected for the 2009 registry.

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"Caldonia." Louis Jordan. (1945)

Vocalist and alto saxophonist Louis Jordan left the Chick Webb Orchestra in 1938 and started his own small group devoted to the jump blues style. By the mid-1940s he had achieved unparalleled crossover success. Louis Jordan and His Tympany Five scored national hits in the "race," country and pop markets with their infectious, driving performances of Jordan's sharp, witty songs, and were an important influence on early rock and roll. "Caldonia," one of Jordan's biggest hits, is a swinging, up-tempo, dance tune which may be best remembered for its comedic, shouted punch line, "Caldonia! Caldonia! What makes your big head so hard?" Selected for the 2013 registry.

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"Ko Ko." Charlie Parker, Miles Davis, Dizzy Gillespie, and others. (1945)

Charlie Parker (alto sax) was another of jazz's premier improvising soloists. "Ko Ko" signaled the birth of a new era in jazz--bebop. This session for Savoy Records featured Charlie Parker with Miles Davis and Dizzy Gillespie. Selected for the 2002 registry.

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Fiorello LaGuardia reading the comics. (1945)

Fiorello LaGuardia, the effervescent mayor who is credited with building modern New York City, regularly took to the radio to communicate directly with the citizens of the city. One of LaGuardia's most recounted acts as mayor was when he read the comics to the children of the city on WNYC radio during the 1945 newspaper delivery strike. He performed animated, dramatic readings, describing the action in the panels, creating different voices and adding excitement with his voice. This benevolent image of LaGuardia was immortalized in the opening scene of the Pulitzer Prize-winning musical "Fiorello!" Surviving recordings of LaGuardia reading the comics are held in the WNYC Collection of New York's Municipal Archives. Selected for the 2007 registry.

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"The Guiding Light." (November 22, 1945)

"The Guiding Light" was the longest-running scripted program in broadcast history, running for a total of 72 years, from 1937 until 2009 on radio and television. The program was notable as an archetype of the highly populated radio "soap opera" genre, and as a breakthrough success of the innovative and prolific scriptwriter, Irna Phillips, whom many credit with inventing the entire genre. Although the later TV series revolved around the Bauer Family, the original radio version focused on the Rev. John Ruthledge and his congregation in the fictional community of Five Points. Rev. Ruthledge's reading lamp, visible to all who passed his house, was the program's namesake. Of the show's hundreds of episodes, the Registry adds this installment aired on the first Thanksgiving after the conclusion of World War II. With Rev. Ruthledge still serving overseas as a chaplain, his friend, the Reverend Dr. Frank Tuttle, gives a moving sermon to a packed church. Selected for the 2020 registry.

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Radio Coverage of President Franklin D. Roosevelt's Funeral. Arthur Godfrey, et.al. (April 14, 1945)

Following President Roosevelt's death on Thursday, April 12,. 1945, the national radio networks suspended regular programming to broadcast round-the-clock tributes, memorial services, and live coverage of the journey of the train bearing the President's body to Washington, DC. On Saturday, April 14th, a the solemn funeral cortege made its way from DC's Union Station to the White House, relays of radio announcers described its progress. Arthur Godfrey, then a local broadcast personality, was added to the CBS national broadcast team. Godfrey's beautifully detailed and dramatic descriptions from atop a bank building at the corner of Pennsylvania Avenue, with his tone changing from solemn and journalistic to personal and emotional, helps to illuminate the depth of the nation's grief over the passing of FDR. Selected for the 2014 registry.

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Proceedings of the United Nations Conference on International Organization. (4/25/45-6/26/45)

As World War II ground through its final months, thousands of people from around the world gathered in San Francisco to draft the charter that would create the United Nations. NBC Radio broadcast coverage of the United Nations Conference on International Organization (UNCIO) from April 25 through June 26, 1945. These recordings survive in the form of 146 lacquer disc recordings and serve as testament to the energy surrounding the momentous endeavor toward a new experiment in global cooperation while enhancing our understanding of that time in history. Selected for the 2017 registry.

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"Tubby the Tuba" (album) (1945)

The charming musical story of "Tubby" (music by George Kleinsinger, words by Paul Tripp) introduces children to the sounds and roles of orchestral instruments and is one of the most enduring children's recordings ever made. The work was first recorded in 1946 and featured narration by character actor Victor Jory. Selected for the 2005 registry.

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“On a Note of Triumph.” (May 8, 1945)

Writer Norman Corwin’s radio tribute to the Bill of Rights, “We Hold These Truths,” was heard by the largest radio audience to date in December of 1941, a people searching for affirmation in the wake of their country’s entry into World War II. Three and a half years later, “On a Note of Triumph,” his salute to the Allied victory in Europe, aired the evening of VE Day, May 8, 1945. An enormous audience tuned in again, and an encore performance aired five days later, and was issued as a record album. The script of the program was rushed into bookstores within a week of the first performance. The 60-minute production was anchored by the passionate narration of Martin Gabel, who led a sonic tour of the years leading up to the war, its battlefields, and the homes of ordinary people. The title aptly describes the program’s thunderous opening and proclamation of victory. The tone changes however, and voices are heard asking questions like “what do we know now that we didn’t know before?” and “what do we do now?”  “On a Note of Triumph” is not a subtle work, but, like its predecessor, it filled a deep need for its audience. Selected for the 2022 registry.

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"The Fred Allen Show." (October 7, 1945)

Starting on December 13, 1942, "The Fred Allen Show" featured a segment known as "Allen's Alley" in which Allen would stroll along a fictitious alley and meet a colorful cast of characters, including Senator Bloat, Mrs. Pansy Nussbaum and Falstaff Openshaw. One measure of the continuing influence of the show was Warner Bros.' modeling the cartoon rooster Foghorn Leghorn on Senator Claghorn, the blustery Southern politician who was a regular character on "Allen's Alley." This October 7, 1945, broadcast marked the debut of the Senator Claghorn character. Selected for the 2005 registry.

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"Folk Songs of the Hills" (album). Merle Travis. (1946)

It's ironic that Merle Travis most enduring recording is titled "Folk Songs of the Hills" because Travis insisted that, "You don't write a folk song ... They come up out of the ground–the hills. That's why they're called folks songs." Nevertheless, after being signed to a record contract in 1946, Travis was asked to come up with an album of folk songs to take advantage of the post-World War II folk revival. Travis bristled at the assignment and came up with "Sixteen Tons," which to him was a sarcastic response because "... you just can't load sixteen tons of number nine-coal. No man can do that." Despite his personal reservations, in 1947, Capitol Records released a four-disc, 78 rpm album set containing four traditional songs and four original songs, all sung by Travis accompanied by his guitar. An early concept album, "Folk Songs of the Hills," achieved only modest sales but has seldom been out of print and spawned a #1 hit in Tennessee Ernie Ford's 1955 version of "Sixteen Tons." The most enduring song, though, might be "Dark as a Dungeon," which country music singer-songwriter Marty Stuart praised as a song "... as deep as any in the American Songbook." Besides his songwriting, Travis was an exceptional guitarist who influenced such country music legends as Chet Atkins and Scotty Moore. Selected for the 2017 registry.

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"Jole Blon." Harry Choates. (1946)

"Jole Blon," by fiddler Harry Choates, is credited with introducing Cajun music to a national audience and making that genre a significant component of country music. Choates is known to many as the "Godfather of Cajun Music" and as the "Fiddle King of Cajun Swing." "Jole Blon," recorded for the Gold Star label, quickly became a country charts hit, the first Cajun song to make the top 10. Selected for the 2005 registry.

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"U. S. Highball (A Musical Account of a Transcontinental Hobo Trip)" (album). Harry Partch; Gate 5 Ensemble. (1946)

Harry Partch, American composer and instrument maker, said his music was "based on a monophonic system of acoustic intervals and an expandable source scale of more than 40 notes to the so-called scale." He was known for his adaptation and invention of instruments including the chromelodeon, the chordophone, the kitchara, the harmonic canon and the bloboys. "U.S. Highball (A Musical Account of a Transcontinental Hobo Trip)" for chorus and instruments was first performed at Carnegie Hall in 1944. It is an account of a freight train ride from California to Chicago, part of a larger body of work that Partch composed after traveling the country. Selected for the 2004 registry.

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"Sinews of Peace" (Iron Curtain speech). Speech by Winston Churchill. (March 5, 1946)

Lamenting the deepening shadow of the Soviet Union's occupation of Eastern Europe and fearing Soviet-directed, fifth-column activities in the West, Winston Churchill delivered this opening salvo of the Cold War at Westminster College in Fulton, Missouri. The speech heralds an increasingly widespread feeling in the West that a tougher stance was needed toward Russia, a departure following the positive image that the country enjoyed as a wartime ally in World War II. Churchill famously pronounced that "From Stettin in the Baltic to Trieste in the Adriatic, an iron curtain has descended across the Continent." Selected for the 2008 registry.

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Bach B-Minor Mass (album). Robert Shaw. (1947)

Robert Shaw, one of the most successful and influential choral conductors in the United States, led his newly-formed chorale in this 1947 recording of Bach's B-Minor Mass. Shaw's use of relatively small forces for this Baroque masterpiece was novel at the time. It influenced subsequent performances and contributed to the trend toward more "authenticity" in the performance practice of early music. Selected for the 2003 registry.

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"Blue Moon of Kentucky." Bill Monroe and the Blue Grass Boys. (1947)

This recording of the bluegrass standard by its composer, "The Father of Bluegrass," mandolinist Bill Monroe, is the song's earliest recording. "Blue Moon of Kentucky" has since been recorded by many other musicians, including Elvis Presley on his Sun Sessions. Presley's version was such a hit that Monroe later revised his performance to reflect Presley's influence. Selected for the 2002 registry.

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"Call It Stormy Monday But Tuesday is Just As Bad." T-Bone Walker. (1947)

The first recording of this blues standard was made by the Black and White label in Los Angeles on September 14, 1947. Backing up Walker on the session are Lloyd C. Glenn on piano, Bumps Myers on tenor sax and Teddy Buckner playing a muted trumpet. This lineup adds a strong jazz inflection to the recording. Over the years the song has been reinterpreted with great success by a wide range of blues, rock and jazz recording artists, including Bobby Blue Bland, Lou Rawls, The Allman Brothers and Kenny Burrell. Selected for the 2007 registry.

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"The Churkendoose." Ray Bolger. (1947)

"The Churkendoose" is a children's tale of tolerance, compassion and diversity, written by Ben Ross Berenberg for his daughter. The recording features the voice of Ray Bolger, music composed by Alec Wilder, and a supporting cast of farm animals. The Churkendoose, a creature who is part chicken, turkey, duck and goose, didn't fit in at the farm. Rejected and ridiculed, he became a hero by saving the other animals from the fox. Ultimately, the animals embrace the Churkendoose and learn a valuable lesson about acceptance. Selected for the 2008 registry.

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"Four Saints in Three Acts" (album). "Original" cast recording. (1947)

Virgil Thomson's opera, "Four Saints in Three Acts," is generally acknowledged to be one of the greatest of American operas. Its libretto was written by Gertrude Stein. Selections from the opera were recorded in 1947 by RCA Victor with many of the original cast members and Thomson conducting the orchestra and choir. Selected for the 2004 registry.

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“Don’t Let Nobody Turn You Around” (single). The Fairfield Four. (1947)

The Fairfield Four has represented the Jubilee style of a cappella quartet singing in the African-American church since their early days in Nashville, Tennessee, in the 1920s, a legacy carried on by the present incarnation of the group. At their second session for Nashville’s Bullet Records label in 1947, they recorded “Don’t Let Nobody Turn You Around,” a signature song that they would perform and re-record throughout their career. The Rev. Sam McCrary had been their lead tenor since 1940, powerfully sustaining words and syllables while the other members intoned their accompaniment. The song had been in the repertoire of others since the 1920s, but at a time when African-American religious music was changing rapidly, adding instruments and amplification in service of the message, the Fairfield Four broke through as the accomplished and passionate embodiment of the older Jubilee style, making their mark in the louder and faster postwar world of America.  Selected for the 2023 registry.

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"The Four Seasons" (album). Louis Kaufman and the Concert Hall String Orchestra. (1947)

Louis Kaufman was one of the most recorded violinists of the 20th century with a brilliant career performing both film and classical music. His 1947 recording of Vivaldi's "Four Seasons" with the Concert Hall Orchestra conducted by Henry Swoboda, was the first LP recording of the work. Kaufman's performance would play a pivotal role in the revival of baroque music and interest in performance practice of early music. Selected for the 2003 registry.

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"Hula Medley." Gabby Pahinui. (1947)

Gabby Pahinui was a master of slack key guitar, a style originating in Hawaii. In slack key, one or more of a guitar's strings are loosened or "slacked" from the standard EADGBE format to create a different tuning, usually a chord that allows it to be played without using the fretboard. Often the thumb plays rhythm on the lower strings, while the fingers play the melody on the higher strings. Pahinui made some of the first modern recordings in this genre, including the lovely instrumental "Hula Medley" in 1947. Selected for the 2011 registry.

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"Just Because." Frank Yankovic & His Yanks. (1947)

As a child in Ohio in the 1920s, Frank Yankovic learned to play music of his parents' Slovenian homeland on the accordion. By the 1930s though, Yankovic was playing in the polka style popular in Cleveland, a lightfooted and energetic fusion that incorporated influences from various Germanic and Eastern European traditions. Yankovic added flavoring from Italian, pop, jazz and other styles to this mix and experimented with the instrumentation as he built audiences. This eclectic approach served him well at his first major label recording session, when he insisted on recording "Just Because," a country and western song of more than a decade earlier. Driven by the bright and melodic twin accordion leads of Yankovic and Johnny Pecon, and the jazzy inflection and syncopations of Hank Bokal's drumming and Georgie Cook's Dixieland tenor banjo, the pop and ethnic fusion of "Just Because" reached a national audience, and established Yankovic as polka's top artist and innovator. Selected for the 2012 registry.

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"Manteca." Dizzy Gillespie Big Band with Chano Pozo. (1947)

Latin jazz, sometimes called Afro–Cuban jazz, incorporates jazz improvisation with Cuban rhythms. The music strongly emphasizes percussion, using congas, timbales and bongos to supplement piano, guitar or vibes with horns and vocals. A pioneer of this pulsating, infectious sound was Dizzy Gillespie, who was greatly influenced by Chano Pozo, a Cuban singer and drummer. Performing with Gillespie for the first time in 1947, Pozo joined Gillespie's bebop big band and composed "Manteca" with him, later recording it for RCA Victor. Selected for the 2004 registry.

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"Indians for Indians." (March 25, 1947)

Originated by Don Whistler (a.k.a. Chief Kesh-ke-kosh), "The Indians for Indians Hour" was a radio show aired on WNAD at the University of Oklahoma in Norman, Oklahoma from 1941 until 1985. It was a weekly venue for Native American music and cultural exchange featuring guests and music from 18 tribes reached by the station's signal, including: Apache, Arapaho, Caddo, Cheyenne, Choctaw, Comanche, Kaw, Kiowa, Osage, Oto, Pawnee, Ponca, Seminole, Shawnee, and Wichita. Whistler allowed only-Indian music and no non-Indian guests unless they worked for Indian Services. This program, one of 320 known to survive, includes news of a recent pow wow and songs praising Indian war veterans sung by a group of Kiowa war mothers. Though the program was sometimes criticized for highlighting music and entertainment instead of issues, it nevertheless served as an important tool for generational sharing and the popularization and preservation of Native American culture. In 1946, "Indians for Indians" reached an estimated weekly audience of over 75,000, almost all of Native American origin. Whistler hosted the show until his death in 1951. Later hosts included Allen Quetone, Mose Poolaw, Clyde Warrior, Clyde Warrior, and Boyce Timmons. Selected for the 2011 registry.

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The "Marshall Plan" Speech. George C. Marshall. (June 5, 1947)

In the spring of 1947, more than two years after VE Day, with much of Europe still in ruins, General George C. Marshall, then serving as US Secretary of State, spoke at Harvard University and gave this policy speech in a deliberate but not dramatic style that is still renowned for its careful construction and directness, and its sober assessment of the tasks ahead. First describing Europe's bleak landscape of destruction, broken economies and slow starvation, Marshall then declared, "Political passion and prejudice should have no part. With foresight, and a willingness on the part of our people to face up to the vast responsibility that history has clearly placed upon our country, the difficulties I have outlined can and will be overcome." Selected for the 2015 registry.

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"Boogie Chillen'." John Lee Hooker. (1948)

This first hit for the largely self-taught John Lee Hooker showcases his take on the Delta blues. Hooker was born in Coahoma County, Mississippi, spent his early years in Memphis and eventually moved to Detroit. The R&B label Modern released the infectiously rhythmic track after Hooker's manager presented them with a demo. While the song's instrumentation is simple, featuring only vocal, guitar and the tapping of Hooker's foot, the driving rhythm and confessional lyrics have guaranteed its place as an influential and enduring blues classic. Selected for the 2008 registry.

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"Evangeline Special" and "Love Bridge Waltz." Iry LeJeune. (1947)

The post-World War II revival of traditional Cajun music began with accordionist Iry LeJeune's first single, his influential recordings of "Evangeline Special" and "Love Bridge Waltz." LeJeune's emotional and deeply personal style was immensely popular with Louisiana Cajuns returning home from the war, eager to hear their own music again. His recordings marked a distinct turn away from the Western-Swing influenced style that had dominated commercial Cajun recordings for over a decade and a return to the older sound of Cajun music featuring the accordion and unrestrained, blues-influenced singing. Selected for the 2009 registry.

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"I Can Hear It Now: 1933-1945" (album). Edward R. Murrow and Fred Friendly. (1948)

"I Can Hear It Now" was an unlikely hit: a collection of speech excerpts and news reports from 1933 to 1945 featuring a wide array of speakers, from Will Rogers to Adolph Hitler. Columbia Records gambled on radio producer Fred Friendly's idea when a musicians' strike limited the recording of new music. Friendly, later president of CBS News, spent months locating and copying 100 hours of broadcast disc recordings, using newly introduced magnetic recording tape to create compelling montages. CBS Radio's Edward R. Murrow added star power as narrator and co-writer. "I Can Hear It Now" found Americans eager to relive their own history, and sold briskly on 78-rpm discs and in Columbia's new LP format. The ease of editing and recording on magnetic tape facilitated creating portions of the album that are now controversial, such as the fabrication of a break-in announcement of the Pearl Harbor attack, and the rerecording of a newscast to replace a damaged original. However, the recording was widely imitated and Friendly and Murrow produced two sequels, along with radio and television spinoffs. Selected for the 2011 registry.

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"I'll Fly Away." The Chuck Wagon Gang. (1948)

The Chuck Wagon Gang—comprised of D.P. "Dad" Carter, his son and two daughters—was already one of the nation's most beloved country-gospel groups when its members recorded the first version of Albert E. Brumley's "I'll Fly Away," which quickly became a standard. The family group's strong four-part singing came out of the southern shape-note tradition, though the addition of Jim Carter's guitar gave their sound a special drive at a time when most other gospel groups favored piano. The original Chuck Wagon Gang stayed with the group into the 1970s, when new participants began rotating in and out of the ensemble. The group continues to this day, currently led by Shaye Smith, granddaughter of original alto Anna Carter. Selected for the 2016 registry.

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Ives Piano Sonata No. 2 ("Concord Sonata") (album). John Kirkpatrick. (1948)

John Kirkpatrick, eminent pianist and energetic promoter of American music, premiered Charles Ives' "Concord Sonata" in 1939. His performance of the technically-demanding work earned enthusiastic reviews for both Ives and Kirkpatrick and led to Kirkpatrick's recording of the work. Now considered one of the most original of American composers, Ives' works changed the direction of American music. Selected for the 2003 registry.

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"Move On Up a Little Higher." Mahalia Jackson. (1948)

This recording was gospel singer Mahalia Jackson's breakthrough disc, a bestseller that appealed equally to black and white audiences and reputedly became the bestselling gospel release of the time. In her performance, Jackson blends the vocal styles of blues singers, such as Bessie Smith and Ma Rainey, with the heartfelt emotion and commitment common to traditional gospel singing. Her recordings helped to make gospel music popular with racially and reiligously diverse audiences. Selected for the 2005 registry.

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"The Jack Benny Program." (March 28, 1948.)

Jack Benny's career started in vaudeville but he soon mastered other show business formats, including radio, television and motion pictures. Benny is best remembered as the parsimonious straight man to his regular cast of characters on radio and television. In a skit broadcast in 1948, Benny was held up by a thief. When asked by the robber, "Your money or your life," Benny paused and eventually replied, "I'm thinking it over." Selected for the 2004 registry.

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Harry S. Truman speech at the 1948 Democratic National Convention. (July 15, 1948)

Prior to the 1948 Democratic Convention, President Truman's popularity was low and political commentators were sure that Thomas Dewey would easily win the presidential election. One of Truman's advisors admitted that the president had a "speaking problem"--he relied too heavily on prepared scripts and his delivery was rushed and, occasionally, unintelligible. In this speech, Truman worked only from a loose script and, as a result, he found his natural voice. In a down-to-earth and direct manner, which included colloquialisms from his home state of Missouri, the feisty president predicted, "Senator Barkley and I will win this election and make the Republicans like it. Don't you forget it." The applause lasted for a full two minutes. Defying many predictions, Truman won re-election. Selected for the 2007 registry.

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"Foggy Mountain Breakdown." Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs. (1949)

Lester Flatt, Earl Scruggs and their band, the Foggy Mountain Boys, made this influential recording for Mercury Records on December 11, 1949, in Cincinnati, Ohio. The first of many instrumental hits featuring Scrugg's three-finger banjo picking style, it has set benchmarks for generations of banjo players and bluegrass performers. The 1949 recording of "Foggy Mountain Breakdown" was famously featured as chase music in the 1967 film "Bonnie and Clyde." Selected for the 2004 registry.

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"The Jazz Scene" (album). Various artists. (1949)

At a time when many 78-rpm discs were still sold in plain brown sleeves, producer Norman Granz released this limited-edition album set for Mercury Records that included commissioned line drawings by David Stone Martin, large photographs by Gjon Mili and 12 sides of the most innovative jazz of the time. While illustrated album sets were not new at the time, the lavishness of this release was unique. Among the artists represented on the set are Duke Ellington, Lester Young, Charlie Parker, Bud Powell, Max Roach, Machito and Coleman Hawkins (who plays an unaccompanied tenor sax solo). The presence on the album of Machito's selection "Tanga" points to the increasing significance of Afro-Cuban jazz in the late 1940s. Selected for the 2007 registry.

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"Kiss Me, Kate" (Original Cast Album) (1949)

With "Kiss Me, Kate," Cole Porter created one of his most brilliant works for the stage. Blending Shakespeare and showbiz, the Tony award-winning show presents a contemporary theatrical company performing as a troupe of Elizabethan players traveling with their musical version of "Taming of the Shrew." Initially skeptical that Shakespeare would entertain a musical comedy audience, Porter merged high-brow and low in some of his most sophisticated lyrics. The original cast album was released within six weeks of the show's opening. The album's sales success more than justified Columbia Records's rush to record and release the recording, as well as its decision to make it the first original cast album released in their 12" long-playing disc format, then less than a year old. Selected for the 2014 registry.

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"The Little Engine That Could." Paul Wing, narrator. (1949)

This classic story of optimism and determination is beloved by several generations of Americans. The charming story is climaxed by the mantra "I think I can – I think I can – I think I can …" chanted in a chugging rhythm as the little blue engine successfully climbs over the mountain to bring a train full of toys to waiting children. Paul Wing's cheerful reading and the recording's rich sound effects make this version of the story the most fondly remembered of many recorded interpretations. Selected for the 2009 registry.

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"Lovesick Blues." Hank Williams. (1949)

This career-making record became Hank Williams' first number one hit and propelled him from regional success to national stardom. It was this recording which led to Williams being invited to perform on the "Grand Ole Opry." At his first appearance, the "Opry" audience demanded six encores of the song's yodeled closing. Selected for the 2004 registry.

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"South Pacific" (album). Original cast recording. (1949)

Acclaimed as one of Richard Rodgers' and Oscar Hammerstein II's greatest musicals, the Pulitzer Prize-winning "South Pacific" also has achieved landmark status in recorded sound history. Although the long-playing record (LP) was launched in 1948, sales did not take off until the next year, when Columbia Records released the original cast recording of "South Pacific" in both 78-rpm and LP formats. "South Pacific" became one of the best-selling records in the industry's history and initiated a bidding war among record companies for the rights to record original cast albums. The show brought the subject of racial prejudice to a mainstream audience, and through the album, its message spread beyond Broadway to millions of American living rooms during the years in which the modern civil rights movement was spreading. Record producer Goddard Lieberson saw the show fourteen times while preparing the album, but realized that the most important decisions occurred in the recording studio itself. "It is there that ingenuity must substitute heightened musical effects for the action and scenery of the theatre," he insisted. Lieberson's goal to create during the recording session "the elusive quality of atmosphere" became the model for many great cast albums that followed "South Pacific." Selected for the 2012 registry.

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"Destination Freedom." Episodes: "A Garage in Gainesville" and "Execution Awaited" (September 25; October 2, 1949)

From June 1948 to August 1950, Chicago radio station WMAQ broadcast "Destination Freedom," a remarkable program dedicated to presenting not only the accomplishments of black Americans, but also the obstacles they overcame and the prejudice they endure. All episodes were written by Richard Durham, who had been previously been an editor at the "Chicago Defender" newspaper. This two-part episode is a searing indictment of racial prejudice in America. In the first, a black businessman in the south is harassed; in the second, "Execution Awaited," prejudice itself is put on trial. Selected for the 2015 registry.

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"Guys & Dolls" (album). Original cast recording. (1950)

The Broadway musical fable "Guys & Dolls" is considered to be one of the greatest musical comedies every produced. It features a masterful score by Frank Loesser as well as an excellent book based on the short stories of Damon Runyon. The recording by its original cast preserves aurally many definitive performances of the show's musical treasures, most notably those by Vivian Blaine and Stubby Kaye. Selected for the 2004 registry.

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"How I Got Over" (single). Clara Ward and the Ward Singers. (1950)

The Ward Singers were one of the earliest female gospel performing groups to bring their distinctive sound outside the church and into popular culture. Their song, “How I Got Over,” is delivered in gratitude and as a promise to overcome the challenges and struggles. The song has served as a song of praise and a call to action ever since. According to Clara’s sister, Willa, Clara chose to cover the song after the singers were menaced with racial epithets while on their way to a performance at an Alabama church. This experience led Clara to contemplate hardship and survival, and she published her reworking of the gospel standard. Later, Mahalia Jackson performed the song at the 1963 March on Washington, and it has remained vital as a standard in the gospel genre and via the work of many artists, including The Blind Boys of Alabama and Aretha Franklin. Selected for the 2017 registry.

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“Jesus Gave Me Water” (single). The Soul Stirrers. (1950)

“Jesus Gave Me Water” comes from the first studio session of a young Chicago gospel singer named Sam Cook, seven years before he added an “e” to his last name and gained worldwide fame in the pop and R&B fields. Cook was 19, with only about 18 months of professional experience on the local gospel scene, and he had been chosen to replace the much loved and respected leader of the group, R.H. Harris. Without Harris, the group’s future was uncertain, but the combination of its three veteran members with Cook and another recent addition, tenor Paul Foster, was a winner. Cook’s deceptively gentle, mellifluous voice was a new sound in the music, and drew younger audiences back to gospel programs in droves. Cook excelled at songs that told a story, and “Jesus Gave Me Water” recounts a key event in the life of Jesus, his encounter with the Samaritan woman at the well, and the lesson of living water he reveals to her. “Jesus Gave Me Water” sold strongly for the Specialty label in the spring of 1950, re-establishing the Soul Stirrers as a premier group, and launching one of American music’s greatest artists. Selected for the 2022 registry.

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Leon Metcalf Collection of recordings of the First People of western Washington State. (1950-1954)

Metcalf, a logger, musician, and music instructor with a life-long interest in languages, documented songs, stories, and other narratives from native speakers in the Puget Sound region and neighboring areas. He used one of the earliest commercially available tape recorders. Among the many individuals he recorded were Ruth Shelton, Susie Sampson Peter, Annie Daniels, Martha Lamont, Willy Gus, Martin Sampson, Silas Heck, Harry Moses, Hal George, Amy Allen, and Joseph Hillaire. The Metcalf recordings not only document the voices of many native speakers, they also include unique content due to Metcalf's practice of giving his consultants free rein during recording sessions. They often recorded personal messages to one another, providing a rare aural documentation of conversational practice, and several told lengthy myth narratives that filled several reels of tape. The revival of interest in Lushootseed language and literature and, in particular, the work of Upper Skagit elder Vi Hilbert, owes much to this collection, which has been the source of material for language instruction projects and numerous publications since the 1970s. The collection is located at the Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture, University of Washington, Seattle. Selected for the 2009 registry.

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"Dust My Broom." Elmore James. (1951)

Several versions of "Dust My Broom" had been released by 1951 when Elmore James made this landmark 78-rpm recording for the Trumpet label. Though the song wasn't new, his sound was. James replaced the acoustic, solo blues of Robert Johnson with an electric blues band. James is known to have tinkered with his guitar pickups and fans still argue about how he achieved his signature sound. Whatever combination of guitar and pickup was used in his slide guitar opening, Elmore James created the most recognizable guitar riff in the history of the blues. The influence of "Dust My Broom" has been widespread and long-lasting. Many blues and rock artists has since covered "Dust My Broom" in the Elmore James arrangement, including Hound Dog Taylor, J.B. Hutto, and the first incarnation of Fleetwood Mac, featuring slide guitar by Jeremy Spencer. James later recorded "Dust My Broom" for other labels, often under different titles including "Dust My Blues" or "I Believe," but his signature treatment of the song began with this 1951 Trumpet version. Selected for the 2013 registry.

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"How High the Moon." Les Paul and Mary Ford. (1951)

This exciting performance introduced over-dubbing recording techniques to the public and paved the way for studio production processes still in use today. Selected for the 2002 registry.

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"Peace in the Valley." Red Foley and the Sunshine Boys. (1951)

"Peace in the Valley" was originally written in 1939 by Thomas A. Dorsey for Mahalia Jackson, but as performed by Red Foley and the Sunshine Boys, it becomes an affecting expression of devotion in the Southern gospel music style. At the time of this recording, Clyde Julian "Red" Foley was a recording star for Decca Records and was host of the half-hour NBC network segment of the "Grand Ole Opry." This blending of Foley's calm baritone with the close harmony of the vocal quartet resulted in the first gospel recording to sell one million copies. Selected for the 2006 registry.

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"Pictures at an Exhibition" (album). Rafael Kubelik, conductor; Chicago Symphony Orchestra. (1951)

Prior to this LP, the first of Mercury's noted "Living Presence" series, orchestras were recorded by a variety of multiple microphone methods, all with artificial balances and few with concert hall ambience. This recording of the Mussorgsky masterpiece, recorded with a single Neumann U47 suspended above and behind the conductor, was revolutionary in that for the first time the recorded balance was that of the orchestra, not of a technician. This recording is of such merit that many believe that the technical methodology it displays has not been improved upon to this day. Selected for the 2003 registry.

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"Pope Marcellus Mass" (Palestrina). The Roger Wagner Chorale. (1951)

The Roger Wagner Chorale, established in 1947, initially specialized in madrigals of the 16th and 17th centuries. In this early recording by the Chorale, the ensemble performs with rhythmic precision and tonal opulence, inviting listeners to experience the rich beauty of Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina's 1562 mass. Selected for the 2010 registry.

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"Old Soldiers Never Die" (Farewell Address to Congress). Speech by General Douglas MacArthur. (April 19, 1951)

After President Harry S. Truman relieved General Douglas A. MacArthur of duty for a series of public statements that urged the invasion of China and hinted that the President was practicing appeasement, MacArthur was invited to address a joint session of Congress. In spite of the controversy surrounding him, MacArthur speech is noted for its eloquence and effectiveness. Selected for the 2004 registry.

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"Original soundtrack from 'A Streetcar Named Desire.'" Alex North, composer. (1951)

Alex North's innovative "Streetcar" score is credited as being the first to integrate jazz into a major motion picture. Additionally, his music for the film, rather than merely supporting the action in a scene, is used it to express a character's emotions, even if those emotions are in conflict with the action. Originally released as a 10-inch LP and a box set of 7-inch 45s, the issued recordings feature a suite consisting of 10 sections drawn from the musical cues of the film. Selected for the 2015 registry.

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The 1951 National League Tiebreaker: New York Giants vs. Brooklyn Dodgers. Russ Hodges, announcer. (October 3, 1951)

In 1951, the New York Giants won 37 of their final 44 games to catch their crosstown rival Brooklyn Dodgers, forcing a three-game playoff for the National League pennant. The teams split the first two games, setting up the decisive tiebreaker at the famed Polo Grounds. In the bottom of the ninth inning, the Dodgers led 4 to 1. The Giants had scored a run and had runners at second and third with one out when third baseman Bobby Thomson stepped into the batter's box. Ralph Branca's first pitch was a called strike. As he released his next pitch, Giants announcer Russ Hodges said, "Branca throws…" and then shouted, "There's a long drive. It's gonna be, I believe — the Giants win the pennant! The Giants win the pennant! The Giants win the pennant! The Giants win the pennant!" This game was actually covered by several legendary announcers, including Hodges (Giants radio), Ernie Harwell (Giants TV), Red Barber (Dodgers radio) and Gordon McLendon (the national broadcast). But it is Hodges' call that is most remembered and which so vividly captures not only the action on the field but also the excitement of the moment — truly the thrill of victory and one of the greatest calls in all of sportscasting. Selected for the 2019 registry.

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"Anthology of American Folk Music" (album). Harry Smith, editor. (1952)

The "Harry Smith Anthology," compiled for Folkways Records from obscure, commercially released 78-rpm discs originally recorded between 1926 and 1934, brought a variety of neglected and virtually forgotten genres of American music to the public's attention. The anthology was drawn from the personal record collection of the independent filmmaker and record collector Harry Smith, who also annotated and illustrated the set. It includes country, blues, hillbilly tunes, Cajun social music, Appalachian murder ballads and other genres of American music rarely heard on record in the early 1950s. The LP set was widely influential and played a seminal role in the folk music revival of the 1950s and 1960s. Selected for the 2005 registry.

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"A Child's Christmas in Wales." Dylan Thomas. (1952)

Part nostalgic childhood remembrance and part poetic incantation, "A Child's Christmas in Wales" was issued with five of Dylan Thomas' poems on Caedmon Records' first release. According to the label's co-founder Barbara Holdridge, Thomas arrived in the studio with insufficient material to fill an entire LP, but he remembered writing a Christmas story for "Harper's Bazaar." Holdridge and her business partner, Marianne Roney, were able to identify the piece as "A Child's Christmas in Wales" and obtained a copy from the magazine. It became one of Caedmon's most successful releases and has been credited with launching the audiobook industry in the United States. "We had no idea of the power and beauty of this voice," Holdridge said of Thomas' reading, "We just expected a poet with a poet's voice, but this was a full orchestral voice." Selected for the 2008 registry.

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Chopin Polonaise, Op. 40, no. 1 ("Polonaise Militaire"). Arthur Rubinstein. (1952)

The names of Arthur Rubinstein and Frederic Chopin are inextricably linked in the minds of at least two generations of 20th-century music lovers. At the heart of the bond between pianist and composer is their shared Polish heritage, and nowhere is the connection so great as in Rubinstein's interpretation of the Polonaise in A Major, Op. 40, No. 1, known as the "Military Polonaise." Rubinstein supplied the iconic reading of this revered, often-recorded work. The combination of strength and heart-felt poetry is a hallmark of Rubinstein's playing in this piece, and it stirred the souls of patriots—of all nationalities—during the German occupation of Poland. Selected for the 2006 registry.

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Reflections by John Rubenstein (PDF, 242KB)
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"It Wasn't God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels." Kitty Wells. (1952)

An "answer song" to Hank Thompson's country hit "Wild Side of Life," which criticized a woman who gave up true love for the lure of the honky-tonk, Kitty Wells' "It Wasn't God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels" argues that wayward men are to blame when women stray. Wells' breakthrough hit established her as a major star and, more importantly, markedly broadened the range of subject matter considered appropriate for female country singers. The recording paved the way for increasingly frank songs by Loretta Lynn, Tammy Wynette and other female country musicians. Selected for the 2007 registry.

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"Gunsmoke": Episode: "The Cabin." (December 27, 1952)

Due to the arrival of television, radio drama was on the endangered list by early 1952, but CBS president William Paley was still eager to take a chance with an idea for a hardboiled, adult-oriented Western which he'd been nursing for several years. Writers John Meston and Norman MacDonald gave him "Gunsmoke," a weekly half hour featuring Marshall Matt Dillon, a dedicated lawman who often found himself embroiled in complex moral dilemmas in the violent, frontier town of Dodge City, where he fought stagecoach robbers and cattle rustlers, but also dealt with domestic violence and discrimination. Radio's "Gunsmoke" was a hit, probably the last the new radio drama to make an impact. It ran for nine seasons on the radio, during which time the legendary "Gunsmoke" TV series was launched. In the episode "The Cabin," Matt Dillon, played by William Conrad, near death in a blizzard, seeks shelter in a cabin where two psychotic outlaws are holding a young woman hostage. Like many "Gunsmoke" radio episodes, this episode was later adapted for the television series. Selected for the 2018 registry.

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"The Eagle Stirreth Her Nest." Rev. C.L. Franklin. (1953)

Long before his daughter Aretha attained stardom in the 1960s, Rev. C.L. Franklin (1915-1984) was a recording star in his own right, with dozens of his riveting sermons reaching an audience well beyond his New Bethel Baptist Church in Detroit, Mich. African-American entrepreneur Joe Von Battle, whose record shop was only a few blocks from Franklin's church, recorded Franklin's sermon "The Eagle Stirreth Her Nest" and released it on three 78-rpm discs on his JVB label in 1953. In the sermon, Franklin draws his text from the Book of Deuteronomy and expounds on the parallels between "God and the eagle." He builds to a thunderously emotional climax before his very enthusiastic and vocal congregation. Franklin's many and varied vocal devices inspired not only other preachers, but also gospel and rhythm-and-blues artists who appropriated many of his techniques. Franklin was a national figure in the African-American community from the 1950s on and a close friend and ally of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Selected for the 2010 registry.

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"Hound Dog." Big Mama Thornton. (1953)

The original version of "Hound Dog" brought together several key figures from the world of early 1950s rhythm and blues. Bandleader Johnny Otis invited composers Jerry Lieber and Mike Stoller, both still teenagers, to his house to hear Willie Mae "Big Mama" Thornton, a physically imposing singer with a powerful voice. She inspired them to write "Hound Dog" in a matter of minutes. The song was recorded Aug. 13, 1952, with Otis on drums and two members of his band providing backup: guitarist Pete Lewis and bassist Mario Delagarde. It would be six months before the disc was released, but the unique mix of styles, rhythms and rhymes made "Hound Dog" a major hit and an enduring classic. "Hound Dog" became a standard of the rock ‘n' roll era. The song went on to be recorded by many artists, including Elvis Presley. Selected for the 2016 registry.

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"John Brown's Body." Tyrone Power, Judith Anderson, and Raymond Massey, directed by Charles Laughton (1953)

Charles Laughton's 1949 staged reading and 1952 recording of Shaw's "Don Juan in Hell" was a theatrical success and surprise hit recording. In 1953, his production of "John Brown's Body," an adaptation of Stephen Vincent Benét's book-length Civil War poem of 1928 starring Tyrone Power, Judith Anderson and Raymond Massey, was similarly acclaimed and also recorded by Columbia Records, overseen by the company's future president Goddard Lieberson. Its lead voices augmented with sound effects and spoken responses in the manner of a Greek chorus, at nearly two hours in length, "John Brown's Body" is anything but casual listening, but the resulting double album went well beyond being a simple document of the stage production, and has endured as a powerfully evocative work of aural theater. Selected for the 2014 registry.

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"Let's Go Out to the Programs." The Dixie Hummingbirds. (1953)

At the time of its release, "Let's Go Out to the Programs" was considered to be a novelty, but it now stands as a celebration of a golden age of African-American gospel music. In the fifties, high-energy quartets and quintets like the Dixie Hummingbirds played multi-artist shows known as "programs," where several top gospel acts pushed each other to the limit. Led by the legendary Ira Tucker, the Hummingbirds recreate such a program in less than three minutes with striking but good-natured imitations of four gospel groups: the Soul Stirrers (with their young lead singer, Sam Cooke), the Blind Boys of Mississippi, the Pilgrim Travelers, and the Bells of Joy. The Dixie Hummingbirds continue to perform today, led by Ira Tucker, Jr.; younger singers carry on the legacy of the Soul Stirrers, while original members of the Bells of Joy still sing in their home of Austin, Texas. Selected for the 2011 registry.

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"My Funny Valentine." The Gerry Mulligan Quartet featuring Chet Baker (1953)

Their studio recording of "My Funny Valentine" had been a hit for the pianoless Gerry Mulligan Quartet in the autumn of 1952, so it was an established part of their repertoire when this May 20, 1953 live performance was recorded by producer Dick Bock at The Haig jazz club in Hollywood, California. At over five minutes, nearly twice as long as the single, trumpeter Chet Baker and baritone saxophonist Mulligan had room to stretch out. The result is a darker, more expressive version of "My Funny Valentine," propelled by a Carson Smith bass line that's simple, but insistent, almost ominous. The popularity of this 1952 studio version may have helped to keep this performance in the vault until the 1960s, but, for many, this extended version has become the definitive Mulligan and Baker collaboration for many. Selected for the 2014 registry.

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"Puccini: Tosca" (album). Maria Callas, Giuseppe di Stefano, Angelo Mercuriali, Tito Gobbi, Melchiorre Luise, Dario Caselli, Victor de Sabata. (1953)

In 1981, Christian Science Monitor critic Thor Eckert Jr. wrote a critique of the recording history of Puccini's "Tosca" and said, "In 1953 Maria Callas, Giuseppe di Stefano, Tito Gobbi, and maestro Victor de Sabata along with the forces of La Scala Opera gathered to make recording history — the finest 'Tosca' of all time, and one of the greatest recordings of an opera on records." To date, no other "Tosca" has equaled this performance. Produced by Walter Legge, the recording captured one of Callas'greatest triumphs. The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians would later state, "Among her contemporaries she had the deepest comprehension of the Classical Italian style, the most musical instincts and the most intelligent approach," while Leonard Bernstein would call her "the Bible of opera." Selected for the 2019 registry.

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"Songs by Tom Lehrer" (album). Tom Lehrer. (1953)

This popular album of satiric songs started as a campus hit at Harvard University where Lehrer was a graduate student in mathematics and a regular area performer. Lehrer has said that he recorded it for $15 for release to his Harvard audience. But despite its minuscule budget, it sold an estimated 370,000 copies. Among the prominent comedians to have claimed Lehrer as an influence are Lenny Bruce, George Carlin, and Weird Al Yankovic. Selected for the 2004 registry.

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Interview with Tom Lehrer (PDF, 49KB)
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"Tipitina." Professor Longhair. (1953)

Pianist Henry Roeland Byrd (1918-1980), aka "Professor Longhair," was a pivotal figure in New Orleans rhythm-and-blues although he attained little success outside the city before the 1970s. His music was a classic New Orleans fusion of blues figures, parade-band cadences, and Afro-Caribbean rhythms and melodies that he worked into dense, but light-fingered piano lines, and topped off with his merrily idiosyncratic singing, whistling and scatting. Although Byrd's 1953 recording of "Tipitina" had little impact outside of his hometown, it was a signature distillation of the musical ideas and personality that inspired and influenced such New Orleans pianists as Fats Domino, Huey "Piano" Smith, James Booker, Dr. John and Allen Toussaint. Selected for the 2010 registry.

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"Also Sprach Zarathustra." Fritz Reiner and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. (1954)

Richard Strauss's "Also Sprach Zarathustra" was recorded several times during the 78‑rpm era but had to wait for magnetic tape, superior microphones, and advances in disc mastering for its extremely wide dynamics to be fully captured as recorded sound. The dawn of high fidelity recording happily coincided with the beginning of the Fritz Reiner era at the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, when the ensemble was hailed by Igor Stravinsky as "the most precise and flexible orchestra in the world." One of Reiner's first recordings with the CSO, "Zarathustra," was taped simultaneously in mono and stereo by two RCA Victor teams, though only the mono version was initially issued. The album's 1958 release in RCA's Living Stereo line a few years later showed just how great the recording and performance were, with the perspective and balance Reiner drew from the orchestra fully revealed. Selected for the 2011 registry.

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"Damnation of Faust" (album). Boston Symphony Orchestra with the Harvard Glee Club and Radcliffe Choral Society. (1954)

Recorded in Boston's Symphony Hall on February 21 and 22, 1954, this live performance of Berlioz's "dramatic legend" was recorded through a single condenser microphone suspended 17 feet above the conductor's podium, with one auxiliary microphone enlisted occasionally to strengthen the chorus. Conductor Charles Munch, considered one of the great interpreters of Berlioz, leads the Boston orchestra with assistance from G. Wallace Woodworth directing the Harvard Glee Club and Radcliffe Choral Society. Soloists include Suzanne Danco, David Poleri, Martial Singher and Donald Gramm. Selected for the 2005 registry.

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"Earth Angel (Will You Be Mine)." The Penguins. (1954)

Released as a "B-side," this doo-wop ballad quickly garnered enormous popularity and became one of the first recordings to cross over. It climbed to the number three position on the rhythm-and-blues charts and reached number eight on the pop charts. "Billboard" has termed the single of this song the "top R&B record of all time" measured by continuous popular appeal. The Penguins, a vocal group from Los Angeles that formed in 1954, featured high-school friends Cleveland Duncan (lead), Dexter Tisby (tenor), Bruce Tate (baritone), and Curtis Williams (bass). The recording was released on DooTone, a black-owned and operated label. Selected for the 2004 registry.

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"A Festival of Lessons and Carols as Sung on Christmas Eve in King's College Chapel, Cambridge" (album). King's College Choir; Boris Ord, director. (1954)

The annual Festival of Lessons and Carols by the Choir of King's College, Cambridge, was introduced in 1918 to bring a new, imaginative approach to worship. The British Broadcasting Corporation began broadcasting the festival in 1928 and included it in the BBC's overseas shortwave schedule starting in the early 1930s. Organist and choirmaster Boris Ord, who conducted the service most years between 1929 and 1957, is highly respected for the standards of musical excellence that he elicited from the choir. This 1954 Argo recording, published in the U.S. by Westminster Records, provided most Americans with their first opportunity to experience this beloved Christmas tradition, which has since become a seasonal mainstay in many American churches. Selected for the 2008 registry.

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"I'm Your Hoochie Coochie Man." Muddy Waters. (1954)

Originally recorded in 1941 for the Library of Congress by Alan Lomax on a recording expedition through Mississippi, Muddy Waters went on to become an exemplar of Chicago's electric, urban blues style. "I'm Your Hoochie Coochie Man," written by Chess Records mainstay Willie Dixon, was one of Waters' hits. It features a tight band with Dixon on bass, Little Walter on harmonica, Otis Span on piano, Jimmy Rogers on guitar, and Fred Below on drums. Selected for the 2004 registry.

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"A Night at Birdland (Volumes 1 and 2)" (albums). Art Blakey. (1954)

Art Blakey, through his energetic drumming and inspiring leadership, helped solidify bebop and hard bop's mid-'50s takeover of the jazz mainstream. "A Night at Birdland" documents the inspired, high-energy live performances of Blakey and this early incarnation of the Jazz Messengers which included co-leader Horace Silver, Clifford Brown and Lou Donaldson. The momentum that drives these performances comes from Blakey--his flawless timing and energy on the drums which pushes Brown and Donaldson to soar to new improvisational heights on their solos. Meanwhile, Silver's bluesy approach to piano revolutionized small group jazz playing. All together, the ensemble became the architects of a new, modern musical language, one that is fully captured on this recording. Selected for the 2013 registry.

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"(We're Gonna) Rock Around the Clock" (single). Bill Haley and His Comets. (1954)

Critics and journalists could describe this rollicking hit as the definitive anthem of rock and roll decades after its release, but its early history is riddled with uncertainty. The recording session was rushed and beset by technical difficulties that were overcome through the quick thinking of veteran producer Milt Gabler. Upon its release, the record performed fairly well, but it took the song's inclusion in the 1955 film "Blackboard Jungle," a popular film centered on teen culture, for its popularity to explode with young audiences. Despite its early difficulties, the song has survived because it is absolutely compelling. The start/stop intro—"One, two, three o'clock, four o'clock, rock"—masterfully sets up the final line of the stanza in which the entire group hammers down single, quick chords on the emphasized syllables: "ROCK" "aROUND" "the CLOCK" "toNIGHT." Haley's energetic vocal, the simple yet effective saxophone break, the speedy and brief guitar lead and even the final, intentionally irregular drum riff sustain interest to the end. Selected for the 2017 registry.

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"Songs for Young Lovers" (album). Frank Sinatra. (1954)

Frank Sinatra's Capitol Records "concept" album is filled with American song standards and rich arrangements by Nelson Riddle. This album demonstrated a mature and confident Sinatra who transcended his earlier popularity as a favorite of bobbysoxers. Selected for the 2002 registry.

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Ruth Draper: Complete recorded monologues. Ruth Draper. (1954-1956)

Ruth Draper (1884-1956) was an actress who specialized in solo performance featuring numerous characters and monologues of her own creation. Some were humorous, such as her many sketches of society women like "The Italian Lesson," a 28-minute tour de force of conversation, interruptions and distractions, and very little Italian. Others were more serious, like "A Scottish Immigrant at Ellis Island" and "In a Railway Station on the Western Plains." She presented them successfully on stages in Europe and America from the 1910s on, and her early fans included the novelist Henry James. She was a great favorite of actors, playwrights and directors, and an acknowledged influence on Lily Tomlin, Mike Nichols, Julie Harris, Uta Hagen, David Mamet, Julia Sweeney and many others. She resisted recording offers until late in her life, when she recorded a series of her monologues in 1954. A lone album with three monologues was released by RCA Victor in 1956, though her work was further anthologized on five albums by the Spoken Arts label. Recent digital versions have included previously unreleased monologues. Selected for the 2018 registry.

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Sun Records sessions. Elvis Presley. (1954-1955)

The group of recordings made at Sun Studios launched the career of Elvis Presley, and helped to create the rock 'n' roll era. They were the singer's first recordings and remain his most widely respected. The recordings include Elvis's rendition of Bill Monroe's "Blue Moon of Kentucky." Selected for the 2002 registry.

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"At Sunset" (album). Mort Sahl. (1955)

"At Sunset" is an early live recording of the influential satirist and stand-up comedian Mort Sahl. Sahl's comedy is typified by a conversational style, thoroughly grounded in up-to-the-minute topics and events, and is replete with satiric asides and smart, subtle punch lines. Woody Allen and Lenny Bruce are among the many comics who were influenced by Sahl. His approach to comedy became a staple on television and at comedy clubs for decades. This album, Sahl's second release but earliest recording, had not been authorized and was later withdrawn. "At Sunset" nevertheless retains the distinction of being the first recording of modern stand-up comedy. Selected for the 2010 registry.

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Interview with Mort Sahl (PDF, 32KB)
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"Blue Suede Shoes." Carl Perkins. (1955)

Carl Perkins was one of the pioneers of rockabilly, the up-tempo fusion of country-western music and rhythm and blues. His aggressive vocal stylizations, backed by electric lead guitar, slapping string bass and drums, were of immediate appeal to the burgeoning teenage population of the mid-1950s. Due to an extended recovery from a serious car crash, Perkins never gained the popularity of his contemporary Elvis Presley, yet this first-generation rocker's driving style maintains its rebellious allure more than 50 years after its creation. Selected for the 2006 registry.

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"Bo Diddley" and "I'm a Man." Bo Diddley. (1955)

Born Elias Otha Bates in Mississippi in 1928, Bo Diddley acquired his stage name after moving to Chicago as a child. He played guitar locally with a small group, drawing inspiration from the polyrhythmic song and music emanating from storefront churches, a pulsing blend that he distilled into the song "Bo Diddley," the A-side of his first single. Drummer Clifton James played the defining beat, and Bo's guitar and Jerome Greene's maracas added further rhythmic layers beneath the chanted couplets. Having introduced himself, he threw down the gauntlet on the B-side, "I'm a Man," a throbbing slow blues that, as simple as it seems, took nearly thirty takes to get down just right. It was also a major hit, and inspired Muddy Waters' answer song, "Manish Boy." Selected for the 2011 registry.

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"Goldberg Variations" (album). Glenn Gould. (1955)

Following his landmark 1955 recording of J.S. Bach's "Aria with 30 Variations," also known as the "Goldberg Variations," Glenn Gould's name has been inextricably linked with this masterful work that concludes Bach's 1742 set of keyboard exercises, the "Clavierübung." Gould is remembered as a remarkable, eccentric pianist with a unique, studied yet emotional approach to performance. The "Goldberg Variations" is the only work Gould chose to record a second time; the second recording being made in 1981, shortly before his death. Selected for the 2003 registry.

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"Sixteen Tons." Tennessee Ernie Ford (1955)

Though it was intended as the "B" side to "You Don't Have to Be a Baby to Cry," it was "Sixteen Tons" that immediately garnered airplay and record-setting sales. During rehearsals, Ford snapped his fingers to establish a tempo. Producer Lee Gillette liked the sound and told him to keep the snaps in the final version. Ford's deep voice and the spare, dark instrumentation gave "Sixteen Tons" a gravitas that stood out among the lighthearted popular songs of the era. Ford's musical director, Jack Fascinato, used a strong beat played by a jazz combo, an unusual arrangement for a song about coal mining. But it was Ford's powerful vocal that transformed "Sixteen Tons" from a simple labor song into a defiant declaration of Faulknerian endurance. Selected for the 2014 registry.

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"Tuskegee Institute Choir Sings Spirituals" (album). William L. Dawson, director. (1955)

This recording is significant not only for its powerful performances but also because it presents William L. Dawson's arrangements of spirituals which are still widely used by choirs today. Booker T. Washington founded the Tuskegee Institute Choir in 1887. Through tours, recordings and broadcasting, the choir reached international fame under the direction of Dawson, who led the choir from 1931 to 1955. Selected for the 2004 registry.

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"Tutti Frutti." Little Richard. (1955)

In 1955, when he entered Cosimo Matassa's New Orleans studio, 22 year-old "Little Richard" Penniman was a seasoned rhythm and blues performer but an unsuccessful recording artist in search of a breakthrough hit. At first, there seemed to be scant rapport between Richard and the other musicians, and a frustrating session ensued. Not until Richard started extemporizing verses of "Tutti Frutti," a risqué feature of his club sets, did the music catch fire. Even in the less-suggestive version that was eventually released, Little Richard's unique vocalizing over the irresistible beat announced a new era in music. Selected for the 2009 registry.

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"When I Stop Dreaming." The Louvin Brothers. (1955)

The Louvin Brothers were almost defiantly out of step with the country music world of the mid-50s. Ira's high lonesome leads and Charlie's high tenor descants were the sounds of an earlier era, but they were well served by modern recording techniques which captured every nuance of their harmonies. "When I Stop Dreaming," an almost fatalistic song of lost love that they wrote, was their commercial breakthrough, and the first of a series of classic recordings they made over the next eight years, until the termination of their musical partnership in 1963. Selected for the 2013 registry.

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"Cry Me a River." Julie London. (1955)

Songstress Julie London had her biggest hit with her debut single, "Cry Me a River," written by Arthur Hamilton. Though she described her voice as only a "thimbleful" of a voice, she added, "It is kind of over-smoked voice and it automatically sounds intimate.'' Originally written for the film "Pete Kelly's Blues" (but ultimately rejected), London's version was produced by Bobby Troup, who would later marry London. Wisely, Troup had London accompanied by only a guitar and bass, Barney Kessel and Ray Leatherwood, respectively. A large ensemble would have overwhelmed her "thimbleful." The result was an enduring sexy, smokey classic. Selected for the 2015 registry.

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Interviews with William "Billy" Bell, recorded by Edward D. Ives. (1956)

Representative the Edward D. Ives Collection held at the Maine Folklife Center, University of Maine, Orono, Maine, and the Archives of Traditional Music at Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana. Folklorist Edward D. "Sandy" Ives, author of "The Tape-Recorded Interview" and many other influential publications, met with 75-year-old Billy Bell in 1956 and in the discussion discovered the Northwoods singing style. These occupational songs of lumbering, driving and woods traditions, based on British broadside ballads, were sung by second-generation Canadian-Irish workers who originally came from New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island or Nova Scotia farms and were part of the Maine lumbering workforce. Ives' initial interview with Bell was his first encounter with these narrative songs, songs that illuminated a tradition extending from Maine to Minnesota, from Newfoundland to northern Ontario. Selected for the 2006 registry.

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"Blueberry Hill." Fats Domino. (1956)

Domino's relaxed-tempo R&B version of "Blueberry Hill" was inspired by Louis Armstrong's 1940 rendition. The singer's New Orleans roots are evident in the Creole inflected cadences that added richness and depth to the performance. Recorded in Los Angeles for Imperial records, Domino insisted on performing the song despite the reservations of his producer. The wisdom of this choice is borne out by the enduring association of the song with Domino, despite a number other popular versions. Selected for the 2005 registry.

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"Brilliant Corners" (album). Thelonious Monk. (1956)

Thelonious Monk displays his compositional genius and idiosyncratic, but indeed brilliant, piano style in the monumental "Brilliant Corners" of 1956. Monk's thorny and challenging original pieces would form a basis of the modern jazz repertoire. They are brought to life with the assistance of Ernie Henry, alto sax; Sonny Rollins, tenor sax; Oscar Pettiford, bass; Max Roach, drums; Clark Terry, trumpet; and Paul Chambers, bass. Selected for the 2003 registry.

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"Calypso" (album). Harry Belafonte. (1956)

The child of a Jamaican mother and a Martinican father, Harry Belafonte had tried singing conventional pop songs in New York in the 1940s, but was drawn to the city's small but vibrant folk scene of the time. There, he encountered Josh White, Pete Seeger and Lead Belly and developed a folk-influenced repertoire that included West Indian songs. In the fall of 1955, he performed several Caribbean songs in a televised musical production number, including "Day-O," a Jamaican folk song he adapted with his friend, writer, Bill Attaway, and Irving Burgie, another New York singer with West Indian roots. The positive audience response convinced Belafonte that a full album of such songs was viable. The album "Calypso," featuring "Day-O" and more song contributions by Burgie, was released in May 1956, on the heels of Belafonte's second album, which had been the nation's best-selling LP in April. "Calypso" proved to be a far bigger hit, exceeding all expectations. The title was evocative; only a few of the songs on the album were actually in the calypso song form of Trinidad, which Belafonte acknowledged. The album was rather a masterfully presented celebration and exploration of Caribbean song. Initially, it sold mainly to the older audience that purchased albums. However, when "Day-O" and "Jamaica Farewell" were released as singles, Belafonte became popular with the teenage audience as well, a unique achievement at the time, and perhaps the reason that "Calypso" is still a much-beloved album. Selected for the 2017 registry.

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Interview with Harry Belafonte (PDF, 156KB)
Inductees' Gallery - Harry Belafonte, performer
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"Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Cole Porter Song Book" (album). Ella Fitzgerald. (1956)

Ella Fitzgerald, "The First Lady of Song," will be long appreciated for her beautiful voice, thoughtful lyric interpretation, imaginative scat singing, and impeccable enunciation. "The Cole Porter Song Book," a two-LP set, is the first of her many anthologies devoted to the pantheon of American popular song composers and lyricists. Selected for the 2003 registry.

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“Ellington at Newport” (album). Duke Ellington. (1956)

After enduring a decade of waning record sales, Duke Ellington reignited his career via one single solo recorded in 1956. After their short set at the Newport Jazz Festival, on July 7, 1956, Duke and his orchestra were recalled to the stage. One of the numbers they performed at that time was the 1930s composition “Diminuendo and Crescendo in Blue.” For this piece, at first, just the rhythm section played, then they were joined by the full orchestra. And, then, saxophonist Paul Gonsalves jumped in, and at the urging of the crowd and Ellington himself, wailed through 27 choruses. The performance was historic. “Time” magazine would later call it a turning point in Ellington’s career and the Duke himself later said, “I was born in 1956 at the Newport Festival.” For decades, this performance was only available to record buyers in a version sourced from a tape where Gonsalves was off-mic and could only be heard beneath the band and audience. But, years later, a location tape recorded for overseas broadcast by Voice of America was discovered and a restored version was finally released as part of a 1999 CD set. Selected for the 2022 registry.

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"He's Got the Whole World in His Hands." Marian Anderson. (1956)

The vocal art of contralto Marian Anderson showed equal mastery of both the classical and spiritual repertory. In 1929, she gave her first recital at Carnegie Hall which served to launch her career in the U.S. and abroad. She is remembered for her performances at the Metropolitan Opera in New York, where, in 1955, she its first African-American performer, and for her landmark 1939 concert on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. The spiritual, "He's Got the Whole World in His Hands," was one of Anderson's favorites, often performed at the conclusion of her recitals. Selected for the 2003 registry.

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Interviews with Jazz musicians for the Voice of America. Willis Conover. (1956)

From 1954 until his death in 1996, Willis Conover (1920-1996) hosted thousands of jazz programs for the Voice of America radio service, broadcasting to countries where jazz was rarely heard or even allowed. Ironically, although Conover was barely known in his own country, American jazz musicians knew and appreciated his efforts on their behalf, and were frequent guests on his programs. In 1956, Conover presented a series of interviews with some of the greatest jazz artists of the era, including Duke Ellington, Billie Holiday, Stan Getz, Peggy Lee, Stan Kenton, Benny Goodman and Art Tatum. The Tatum interview is the only known in-depth recorded interview with the pianist; he died later that year. For many, these interviews were a first chance to hear the thoughts of great jazz artists who had come of age with the music itself, as they shared their reflections, opinions and predictions with Conover. Selected for the 2010 registry.

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"My Fair Lady" (album). Original cast recording. (1956)

The original cast recording of "My Fair Lady" marks a high point in almost every aspect of the collaborations that produced it. It boasts a magnificent score by lyricist Alan Jay Lerner and composer Frederick Loewe—witty, intelligent, beautiful, and romantic. Brilliantly orchestrated by Robert Russell Bennett and Philip J. Lang, it captures landmark performances by Julie Andrews, Rex Harrison and Stanley Holloway. The recording itself was wonderfully produced under the supervision of prescient producer Goddard Lieberson, who convinced Columbia to underwrite most of the cost of the original production. Columbia's initial investment of $360,000 generated tens of millions of dollars in profit. The recording established a new relationship between Broadway productions and record companies; the album's critical success and popularity with the public were unrivaled at the time of its release. Selected for the 2007 registry.

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"Roll Over Beethoven." Chuck Berry. (1956)

Chuck Berry has been described as "the closest one to have invented rock and roll." As a composer, he is responsible for many of early rock music's best compositions. His recorded songs are marked by his influential, driving guitar work and clever lyrics. Berry's music was a witty challenge to contemporary pop music, and in this instance, the classics as well. "Roll Over Beethoven" has been covered by many bands including the Beatles, who along with the Rolling Stones, have always acknowledged their debt to Berry. Selected for the 2003 registry.

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"Saxophone Colossus" (album). Sonny Rollins. (1956)

To saxophonist Sonny Rollins, the recording of "Saxophone Colossus" didn't seem that different from any of his previous albums. To jazz fans, however, it would become, along with "Way Out West," one of the defining albums of Rollins' career. With only five tracks and under 40 minutes, the album may appear slight, but the quality of the music has earned it a place of honor among jazz fans for more than 60 years. Solidly anchored by a rhythm section of drummer Max Roach, bassist Doug Watkins and pianist Tommy Flanagan, Rollins is able to solo with power, grace and humor. On the calypso-based "St. Thomas," inspired by a melody his mother sang to him, Rollins is at first playful, then harder-edged as the tune segues from a calypso rhythm to a standard jazz beat. "St. Thomas" went on to become not only one of Rollins' signature tunes but a jazz standard, with dozens of recorded versions. The album closes with the critically acclaimed "Blue 7," arguably the most important recording of Sonny Rollins' distinguished career. Selected for the 2016 registry.

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Interview with Sonny Rollins (PDF, 36KB)
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"Smokestack Lightning." Howlin' Wolf. (1956)

The derivation of Chester Arthur Burnett's stage name, "Howlin' Wolf," is evident in "Smokestack Lightning." The blues lyric has no narrative; instead Wolf howls as he grasps for words to express his romantic torment. Guitarist and collaborator Hubert Sumlin plays the song's signature bending, sliding riff. "Smokestack Lightning" influenced the swampy sound of Dale Hawkins' "Susie Q" and, later, music of Creedence Clearwater Revival. Critic Cub Koda observed, Howlin' Wolf could "... rock the house down to the foundation while ... scaring its patrons out of [their] wits." No song better exhibits this than "Smokestack Lightning." Selected for the 2009 registry.

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"Variations for Orchestra" (album). Louisville Orchestra. (1956)

Representative of the First Edition Recordings series. "Variations for Orchestra" by Elliot Carter is one of many works commissioned by the Louisville Orchestra under its Rockefeller Foundation-funded program to commission, premiere and record 20th century classical music. Premiering on April 21, 1956, with Robert S. Whitney conducting, "Variations for Orchestra" was recorded the next month. From 1954 through 1959, the Louisville Orchestra commissioned and performed 116 works from 101 composers, issuing 125 long-playing discs on its First Edition Recordings label, the first recording label owned by an American orchestra. Selected for the 2005 registry.

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"Descargas: Cuban Jam Session in Miniature" (album). Cachao Y Su Ritmo Caliente. (1957)

Inspired by the all-star jam sessions that Norman Granz organized and recorded for his Jazz at the Philharmonic series, Cuban bassist Israel "Cachao" Lopez, already a giant of Afro-Cuban music, sought to accomplish something similar with his peers in Havana. He brought musicians into the studio for two early morning sessions, when they were still fully charged up from their evening's work in nightclubs and ballrooms. Rather than record long form jams, as Granz had done, the twelve musicians Cachao recruited created twelve short, spontaneous "miniature" pieces, each of which highlighted key instruments and facets of Afro-Cuban music. The resulting fusion blended African, European and American influences seamlessly. "Descargas"has had a lasting impact on Latin music, especially on the Salsa style that emerged in the 1960s, and Cachao organized many similar sessions for further albums both in Cuba and in the United States, where he settled after the Cuban revolution. Selected for the 2012 registry.

Listen—"Descarga Cubana" (MP3)

 "Odetta Sings Ballads and Blues" (album). Odetta. (1957)

This is the debut album from an important voice in the folk revival--featuring a mix of blues, spirituals and ballads. Born in Birmingham, Alabama, Odetta was a major influence to a generation of folk singers, including the young Bob Dylan who has cited this album as what convinced him to trade in his electric guitar for an acoustic when he heard it as a 15-year-old teenager in Minnesota. This 16-song LP showcases Odetta's extraordinary vocal power which she always manages to temper with great emotion. Among the selections: "Muleskinner Blues," "Jack o' Diamonds," "Easy Rider," "Glory, Glory" and her concluding spiritual trilogy: "Oh, Freedom," "Come and Go With Me" and "I'm on My Way." Selected for the 2020 registry.

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"Problems of the American Home" (album). Billy Graham. (1957)

Billy Graham began preaching, after attending Florida Bible Institute (now Trinity College) and Wheaton College, for the local Youth for Christ organization in 1945. The rallies he organized impressed many leaders in the Christian evangelical community. He came into national prominence in 1949 with the launch of his crusades to major U.S. cities and around the world. For the next five decades, Graham built his following in person and later via television, becoming a major religious, social, and political figure. Selected for the 2003 registry.

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"That'll Be the Day." The Crickets. (1957)

Buddy Holly had actually recorded an earlier version of this song with a more country-and-western feel than the hit version that Brunswick Records released later. In an era when performers were not necessarily songwriters, Buddy Holly and the Crickets wrote most of their own material, including this well-remembered number. Holly's fellow songwriters were drummer Jerry Allison and bassist Joe B. Mauldin who also provided the rhythm section for the group. Selected for the 2005 registry.

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"West Side Story" (album). Original cast recording. (1957)

While there are over 40 recordings of the score to the Broadway show "West Side Story" in various languages and styles, the original cast recording is in many ways unequaled. Bernstein's music—with its Latin, jazz, rock and classical influences—was arguably the most demanding score heard on Broadway up to that point. Boasting Stephen Sondheim's first lyrics for a Broadway musical, the songs range from the passionate love song "Tonight," through the social satire of "America" and "Gee, Officer Krupke," to the hopeful anthem "Somewhere." Selected for the 2008 registry.

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Interview with Stephen Sondheim (PDF, 47KB)
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"Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On." Jerry Lee Lewis. (1957)

Jerry Lee Lewis' second release for Sun Records included this lively number that launched the performer to international popularity. A reworking of an R&B single penned by Roy Hall (a.k.a. Sunny David) and Dave Williams, Lewis radically altered the original, adding a propulsive boogie piano that was perfectly complemented by the drive of J.M. Van Eaton's energetic drumming. Listeners to the recording, like Lewis himself, often had a hard time remaining seated during the performance. Selected for the 2005 registry.

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Interview with Jerry Lee Lewis (PDF, 40KB)
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The Brooklyn Dodgers and the New York Giants at the Polo Grounds, announced by Vin Scully. (September 8, 1957)

When two of baseball's most storied franchises faced each other for the last time in one of the game's most storied venues, there seemed to be little at stake, as neither team was a pennant contender that year. The Brooklyn Dodgers had announced they would leave for Los Angeles at the end of the season, and the Giants were headed to San Francisco. Dodgers announcer Vin Scully, then in the early years of his more than six decades at the microphone, called the game in his inimitable style, and wove memories of the Dodgers-Giants rivalry and the many other great sports moments seen at the Polo Grounds seamlessly into his play-by-play: "I don't know how you feel about it at the other end of these microphones, whether you are sitting at home, or driving a car, on the beach or anywhere, but I know sitting here watching the Giants and Dodgers apparently playing for the last time at the Polo Grounds, you want them to take their time … 2-0 pitch is low, ball three … you just feel like saying: ‘Now don't run off the field so fast fellas, let's take it easy, we just want to take one last lingering look at both of you." It was a masterful example of the artistry that great sports announcers bring to their work, as well as their empathy for players and fans. Selected for the 2016 registry.

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Interview with Vin Scully (PDF, 90KB)
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Navajo Shootingway Ceremony field recordings. (1957-1958)

Representative of the David McAllester Collection. What may be the only recordings of this deeply sacred Navajo healing ceremony were recorded by ethnomusicologist David McAllester in Arizona in the late 1950s. McAllester's recordings of the Shootingway ceremony, one of the most complex in the Navajo ceremonial system, includes the nine day ceremonial event as well as detailed discussions about preparations, procedures, and sacred paraphernalia as well as the reciting of all of the prayers and singing of all of the songs in order. In addition to the Shootingway recordings, McAllester's collection includes eight different versions of the lengthy Blessingway ceremony, several other traditional ceremonies, and many examples of contemporary genres in which he was also interested. The collection is housed at Wesleyan University where it is the core of the World Music Archives. Selected for the 2007 registry.

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Steam locomotive recordings. O. Winston Link. (1957-1977)

O. Winston Link, a commercial photographer, was also a passionate admirer of trains. His well-known photographic essays documented the rich history of steam locomotives. Link also captured sounds and moving images of these trains. His first album of recordings, released in 1957, includes the sounds of Y6, K2, and J class locomotives, and a J603 locomotive passing by church bells play Christmas carols. Link's recordings captured the unique and now-lost sounds of the engines which united the United States. Selected for the 2003 registry.

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"Dance Mania" (album). Tito Puente. (1958)

Bandleader/instrumentalist Tito Puente is considered to be a Renaissance man of Latin music. The very best of New York City's 1950s Latin jazz scene is heard on this landmark album of 1958. Selected for the 2002 registry.

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"La Bamba" (single). Ritchie Valens. (1958)

Ritchie Valens was born Richard Valenzuela in Los Angeles in 1941. English was his first language and though he never mastered Spanish, he learned Spanish songs from his Mexican-American family, including "La Bamba," a song from Vera Cruz that was a favorite dance piece at weddings. Valens amplified guitar and power chords were a long way from the acoustic string band sounds of Mexico, but he transposed the feeling and rhythm of the song to the back beat of early rock and roll successfully. The song was released as the b-side of his second single, "Donna," in late 1958, and had become a hit on its own when he died in the February 3rd, 1959 plane crash that also took the lives of Buddy Holly and J.P. Richardson a.k.a. "The Big Bopper." In spite of his brief life, Valens's success brought a new sound to the mainstream, and inspired generations of Chicano musicians. Selected for the 2018 registry.

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"The Music from 'Peter Gunn'" (album). Henry Mancini. (1958)

The suave detective as lead character in a television program was novel when the "Peter Gunn" series debuted in 1958. To emphasize the cool, sophisticated personality of the private eye, played by Craig Stevens, composer Henry Mancini wrote jazz-inflected instrumental themes. The renowned opening theme features a driving, and catchy, jazz ostinato figure punctuated by big band blasts and throbs. The theme and album became popular in their own right, helping to make the television series a hit with audiences. This album was one of the first television soundtracks to be issued commercially, and was a favorite of the early stereo era. Selected for the 2010 registry.

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"The Play of Daniel: A Twelfth-Century Drama" (album). New York Pro Musica under the direction of Noah Greenberg. (1958)

Determined to change contemporary attitudes towards early music, Noah Greenberg founded New York Pro Musica, a performing ensemble of singers and instrumentalists in 1952, and found great success with performances of medieval, Renaissance and baroque music. Pro Musica introduced audiences to relatively neglected genres of music and influenced many early-music ensembles. His 1958 recording of "The Play of Daniel," a 12th century liturgical drama, exemplifies the best of his work. Selected for the 2008 registry.

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"Poeme Electronique" (album). Edgard Varese. (1958)

Described by composer Joel Chadabe as "the ultimate statement of tape music as musique concrete," this work premiered in the Philips pavilion, designed by famed architect Le Corbusier, for the 1958 Brussels Exposition. The work incorporated innumerable recorded sounds--voices, sirens, bells, tone generators--that were all heard by visitors to the pavilion from 425 loudspeakers positioned throughout the hall. The speakers allowed the sound to be moved through the space in interesting patterns that clashed with or complemented an array of projected images. The Columbia release (ML 5148) utilized the actual tapes that Edgard Varese employed in the original performance. Selected for the 2005 registry.

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"Rumble." Link Wray. (1958)

Asked for a tune that kids could dance The Stroll to, Link Wray came up with this powerfully menacing guitar instrumental on the spot, and the crowd went wild, demanding encores. When he couldn't recreate the distorted sound of his live version in a studio, Wray poked holes in his amp speakers, cranked up the tremolo, and was then able to capture what he wanted in three takes--all for a cost of $57. Originally titled "Oddball," it was renamed after the gang fights in "West Side Story" by a record producer's daughter. Wray's primal guitar influenced a generation of rockers including Jimi Hendrix, Jeff Beck, the Kinks, Jimmy Page and Neil Young. Bob Dylan called "Rumble" the "greatest instrumental ever." Pete Townshend said, "... if it hadn't been for Link Wray and 'Rumble,' I would have never picked up a guitar." Selected for the 2008 registry.

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"Tom Dooley." The Kingston Trio. (1958)

The Kingston Trio recorded their version of "Tom Dooley" on their debut album for Capitol Records in early 1958. The song was already part of their regular set list and was also in the repertoire of other folk revivalists such as the Tarriers and the Gateway Trio. In spite of Nick Reynolds' distinctive and dramatic opening narration, the song attracted little attention on its own until a Salt Lake City radio station began playing it heavily, prompting Capitol Records to place the 1866 murder ballad on a 45rpm record. The song helped spark a modern-folk revival, the influence of which would be felt throughout American popular music. Selected for the 2008 registry.

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Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto, No. 1. Van Cliburn. (April 11, 1958)

Twenty-three-year-old Texas piano prodigy Van Cliburn won the prestigious International Tchaikovsky Piano Competition in Moscow in April 1958, charming a critical, but rapt Russian audience with this performance of Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto, No. 1 in the finals. "Time" magazine noted that his competition appearance and subsequent concert tour of the Soviet Union, broadcast over radio and television, "has had more favorable impact on more Russians than any U.S. export of word or deed since World War II." Composer Aram Khachaturian stated, "you find a virtuoso like this only once or twice in a century." Although Cliburn later recorded the Concerto for an RCA Victor commercial release that enjoyed immense popularity, the archival recordings from the finals of the competition convey the sense of Cold War history in the making. Selected for the 2012 registry.

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President's Message Relayed from Atlas Satellite. Dwight D. Eisenhower. (December 19, 1958)

On December 18, 1958, the U.S. launched into orbit the world's first communications satellite in response to the Soviet Union's successful orbiting the previous year of Sputnik, the world's first artificial satellite. Although he was not impressed by Sputnik, President Dwight D. Eisenhower responded to these anxieties by reluctantly increasing defense spending. Created under the auspices of the Defense Department's newly formed Advanced Research Projects Agency, Project SCORE transmitted a prerecorded message by Eisenhower the day after its launch that was heard on ground stations via shortwave radio. The President's greeting was succinct, conveying peaceful wishes to the whole world. The launch and the transmission of the president's message was promoted as a major propaganda victory. Selected for the 2012 registry.

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"Winds in Hi-Fi" (album). Eastman Wind Ensemble with Frederick Fennell. (1958)

The Eastman Wind Ensemble, one of the finest such ensembles ever to record, gave its first performance in 1953, the same year they began a series of 24 recordings for Mercury's Living Presence label. Their recordings jump-started the American concert wind band movement. This album features works by Percy Grainger, Bernard Rogers, Darius Milhaud, and Richard Strauss. Grainger often commented that he considered this the definitive recording of his composition "Lincolnshire Posy." Selected for the 2003 registry.

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"Der Ring des Nibelungen" (The complete "Ring Cycle") (album). Georg Solti and the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra. (1958-1965)

In the late 1950s, John Culshaw, a producer for the English Decca label, attempted the most ambitious recording project up to that time–-a complete studio recording of Wagner's "Der Ring des Nibelungen" ("The Ring of the Nibelung") on stereo LP. This landmark nineteen-disc series features the Vienna Philharmonic, under the direction of the authoritative Wagner conductor Sir Georg Solti. Among the many superb vocal performances recorded for this Ring are those of Birgit Nilsson and Kirsten Flagstad. The series is credited with bringing Wagner's masterpieces into the homes of many Americans who had never before visited an opera house. Selected for the 2003 registry.

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"'Freight Train,' and Other North Carolina Folk Songs and Tunes" (album). Elizabeth Cotten. (1959)

The debut album of singer, songwriter and guitarist Elizabeth Cotten was released when she was over 60 years old. A self-taught guitarist, her expressive two-finger picking style was enormously influential on folk song guitarists. Cotten was a popular performer during the folk music revival of the 1960s and a major inspiration to many aspiring musicians of the time. Cotten, who wrote "Freight Train" at the age of 12, was inspired by living next to the railroad tracks. Selected for the 2007 registry.

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"Giant Steps" (album). John Coltrane. (1959)

John Coltrane's lightning-fast runs on this debut recording for Atlantic Records have been described by writer Ira Gitler as "sheets of sound." In characteristic fashion, Coltrane plays phrases forward, backwards and upside down, exhausting the possible permutations of a motive before proceeding. These fast runs signal Coltrane's movement away from a chordal approach to jazz in favor of a more scalar approach. "Giant Steps" contains seven original compositions by Coltrane, many of which have gone on to become jazz standards. Selected for the 2004 registry.

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"Gunfighter Ballads and Trail Songs." Marty Robbins. (1959)

By 1959, singer Marty Robbins had released several hit singles, but he had a dream to record an album of Western songs, not country songs. He persuaded producer Don Law to let him record what would become "Gunfighter Ballads and Trail Songs," arguing that the label owed it to him for his considerable success. Robbins admitted to Law it probably wouldn't sell five hundred copies, but this would become Robbins' signature work and greatest success. The centerpiece of the album is "El Paso," a song years in the making. The idea first came to Robbins in December 1955, while driving to Arizona for Christmas. He saw a sign for El Paso and thought that would be a catchy title, but soon forgot about it. The same thing happened in 1956, but during the trip in 1957, while his wife drove their turquoise Cadillac, Robbins sat in the back seat, furiously writing as the song poured out of him, lyrics and melody all at once. Though he had the song, he couldn't get it recorded until the April 7, 1959, eight-hour session in which the entire album was done. The now-iconic guitar fills on "El Paso" were played by Nashville legend Grady Martin, who created such a distinctive sound that fans still argue about what kind of guitar he used. Selected for the 2016 registry.

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"Gypsy" (album). Original cast recording. (1959)

"Gypsy" is considered by many to be the apotheosis of the original Broadway cast recording. It boasts a spectacular score, thrilling orchestrations, and a star turn by Ethel Merman. Jule Styne's music includes pitch perfect pastiches of vaudeville and burlesque songs, tender ballads, and what is generally agreed to be the most exciting Broadway overture in history. The lyrics by Sondheim are funny, clever, and perfectly suited to the show's characters. Much of the score was tailored to Merman, and rarely has a score and a voice so sparked each other to create such a defining record. Selected for the 2009 registry.

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Reflections by Tyne Daly (PDF, 170KB)
Interview with Lane Bradbury (PDF, 208KB)
Interview with Stephen Sondheim (PDF, 47KB)
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"Howl." Allen Ginsberg. (1959)

"Howl," Ginsberg's most famous poem, was an experiment in the invention of a new style of poetry, one based not on "little short-line patterns" but on "the formal organization of the long line." The poem employs vivid visual impressions and chaotic phrasing. In his recitation, Ginsberg is particularly effective in his relatively unemotional delivery despite his passionate language and the work's frequent literary anger which describes the history of the Beat Generation and documents its anti-establishment rage. When "Howl" was first published in 1956, it was banned for obscenity and became a celebrated legal case among defenders of the First Amendment. Ginsberg appears on this recording at a 1959 Chicago "Big Table" reading presented by the Shaw Society in Chicago, Illinois. Selected for the 2006 registry.

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"Kind of Blue" (album). Miles Davis. (1959)

Many consider this recording to be one of the most important jazz recordings of any era. Miles Davis, trumpeter and composer, and a superb ensemble of musicians, including John Coltrane, Cannonball Adderley, and Bill Evans, created a highly-influential modal jazz masterpiece which became a best-selling album. Selected for the 2002 registry.

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"Long Black Veil" (single). Lefty Frizzell. (1959)

Lefty Frizzell was a hard-drinking, hard-living country singer who helped broaden the appeal of honky-tonk music with a string of hits in the early 1950s. In songs such as "If You've Got the Money," Frizzell smoothed out the vocals of honky tonk while still retaining their vitality. By the late '50s, his hits had dried up, so Frizzell decided to work with a different music publishing company, Cedarwood. In the spring of 1959, on the same day Danny Dill and Marijohn Wilkin finished "Long Black Veil," Wilkin pitched it to Frizzell and legendary producer Don Law. Frizzell wanted to record it immediately even though it was a departure from his style, more folk song than honky tonk. In "Long Black Veil," a ghostly saga song, Frizzell portrays a dead man who tells the tragic secret of his execution and about the woman who mourns for him. The recording session included the composer (Wilkin) on piano and the plaintive steel guitar of Don Helms echoing the wails in the lyrics. "Long Black Veil" was not only Frizzell's biggest hit in years, it became one of his signature songs and a genre-crossing classic, covered by Johnny Cash, Sammi Smith, The Kingston Trio, Joan Baez, The Band, Marianne Faithfull, The Chieftains, and dozens more. Selected for the 2018 registry.

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"Lord, Keep Me Day by Day" (single). Albertina Walker and the Caravans. (1959)

Influenced by and spurred on by her mentor, Mahalia Jackson, in 1947 Albertina Walker formed her own—and now legendary—gospel group, Albertina Walker and the Caravans. Soon, Walker would be nicknamed "Star Maker" for the incredible talent she fostered via her group. Shirley Caesar, Bessie Griffin, Rev. James Cleveland and Inez Andrews, among others, all began their careers as part of the Caravans. Meanwhile, Walker herself would inherit the title "Queen of Gospel Music," after the passing of Jackson in 1972. This 1959 recording was one of Walker’s signature songs and performances—a heartfelt, soulful, and sometimes bluesy testament to her faith, written by the group’s pianist Eddie Williams, who also sings lead. Selected for the 2020 registry.

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"Oh Mary Don't You Weep." The Swan Silvertones. (1959)

"Oh Mary Don't You Weep" was one of the most important of the early Negro spirituals and contains messages of hope, resistance and liberation. The song's roots go back to before the ivil War when it was most likely originally sung by Southern slaves. "Oh Mary" has continued to inspire African-Americans long after the Civil War. This 1959 recording by the Swan Silvertones on Vee-Jay Records transformed the template of 20th century gospel quartets with its close vocal harmonies and Claude Jeter's soaring falsetto. The Swan Silvertones's version of "Oh Mary Don't You Weep" turned this traditional favorite into an anthem of the modern civil rights movement and inspired a new generation of activists and artists, including James Baldwin and Paul Simon. Selected for the 2014 registry.

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Radio Feature (MP3)

"Messiah" (album). Eugene Ormandy, conductor; Richard Condie, choir director; Mormon Tabernacle Choir; Philadelphia Orchestra. (1959)

The association between the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, one of the best known choral organizations in the United States, and the Philadelphia Orchestra dates back to 1936. This best-selling recording of Handel's oratorio was made during a 1958 choir concert tour. It features Eileen Farrell, Martha Lipton, William Warfield and Cunningham Davis. Selected for the 2004 registry.

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"Mingus Ah Um" (album). Charles Mingus. (1959)

Jazz bassist and bandleader Charles Mingus is recognized today as one of the finest jazz composers in history. His genius as a composer, exemplified in "Goodbye Pork Pie Hat," "Fables of Faubus," "Better Git It in Your Soul," and "Jelly Roll," from this album, combines elements of gospel, blues, New Orleans jazz, swing, bop, Latin music, modern classical music, and avant-garde jazz. Selected for the 2003 registry.

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"New York Taxi Driver" (album). Tony Schwartz. (1959)

Documenting the street sounds of New York City has been a passion for Tony Schwartz since 1945 when he bought a wire recorder and started to collect the sounds of the world around him. Since then, his audio archive has become one of the most significant collections of the sounds of everyday life. "New York Taxi Driver" comprises conversations and stories recorded with taxi drivers while riding in their cabs during the 1950s. A creator of advertisements and public service announcements, Schwartz also produced the first anti-smoking ad and the famous "Daisy" ad used in President Lyndon Johnson's 1964 campaign. Selected for the 2003 registry.

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"A Program of Song" (album). Leontyne Price. (1959)

Leontyne Price's debut recital recording, "A Program of Song," recorded in 1959 at Town Hall in New York, showcases the soprano's beautiful, well-balanced voice that had been garnering praise since the early 1950's. As a student at the Juilliard School of Music she caught the attention of Virgil Thomson and was invited to sing the role of Saint Cecilia in the 1952 revival of his "Four Saints in Three Acts." Success soon followed with U.S. and European tours and debuts in opera houses around the world. Known for her insightful and adventurous musicianship, as well as the dramatic feeling she brought to roles, in 1960, Price became the first African American to sing a leading role, Aida, at the Teatro alla Scala in Milan. "A Program of Song," featuring renditions of French and German works by Gabriel Fauré, Francis Poulenc, Richard Strauss and Hugo Wolf that are considered to be among the most challenging of vocal pieces, revealed to listeners at home an artist of amazing power, range and depth. Selected for the 2012 registry.

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"The Shape of Jazz to Come" (album). Ornette Coleman. (1959)

On his debut for Atlantic Records, Ornette Coleman pushed the boundaries of jazz even further into the unknown than he had on his earlier efforts for Contemporary Records. Critic Ralph J. Gleason observed that "the musical and critical world [was] split neatly in two" by Coleman's willingness to abandon bebop's harmonic structure and timing when his music required it. What Coleman never abandoned was the centrality of improvisation to jazz. In this effort he is ably assisted by Don Cherry on cornet, Charlie Haden on bass and Billy Higgins on drums – all musicians with whom he had played intermittently for several years. Cherry and Coleman achieve a close interaction on several tracks, particularly in their speedy unison playing at the beginning of "Eventually" and "Congeniality." Haden not only accompanies the other musicians, but also stretches the melodic potential of his instrument, particularly in his solo on "Focus on Sanity." For all the record's iconoclasm, it swings, and even Coleman's more outrageous timbral experimentation can be understood as rooted in the expressiveness of the blues. Selected for the 2012 registry.

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"Time Out" (album). The Dave Brubeck Quartet. (1959)

Spawned by the "Cool Jazz" movement, "Time Out" is an album both accessible and musically and rhythmically sophisticated. Whether the selections possess an unforgettable melody in 5/4 time like "Take Five," written by the Quartet's saxophonist Paul Desmond, or are inspired by Turkish traditions, like "Blue Rondo a la Turk," they are instantly recognizable to a generation of listeners. Selected for the 2005 registry.

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United Sacred Harp Musical Convention in Fyffe, Alabama (field recordings by Alan Lomax and Shirley Collins). (1959)

Folklorist Alan Lomax characterized the folk polyphony that he and English folksinger Shirley Collins recorded at the annual United Sacred Harp Musical Convention as "choral music for a nation of individualists." About 150 Southern shape-note singers ranging in age from under 10 to over 90 participated, singing from "The Sacred Harp," a hymnal written in so-called "shape notes." This 19th-century notational system was originally devised to teach untrained singers to harmonize more fluently, but it also enabled the creation of invigorating and complex pieces sung in four parts by participants seated around a square, thus creating the multi-directional cascades of voices heard on these recordings. The future of the tradition was very much in doubt when these recordings were made. Lomax and others had earlier documented Sacred Harp singing on monophonic discs. These stereo tape recordings were the first to capture the music's full vigor and complexity. The dissemination of these recordings helped preserve and revitalize this uniquely American form both inside and outside of their original communities. Selected for the 2010 registry.

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"What'd I Say" (Parts 1 and 2). Ray Charles. (1959)

This rhythm and blues hit combined the call-and-response structure of the church with the sexually-charged message of the blues. A highly acclaimed singer, pianist, arranger, and songwriter, Charles's synthesis of soul, R&B, country, and pop makes him one of the most influential musical figures of the 20th century. Selected for the 2002 registry.

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"Mack the Knife" (singles). Louis Armstrong (1956); Bobby Darin (1959).

"Mack the Knife" began its life in Weill and Brecht's "The Threepenny Opera" in 1928. The song opens and closes the play, sung by a ragged organ grinder to herald the play's gangster anti-hero, Mackie Messer. Recorded in 1956 by Louis Armstrong, it became one of the least likely hits of the year. It was covered again in 1959 by pop crooner Bobby Darin. Darin's version is consciously in the spirit of Armstrong's, using his pronunciation and his name-check of the song originator's Lotte Lenya, but his arrangement is jazzier, going from a jazzy, finger-snapping opening to a full-throttled, rocking climax. "Mack the Knife" became an even bigger international pop hit this time around, as well as Darin's signature song. Selected for the 2015 registry.

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Learn more—Darin version (PDF, 140KB)
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"Blind Joe Death" (album). John Fahey. (1959, 1964, 1967)

In 1959 solo guitarist John Fahey self-published the first version of this album, pressing only 100 copies and distributing them locally in Washington, D.C. and among his acquaintances. In subsequent years, he re-recorded selections of the album on different occasions, expressing a preference for the more technically demanding performances on the 1967 stereo release. Heavily influenced by classic blues and folk 78-rpm recordings he had collected since his youth, Fahey's solo guitar compositions also incorporate such surprising influences as the work of Charles Ives and Bela Bartok to forge uniquely personal statements. Selected for the 2010 registry.

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"The Button-Down Mind of Bob Newhart" (album). Bob Newhart. (1960)

Bob Newhart introduced his fresh, new style of deceptively satiric comedy to audiences with this recording in 1960. "The Button-Down Mind" is the first collection of Newhart's subtle, archly understated, humorous monologues that often represent a one-sided dialog with an unheard partner delivered in his characteristically deadpan style. His humor focuses on an average guy trying to hold on to his composure under some of the most unusual predicaments imaginable. Like Jack Benny, Newhart uses significant pauses to achieve heightened humorous effects. This recording contains his comedy classic, "The Driving Instructor," where he shines in a one-sided monologue as the instructor of the most dangerous and inept driving student ever to get behind the wheel. Selected for the 2006 registry.

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Interview with Bob Newhart (PDF, 56KB)
Inductees' Gallery - Bob Newheart, performer
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"Cathy's Clown." The Everly Brothers. (1960)

In 1960, the Everly Brothers moved to a new label, Warner Bros., and wanted their first release for them to be a hit. Their first record for Warners would become their biggest success. "Cathy's Clown" was written by Don and Phil Everly. Its subject matter was inspired by a high school girlfriend of Don's; its sound by Grofe's "Grand Canyon Suite." Recorded in the legendary RCA Studio B in Nashville, engineer Bill Porter used a tape loop on the drums to give the impression of two drummers. Porter got the song's distinctive vocal sound by having the Everlys sing into one microphone, then feeding that single through a massive plate reverb unit. Porter later admitted, to get the sound he wanted, he tightened the reverb springs to the point of breakage. The Beatles, who had been so influenced by the Everlys's harmonizing that they once considered calling themselves "the Foreverly Brothers," cited "Cathy's Clown" as an inspiration for "Please Please Me." Selected for the 2013 registry.

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"Crossing Chilly Jordan." The Blackwood Brothers. (1960)

Known to gospel fans since 1934, the Blackwood Brothers are one of the most popular U.S. Southern gospel quartets. They have been credited with creating enthusiastic audiences in the 1950s and '60s for music once considered unexciting, dry and boring, and transforming the genre by adding African American musical forms (blues, jazz, black gospel) to their own traditions. Written by quartet member, J. D. Sumner (considered by many to have been the lowest bass in gospel), "Crossing Chilly Jordan," is an outstanding example of this spirit and style. With its jubilant infectious rhythms, rousing tempo, call-and-response style and four-part harmony, the song was often used as their encore number in live performances. The Blackwood Brothers were inducted into the Gospel Music Hall of Fame in 1998. Selected for the 2012 registry.

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"Drums of Passion" (album). Michael Babatunde Olatunji. (1960)

Nigerian drummer Michael Babatunde Olatunji came to the United States in the early 1960s and released several popular and influential drumming albums. Musicians as varied as Dizzy Gillespie, John Coltrane, Bob Dylan, and Carlos Santana have all noted Olatunji's virtuosity or counted him as an influence. "Drums of Passion" features traditional Nigerian drumming with Western choral arrangements in songs written by Olatunji. It was many Americans' first exposure to Nigerian drumming. Selected for the 2004 registry.

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"The Incredible Jazz Guitar of Wes Montgomery." Wes Montgomery. (1960)

On Wes Montgomery's second album for Riverside Records, producer Orrin Keepnews encouraged the guitarist to stretch out more than he had previously, and the record they produced has proven to have enduring appeal. Montgomery's playing is characterized by his trademark thumb-picking technique and frequent use of paired notes an octave apart in his melodic statements, often at staggering speeds. Montgomery's unique technique was a result of being self-taught which, in the words of saxophonist Ronnie Scott, allowed him to play "impossible things on the guitar because it was never pointed out to him that they were impossible." In fact, his technique is probably the chief reason he was able to achieve such a full and resonant tone, which did not impede his deft, fluid melodies. On this album, he is also able to switch easily between a variety of styles including swing, up-tempo numbers, ballads and blues while also playing standards and original compositions. The album influenced a wide range of guitarists including George Benson, Pat Martino and Larry Coryell. Selected for the 2016 registry.

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"Joan Baez." Joan Baez (1960)

The first solo album by the woman "Time" magazine would soon crown "Queen of the Folk Singers," "Joan Baez" preserves for posterity powerful performances from the Harvard Square coffeehouse repertoire that brought Baez to prominence as the folk revival movement was arriving on the national stage. Baez's haunting arrangements of traditional English and Scottish ballads of longing and regret, mixed with an eclectic blend of Bahamian, Yiddish, Mexican, and Carter Family favorite tunes, sent critic Robert Shelton "scurrying to the thesaurus for superlatives." The album's success was especially important for women in the folk music milieu who found a role model "absolutely free and in charge of herself," in the words of fellow folksinger Barbara Dane. Selected for the 2014 registry.

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Interview with Joan Baez (PDF, 43KB)
Inductees' Gallery - Joan Baez, performer
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"Rank Stranger." The Stanley Brothers. (1960)

The Stanley Brothers, one of the premier bands of the formative days of bluegrass, always included sacred songs as a featured part of their performances. Their recording of "Rank Stranger," written by famed gospel songwriter Albert E. Brumley Sr. and sung with reverence and simplicity in the traditional mountain style, shows why the Stanley Brothers continue to influence performers today. Carter Stanley's masterful handling of the verses and his brother Ralph's soaring tenor refrain produce a distinctive duet. The spare accompaniment of unamplified guitar and mandolin and the emotional call-and-response style vocals heighten the emotional anguish of the lyric. Selected for the 2008 registry.

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"Texas Sharecropper and Songster" (album). Mance Lipscomb. (1960)

Mance Lipscomb, was born in 1895 in Navasota, Texas. His father was a former slave who took up the fiddle after the Civil War, his mother, a half Choctaw gospel singer. Lipscomb played guitar and wrote songs from his teens, but never recorded until this 1960 session, done in his kitchen, that resulted in this album, the first LP released by Arhoolie Records. A proud man, Lipscomb disliked the term "sharecropper," preferring to think of himself simply as a farmer, and the word was later dropped from the title of CD reissues. Although he was influenced by such artists as Blind Willie Johnson and Blind Lemon Jefferson, Lipscomb didn't consider himself a blues musician and preferred the term "songster" which better conveyed his wide-ranging repertoire of over 300 songs. After the success of this album, Lipscomb became a regular on the folk festival circuit. On this album, Lipscomb plays fingerstyle guitar, except for when he uses a jackknife to play slide guitar on Jefferson's "Jack O' Diamonds." Selected for the 2013 registry.

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“Tonight’s the Night” (album). The Shirelles. (1960)

The Shirelles are often referred to as a “girl group,” but as their first album demonstrates, they sang with the grown-up passion of teens entering their 20s, a winning combination that made them trendsetters in the early 1960s. Shirley Owens, Beverly Lee, Doris Kenner and Adele “Micki” Harris met in junior high school in Passaic, NJ. The three hit singles from, this, their first album—“Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow,” “Dedicated to the One I Love,” and the title track—remain moving performances that still communicate maturing desire with plaintive vulnerability, while other album tracks like “Boys,” later covered by the Beatles, are delivered with untroubled gusto and abandon. “Tonight’s the Night,” may have once seemed like kid’s stuff, but it has stood the test of time. Selected for the 2022 registry.

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Interview with Beverly Lee (PDF, 163KB)
Inductees' Gallery - Shirley Alston Reeves (nee Shirley Owens), performer
Inductees' Gallery - Beverly Lee, performer
Listen—"Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow" (MP3)

"The Twist." Chubby Checker. (1960)

Chubby Checker's rendition of "The Twist" became emblematic of the energy and excitement of the early 1960s. Originally a twelve-bar blues song written and released as a "B" side in 1959 by Hank Ballard and the Midnighters, "The Twist" enjoyed only moderate success until American Bandstand host Dick Clark selected Checker, a young singer from Philadelphia, to record the new version and perform it on his program. Checker's recording quickly became a hit with teens and the model for many takeoffs. "The Twist" caught on with adults as well when café society worldwide embraced the dance craze even as teens were moving on to new steps, such as "the mash potato" and "the slop." Frank Sinatra recorded a "Twist" song, "The Flintstones" twisted, and Bob Hope quipped, "If they turned off the music, they'd be arrested." Reissued in 1962, Checker's version soared again to the top of the charts, ahead of the other "Twist" records that had inundated the recording industry in the intervening months. Selected for the 2012 registry.

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Interview with Chubby Checker (PDF, 43KB)
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“We Insist!  Max Roach’s Freedom Now Suite” (album). Max Roach. (1960)

Throughout his career, drummer Max Roach constantly sought to extend the boundaries of jazz, both stylistically and in the service of political change. “We Insist!” consists of an innovative suite featuring singer Abby Lincoln performing lyrics by Oscar Brown, Jr., and accompanied by Roach, legendary tenor sax player Coleman Hawkins (on “Driva’ Man”), Booker Little (trumpet), Julian Priester (trombone), Walter Benton (tenor sax), and James Schenk (bass). Shortly after the album’s release, Roach stated that he would “never again play anything that does not have social significance,” and he urged black musicians to “employ our skill to tell the dramatic story of our people.”  The album masterfully fulfills this brief. “Driva’ Man” focuses on the history of slavery and the notorious figure of the slave driver, while “Freedom” and “Tryptich: Prayer/Protest/Peace” deal with emancipation, the ambiguous legacy of freedom, and protest. Side two, devoted to pan-African themes, features a larger percussion ensemble including Babatunde Olatunji, Raymond Mantilla, and Thomas Du Vall. The resulting works are heavily influenced by African rhythms; they also foreshadow Roach’s future work with the percussion ensemble M’Boom. Selected for the 2022 registry.

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"Clifton's Crew." Pat Bonner. (June 1960)

This recording is representative of the Ivan Walton Collection at the Bentley Library, University of Michigan. In the 1930s, Great Lakes folklorist Ivan Walton collected songs and music in the northern part of Michigan's Lower Peninsula in an effort to save the music of Great Lakes sailors. This recording by fiddler Pat Bonner reflects and preserves a fading tradition tied to maritime life at the end of the schooner era. Selected for the 2005 registry.

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"Old Time Music at Clarence Ashley's" (album). Doc Watson, Clarence Ashley, et.al. (1960-1962)

Born in Tennessee in 1895, singer/banjoist Clarence Ashley grew up steeped in the folk music of Appalachia, and in the 1920s and 1930s, recorded many classic 78s in the old time style that flourished before bluegrass and modern country music. His music was rediscovered in the 1950s as part of Harry Smith's Anthology of American Folk Music, but no one knew he was alive and well until Ralph Rinzler and John Herald met him at old time music contest in 1960. Rinzler arranged to record Ashley, whose band included the much younger Arthel "Doc" Watson, a blind guitarist with similarly deep roots who had also absorbed jazz influences and played in local country and rockabilly bands. Watson turned classic fiddle tunes into blistering guitar showpieces with ease and memorably embellished the old songs he and Ashley sang. These recordings helped make them stars of the folk revival. Over the next fifty years, Watson played all over the world, teaching and inspiring countless young folk musicians. Selected for the 2012 registry.

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Ali Akbar College of Music archive selections. (1960s-1970s)

The Ali Akbar College of Music in San Rafael, California, was founded in 1967 to provide education in the classical music of Northern India. Ali Akbar Khan, internationally recognized sarode maestro, and Swapan Chaudhuri, tabla maestro, were the primary instructors. The College's archive contains unique, historic sound recordings, many in the early stages of deterioration. This group of ten recorded concerts of particular value, as selected by the College's staff, includes rare performances by some of northern India's foremost musicians including Allauddin Khan, Kishan Maharaj, Nikhil Banerjee, and Alla Rakha. Selected for the 2003 registry.

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Listen—Raga Brindabani Sarang in medium tempo Tintal (16 beats)
Listen—Raga Misra Shivaranjani in medium tempo Rupak (7 beats)
Listen—Raga Chandranandan in slow tempo Dhamar (14 beats)
Listen—Raga Kaunsi Kanada in fast tempo Tintal (16 beats)

"2000 Years with Carl Reiner & Mel Brooks" (album). Carl Reiner and Mel Brooks. (1961)

The secret to living 2000 years? "Never touch fried foods!" In their party routine first performed for friends, Mel Brooks played a 2000-year-old man, while Carl Reiner, as the straight man, interviewed him. After much convincing, the two writers for Sid Caesar's "Your Show of Shows," recorded their ad-libbed dialogue for a 1961 album. Interview subjects ranged from marriage ("I was married over 200 times!") and children ("I have over 1500 children and not one of them ever comes to visit!") to transportation ("What was the means of transportation? Fear."). Selected for the 2008 registry.

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Interview with Carl Reiner (PDF, 51KB)
Inductees' Gallery - Carl Reiner, writer/performer
Inductees' Gallery - Mel Brooks, writer/performer
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Radio Feature (MP3)

"At Last." Etta James. (1961)

Etta James' recording of "At Last" is widely acknowledged as a "crossover" masterpiece. The song was written by Mack Gordon and Harry Warren for the 1942 Glenn Miller film, "Orchestra Wives." It became the title track on the first album that James recorded for Leonard and Phil Chess in 1961. In the producers' attempt to widen James' audience and sales, the album features many jazz and pop standards in addition to blues, which had been the focus of James' work until that time. Her sultry, blues-inflected approach to "At Last"--set in a brilliant strings and rhythm section arrangement by Riley Hampton--transcends genre, like all great crossover interpretations. Selected for the 2008 registry.

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“The Christmas Song” (single). Nat King Cole. (1961)

One of America’s favorite holiday songs was inspired by a hot summer day. During a sweltering July afternoon in 1945, while visiting his frequent songwriting collaborator, Robert Wells, at his Toluca Lake, California home, Mel Tormé noticed some lines Wells had written to distract himself from the heat, with wintry images like “Jack Frost nipping at your nose.” Sensing their potential as a song, Wells and Tormé went to work and in less than an hour created an enduring holiday standard. Although Tormé himself was an accomplished singer, he felt that a bigger name was needed to generate more record sales. He and Wells pitched the song to Nat King Cole, the leader of a long established jazz trio, who was becoming a popular vocalist. Cole recorded “The Christmas Song” four times: in June 1946 with just his Trio; in August of that same year with an added string section; in 1953 with a full orchestra, conducted by Nelson Riddle, and in 1961 with a full orchestra, conducted by Ralph Carmichael, the first stereo version and the one most commonly heard today. According to reports, King Cole Trio guitarist Oscar Moore created the “Jingle Bells” coda heard at the end of every one of Cole’s versions. “The Christmas Song” is said to be one of the most recorded holiday songs in history, but it’s Cole’s 1961 performance, with perhaps his most lush vocal take, that is generally regarded as definitive. Selected for the 2022 registry.

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"Crazy." Patsy Cline. (1961)

Patsy Cline is considered one of country music's greatest singers and is an inspiration to many contemporary female vocalists. "Crazy," a perfect vehicle to showcase Cline's poignant, heartbreaking voice and suburb musicanship, also demonstrates the song-writing prowess of Willie Nelson. It is an excellent example of the urbane Nashville Sound, which became popular in country music after the rise of rock and roll. Selected for the 2003 registry.

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"Daisy Bell (Bicycle Built for Two)." Max Mathews, John L.Kelly, Jr., and Carol Lochbaum (1961)

This recording, made at Bell Laboratories on an IBM 704 mainframe computer, is the earliest known recording of a computer-synthesized voice singing a song. The recording was created by John L. Kelly, Jr. and Carol Lochbaum, and featured musical accompaniment written by Max Mathews. Arthur C. Clarke, who witnessed a demonstration of the piece, was so impressed that he incorporated it in "2001: A Space Odyssey." When Clarke's fictional HAL 9000 computer is being involuntarily disconnected near the end of the story, as it devolves it sings "Daisy Bell." Selected for the 2009 registry.

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"Judy at Carnegie Hall" (album). Judy Garland. (1961)

Judy Garland's singing and acting career spanned vaudeville to movies, radio, and television. She was revered for her musical strengths and personal vulnerabilities. This live concert recording exemplifies her ability to form an intimate relationship with the audience and includes a moving performance of "Over the Rainbow" from "The Wizard of Oz." Selected for the 2003 registry.

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Reflections by Lorna Luft (PDF, 105KB)
Reflections by Rufus Wainwright (PDF, 56KB)
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"Stan Freberg Presents the United States of America, Vol. 1: The Early Years". Stan Freberg. (1961)

Rumble, rumble, rumble… "Why does history have to be so incredibly boring?" Freberg asked. The subject he failed in high school became a most enviable satirical target with "Stan Freberg Presents the United States of America : Vol. 1, The Early Years" (1961). A uniquely American collection of off-the wall historical anachronisms, clever puns and wacky tunes, Freberg was first a skilled radio hit-maker, but also an actor and real-life "Mad Man" credited with bringing polished humor to the world of advertising. Whether he was selling prunes ("today the pits, tomorrow the wrinkles") or skewering American history, Freberg's limber vocal impressions were aided and abetted by notable actors such as Paul Frees, June Foray, Jesse White and others. "United States of America, Vol. 1" tweaks the early years from Christopher Columbus (singing petulantly of a "Round, Round World") through George Washington's victory at Yorktown (a victory due to sound-effect trickery). Absurdity abounds, the fourth wall is often broken, and delightfully at that. In Freberg's universe, Betsy Ross does alterations, Washington bargains for boats on the Delaware, and a hep-cat revolutionary war drummer has some complaints about the Yankee Doodle fife-man ("I got a bandage around my ears, but it doesn't help much."). Slyly subversive, "USA : Vol. 1" has an enduring comic effect which presages Mel Brooks' "History of the World," and groups like Firesign Theatre and "National Lampoon." It nearly became a David Merrick musical, but instead Freberg released "Volume 2" 35 years later using many of the same cast… Mutiny, mutiny, mutiny. Selected for the 2018 registry.

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Reflections by Donovan Freberg (PDF, 156KB)
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"Stand by Me." Ben E. King (1961)

Ben E. King intended "Stand by Me" for his former group, the Drifters, but luckily ended up recording it himself. It would go on to become one of the most broadcast songs of the 20th century. Inspired by a gospel song, King shared songwriting credit with Elmo Glick, a pseudonym for the team of Leiber and Stoller. Anchored by one of the best known bass lines in history, composed by Stoller and played by Lloyd Trotman, the upright acoustic bass is doubled by an electric guitar playing an octave higher. According to Stoller, a guiro played "... on every second beat and a triangle on every fourth." Meanwhile, Stan Applebaum wrote the soaring string arrangement, which included a two-part invention. And while all these elements contributed to the success of "Stand by Me," it is King's incandescent vocal which made it a classic. Selected for the 2014 registry.

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Inaugural of John F. Kennedy. (January 20, 1961)

John F. Kennedy became the 35th president of the United States on January 20, 1961, a bitterly cold and snowy day in Washington. The youngest person ever elected to the Presidency and the first Roman Catholic, his inaugural address spoke of the "New Frontier" and declared to the nation, "Ask not what your country can do for you--ask what you can do for your country." Kennedy had invited noted poet Robert Frost to take part in the ceremony as well. Frost wrote a poem, "Dedication," for the event but, due to the sun's glare on the snow, was unable to read all of it. Instead, Frost movingly recited from memory "The Gift Outright," a poem he had written years earlier. Selected for the 2003 registry.

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"The Complete Village Vanguard Recordings" (album). Bill Evans Trio. (June 25, 1961)

All five sets performed by the Bill Evans Trio on June 25, 1961, at the Village Vanguard club in New York City were recorded, resulting in what are recognized as some of the greatest live recordings in the history of jazz. The trio, consisting of Bill Evans (piano), Paul Motian (drums) and Scott LaFaro (bass), has been credited with redefining jazz piano trios by including the bass and drums as equal partners rather than a rhythm section accompanying a piano soloist. The performances would be the last of the trio. LaFaro was tragically killed in a car crash ten days later. Producer Orrin Keepnews has recalled, "I remember listening to the tapes and saying, 'There's nothing bad here!'" Complete recordings of all five sets were released in 2005. Selected for the 2009 registry.

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Roger Maris hits his 61st homerun. (October 1, 1961)

On October 1, 1961, Roger Maris hit his 61st homerun of the season, eclipsing Babe Ruth's previous homerun record. Phil Rizzuto's radio play-by-play of the entire at-bat is one of the most iconic moments in sports history. From the moment when the Yankee hitter stepped to the plate, Rizzuto  captures the excitement and anticipation of a crowd ready to watch history being made, booing when the first two pitches miss the strike zone and then exploding when Maris connects with the third, prompting Rizzuto's trademark shout of "Holy Cow!" amid the deafening cheers. Selected for the 2020 registry.

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Reflections by Bob Costas (PDF, 218KB)
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"Aida" (album). Leontyne Price, et.al. (1962)

This superb recording includes Leontyne Price in her signature role of Aida, a role that she performed over 40 times. Harold C. Schonberg, critic of the "New York Times," wrote "no soprano makes a career of acting. Voice is what counts, and voice is what Miss Price has." PBS viewers voted her singing (in a MET production) of the Act III aria, "O patria mia," as the No. 1 "Greatest Moment" in 30 years of "Live from the Met" telecasts. That performance ended with 25 minutes of sustained applause. And that was at her retirement! This 1962 recording captured Price's voice in her prime. The star-studded cast of this recording also includes Rita Gorr (who is a splendid Amneris), Robert Merrill (Amonasro, rich and firm vocally), and Jon Vickers as Radames (ringing and heroic). Selected for the 2020 registry.

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"The First Family" (album). (1962)

Written by Bob Booker and Earle Doud and performed by comic impressionist Vaughn Meader and a small cast, "The First Family" (recorded in October, 1962) presented a series of comedy skits about President John F. Kennedy and his family. The album broke new ground in political humor and was, at one time, the industry's fastest and best selling comedy album. The recording was a gentle parody which poked fun at the Presidential family, the family's famous football games, and Mrs. Kennedy's White House redecoration project. Previously, hit comedy albums tended to be recordings of live stand-up performances. Following the success of "First Family," many producers began to create studio albums of comedy sketches. Unfortunately, the album's legacy and ongoing success (and Meader's career) was cut short by the President's assassination in November of the following year. Following the assassination, all copies of the disc were withdrawn. Selected for the 2013 registry.

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Interview with "First Family" writer Bob Booker (PDF, 94KB)
Inductees' Gallery - Bob Booker, writer
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Radio Feature (MP3)

"GO" (album). Dexter Gordon. (1962)

Legendary jazz saxophonist Dexter Gordon was tall and elegant. Nicknamed "Long Tall Dexter," Gordon had been very active in the 1940s, but due to drug addiction and incarceration, he practically disappeared in the '50s. In August 1961, he was finally clean and free. "GO" was not merely Gordon's return to form, but a brilliant display of his hard-won maturity. His tenor sax solos are often playful, even mischievous, sprinkled with quotes from music as diverse as "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" in "Three O'Clock in the Morning" or "El Jarabe Tapatio" ("Mexican Hat Dance") in "Love for Sale." On the other hand, Gordon is known for his sensuous ballads, such as his tender treatment of "I Guess I'll Hang My Tears Out to Dry." Lester Young was one of Gordon's main influences and "Cheese Cake" is inspired by "Tickle Toe," composed by Young and recorded by Count Basie and His Orchestra in 1940 with Young playing tenor. All six tracks were recorded on August 27, 1961 and feature Blue Note regulars pianist Sonny Clark, bassist Butch Warren, and drummer Billy Higgins, a trio which Gordon called a perfect rhythm section. Dexter Gordon is quoted as saying that "GO" is his favorite album. Selected for the 2018 registry.

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Inductees' Gallery - Maxine Goron, widow of Dexter Gordon
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"I Left My Heart in San Francisco" (single). Tony Bennett. (1962)

It takes a truly remarkable song—and vocal performance—to become the hallmark tune in a career as legendary as Tony Bennett's, but "I Left My Heart in San Francisco" is exactly that. Written by George Cory with lyrics by Douglass Cross, it was originally released as the "b" side of another Bennett record by his label, Columbia. Soon after, DJs across the country became far more infatuated with it than the song on the other side of the disc and soon listeners were in love with it too. "I Left My Heart in San Francisco" would be covered by dozens of other artists, but Bennett's version remains the definitive rendition. His recording would later be adopted as one of the official themes for The City by the Bay. Selected for the 2017 registry.

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Interview with Tony Bennett (PDF, 33KB)
Inductees' Gallery - Tony Bennett, performer
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"Green Onions." Booker T. & the M.G.'s. (1962)

Booker T. & the M.G.'s were a rarity when they were formed in the early 1960's: a racially integrated rhythm and blues group. Formed as a house band for Stax Records, Booker T. & the M.G.'s were playing around in the studio in early 1962 when they came up with two catchy instrumentals. "Green Onions" was originally intended as the B-side to "Behave Yourself," but was quickly reissued as the A-side, then later, as the title cut to their first LP. Anchored by the rhythm section of drummer Al Jackson, Jr., and bassist Lewie Steinberg, "Green Onions" is propelled by Booker T. Jones' driving organ and Steve Cropper's stinging guitar. Selected for the 2011 registry.

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“Moon River” (single). Andy Williams. (1962)

Though first introduced to audiences in the 1961 Audrey Hepburn film “Breakfast at Tiffany’s” (in which Hepburn herself sang it), “Moon River” is forever associated with smooth pop singer Andy Williams. It became his signature hit and he sang the first eight bars of the song at the beginning of each and every episode of his long-running television variety show. Simple yet endearing, the song’s evocative lyrics, as the “Financial Times” once noted, “are a metaphor of yearning for the unpredictable eddies of an adventurous life, to be swept along by the currents of somewhere new.” The success of the song made it a modern standard and relaunched the career of its lyricist Johnny Mercer. Though “Moon River” has gone on to be recorded over 500 times by everyone from Frank Sinatra to Louis Armstrong to Judy Garland and there’s even a Joan Rivers funny version and Hepburn’s version certainly has its charms, it is Williams’ flawless rendition that endures. Selected for the 2022 registry.

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"Peace Be Still" (album). James Cleveland. (1962)

This enormously successful gospel recording influenced many later groups and remains an excellent example of gospel performance. Rev. Cleveland, a protege of Thomas A. Dorsey and Roberta Martin, was himself a pioneer gospel recording artist, and the first to make a live gospel album. "Peace Be Still" features keyboardist Billy Preston and the Angelic Choir of Nutley, New Jersey. Selected for the 2004 registry.

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“Sherry” (single). The Four Seasons. (1962)

The Four Seasons was one of the most popular groups of the early and mid-1960s with more than 25 hits over a five-year period, and it all began in 1962 with their first single, “Sherry,” a crossover hit that topped the industry pop and R&B charts. With it, Seasons members Frankie Valli, Tommy DeVito, Bob Gaudio and Nick Massi established their signature harmony sound, led by Valli’s three-octave range and soaring falsetto. Tenor Gaudio said it took him about 15 minutes to write the song, initially as a tribute to first lady Jacqueline Kennedy titled “Jackie Baby,” before it was renamed “Sherry” after the daughter of Gaudio’s close friend, New York radio DJ, Jack Spector. The Four Seasons are still one of the best-selling musical groups of all time, having sold an estimated 100 million records worldwide. The song, “Sherry,” continues to be used in popular culture in films, television and theater, including the Tony Award-winning musical “Jersey Boys,” which chronicled the life and career of Frank Valli and The Four Seasons.  Selected for the 2023 registry.

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Fourth quarter radio coverage of Wilt Chamberlin's 100-point game (Philadelphia Warriors vs. New York Knicks). Bill Campbell, announcer. (March 2, 1962)

Basketball history occurred on March 2, 1962, when Philadelphia Warriors center Wilt Chamberlain shattered the NBA record by scoring 100 points in a single game. Not covered by television, it was only broadcast by a Philadelphia radio station and this recording of its fourth quarter has endured largely due to a young college student who a taped a day-after rebroadcast of the game off of his home radio. The tape, rediscovered in 1990, was later combined by an NBA archivist with a Dictaphone recording of the game thus resulting in the only audio which exists of this remarkable sports achievement. Selected for the 2015 registry.

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William Faulkner address at West Point Military Academy. (April 19-20, 1962)

Three months before his death, in one of his last public appearances, William Faulkner spent two days as a guest lecturer at West Point, where he read from his novel "The Reivers" and participated in a question-and-answer session with the press and public. Recorded and transcribed by two English professors at the Academy, Joseph L. Fant III and Robert Ashley, Faulkner is extremely candid, lucid and generous. Among the subjects he discusses are Hemingway, Dreiser, race relations and the future of the South and the purpose of literature. Selected for the 2005 registry.

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Studs Terkel interview with James Baldwin. (September 29, 1962)

Representative of the Studs Terkel Collection at the Chicago Historical Society. From 1952 to 1997, Studs Terkel hosted a radio program featuring interviews with a broad variety of performing artists, writers, poets, playwrights, historians, political commentators, activists and people who in other circumstances might be termed "average" Americans. He has long been recognized as an outstanding interviewer and practitioner of oral history. His skills extended beyond getting others to talk candidly about themselves to producing revealing interchanges that illuminated and informed about creativity, commitment and life in the United States. Selected for the 2005 registry.

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And more (PDF, 181KB)
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Lawrence Ritter's Interviews with Baseball Pioneers of the Late 19th and Early 20th Century. (1960-1962)

It was Lawrence Ritter's great love and reverence for baseball that prompted him to travel for five years and over 75,000 miles interviewing professional ballplayers from the early years of the game. His 1966 book, "The Glory of Their Time: The Story of the Early Days of Baseball Told by the Men Who Played It," was based on interviews Ritter conducted with such greats as Smoky Joe Wood, Chief Meyers, Sam Crawford, Rube Marquard, Babe Herman, and Bill Wambsganss, among others. These 26 oral histories offer a rare glimpse into the early days of baseball and the men who played the game. Ritter, a professor of economics and finance at New York University, had an "open-end" interview style giving players a comfortable space to recollect about their careers. A true fan, he split all the royalties from his book with the players and their survivors for 20 years after its publication. Selected for the 2013 registry.

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"Be My Baby." The Ronettes. (1963)

This single is often cited as the quintessence of the "girl group" aesthetic of the early 1960s and is also one of the best examples of producer Phil Spector's "wall of sound" style. Opening with Hal Blaine's infectious and much imitated drumbeat, distinctive features of the song, all carefully organized by Spector, include castanets, a horn section, strings and the able vocals of Veronica (Ronnie) Bennett. Enhancing the already symphonic quality of the recording is Spector's signature use of reverb. Selected for the 2006 registry.

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"The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan" (album). Bob Dylan. (1963)

This album is considered by some to be the most important collection of original songs issued in the 1960s. It includes "Blowin' in the Wind," the era's popular and powerful protest anthem. Dylan's lyrics, music, and performing style marked him as a highly-influential figure in the urban folk-music revival of the 1960s and 1970s, whose work remains significant and influential today. Selected for the 2002 registry.

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"The Girl from Ipanema." Stan Getz, Joao Gilberto, Antonio Carlos Jobim, and Astrud Gilberto. (1963)

This instantly recognizable performance popularized the melodic, samba-based, Brazilian bossa nova sound in the U.S. Guitarist and song composer Antonio Carlos Jobim teamed with saxophonist Stan Getz and Gilberto's wife, vocalist Astrud Gilberto, to create this sensuous recording. Selected for the 2004 registry.

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"Hello Muddah, Hello Fadduh" (single). Allan Sherman. (1963)

"Hello Muddah" is a comic novelty song with lyrics written by Allan Sherman and Lou Busch (to the tune of Ponchielli's "Dance of the Hours") in which a boy describes his summer camp experiences at the fictional Camp Granada. At the time of the recording, Sherman was an intermittently successful television writer and producer specializing in game shows, while Busch was best known in the persona of ragtime pianist Joe "Fingers" Carr. Sherman lived in the Brentwood section of Los Angeles and occasionally performed his song parodies for well- known neighbors like Harpo Marx and George Burns. Burns brought him to the attention of Warner Bros. Records. Sherman's first two albums, released in 1962 and 1963, topped the charts, but it would be this single from his third album, "My Son, the Nut," that immortalized him. The lyrics were based on letters of complaint Sherman received from his son, Robert, while the boy was attending a summer camp in Westport, New York. The opening lines are remembered fondly by three (or more) generations of Americans: "Hello Muddah, hello Fadduh / Here I am at Camp Granada." Selected for the 2019 registry.

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"Live at the Apollo" (album). James Brown. (1963)

James Brown's best-selling "Live at the Apollo" remains significant for presenting his incandescent performances of "I'll Go Crazy," "Think" and "Night Train." At the time of its release, none of Brown's prior studio albums had done justice to his dynamic performance style. With this album a wider audience became familiar with his velocity and showmanship. Selected for the 2004 registry.

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United States Marine Band (album). (1963)

In 1963, the United States Army, Navy, Marine and Air Force bands and choruses were engaged (by special permission) to make albums of American music which would then be sold to help fund the National Cultural Center (later the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts). The Marine Band, in particular, who had just returned from an extensive tour of the U.S., was in prime form. The resulting recording by Herman Diaz, Jr., the legendary producer for RCA Victor, is considered by many experts as one of the finest recordings in band history due to its incredible sound quality. Selected for the 2007 registry.

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"War Requiem" (album). Benjamin Britten. (1963)

Benjamin Britten's "War Requiem" was commissioned for the 1962 consecration of the new Coventry Cathedral, after the original 14th Century building was destroyed during World War II. The ambitious work combined text and elements from the traditional Latin Mass for the Dead with nine poems written by Wilfred Owen, a World War I soldier who died seven days before the Armistice. The Decca label had intended to record the "War Requiem" premiere, at Coventry Cathedral, but there were numerous issues with the production that led producer John Culshaw to think instead of a studio recording under more ideal conditions. This included the use of the singers Britten had composed for and getting the perspectives right for the male singers, chamber group, and the choral forces with soprano. Decca was proud of their relationship with Benjamin Britten. And though in Europe the market for his music was not strong, Culshaw believed that Britten's works deserved the best recording that technology had to offer. Britten himself didn't regard any of his recordings as definitive, but because of having his choice of singers, conducting the work himself, and the having great recording quality—even by Decca standards—it has been the benchmark for every other recording or performance of the "War Requiem." In the end, the recording sales exceeded all expectations, in Europe and beyond. Decca then had the confidence to record his operas, and Benjamin Britten's reputation as a great composer could be fully acknowledged. Selected for the 2018 registry.

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"We Shall Overcome" (album). Pete Seeger. (1963)

Pete Seeger's Carnegie Hall concert on June 8, 1963, was the culmination of his recent tour on behalf of civil rights. A highpoint of these concerts was his performance of "We Shall Overcome." First sung as a gospel song, "I Shall Overcome," and later used on labor picket lines, Seeger changed the opening word from "I" to "We," enlisting the song in support of the Civil Rights Movement. Seeger and many other musicians of the 1960s hoped that music would be a strong force in the struggle to eliminate injustice and heal divisions in our country. This live recording of his concert captures not only Seeger's masterful performance but also the communal spirit of the folk revival movement. Selected for the 2006 registry.

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"I Have a Dream." Speech by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (August 28, 1963)

Dr. King's address is considered a landmark event in the civil rights struggle against discrimination and racism. Selected for the 2002 registry.

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WGBH broadcast of the Boston Symphony on the day of the John F. Kennedy Assassination, Boston Symphony Orchestra. (1963)

The ageless adage of "drawing comfort through music" had never been more thoroughly tested than on the scheduled afternoon broadcast of the Boston Symphony, with its conductor Erich Leinsdorf, on November 22, 1963. That day, just after concluding Handel's Concerto Grosso in B flat major and a second short piece, Leinsdorf was forced to break with normal concert protocol and, stoically, address the large audience with a change of program and to share the tragic news of president Kennedy having been killed in Dallas only minutes before. For those in the audience and thousands more listening to the broadcast over the radio, it was their first news of the President's assassination. In the hall, and over the airwaves, shock and gasps rang out. As everyone in the hall — including the musicians — processed this news, the sheet music for the "Funeral March" from Beethoven's 3rd symphony was distributed to the orchestra, which bravely performed. The next day, Margo Miller of the Boston Globe reported, "The 'Eroica' marcia funebre is one of the great moments in music. The dread beat of the march cannot be disguised. Yet there is a middle section of the movement, a time of incredible energy and involvement, somehow, or so it seemed Friday, expressing eternal hope." Selected for the 2019 registry.

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Presidential Recordings of Lyndon B. Johnson. (November 22, 1963-January 10, 1969)

While every president from Roosevelt to Nixon have recorded some of their conversations, Lyndon Johnson's were the only ones to comprehensively cover his complete term of office. A master deal maker, Johnson left little on paper to document his political prowess but his recorded conversations over the telephone--his favored instrument of communication--allow listeners today to witness him cajole and cogitate in real time. The 9,400 telephone conversations and 77 cabinet room meetings captured here for posterity comprise nearly 850 hours, documenting both major and minor policy initiatives. The tapes cover Johnson's efforts for civil rights legislation, his maneuvers for Vietnam military action, and his efforts to initiate the War on Poverty. The LBJ recordings, as professor Guian A. McKee has written, uniquely present "a record of the president's words and thought, direct, unmediated, and unfiltered, at least by anyone other than himself." Selected for the 2013 registry.

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"A Change Is Gonna Come." Sam Cooke. (1964)

Sam Cooke, a central figure in the creation of soul music in the 1950s and 1960s, composed "A Change Is Gonna Come" to express his impatience with the progress of civil equality in the United States. The song would go on to become an anthem of the civil rights movement in the United States. Selected for the 2006 registry.

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"Dancing in the Street." Martha and the Vandellas. (1964)

This rousing dance hit has been cited as one of the first examples of what would come to be known as the Motown sound. Written by Marvin Gaye, William Stevenson and Ivy Jo Hunter, the song was turned down by another Motown act before Martha and the Vandellas performed it in the Motown studios. The group, which consisted of Martha Reeves, Rosalyn Ashford and Annette Beard, had alternated between singing backup for other Motown acts and working on their own material, but, after the success of this song, their career as a backup group was definitively ended. The African-American community would come to infuse the tune with political sentiments. Selected for the 2005 registry.

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Interview with Martha Reeves (PDF, 36KB)

"Fiddler on the Roof" (album). Original Broadway Cast. (1964)

The character of Tevye the Dairyman was created by Yiddish writer Sholem Aleichem and is an orthodox Russian-Jew who attempts to raise his daughters and lead a humble life under the oppressive reign of the tsar. While the Aleichem stories had been adapted various times before, Tevye's true entry into the greater public consciousness came with "Fiddler on the Roof," the musical adaptation of Aleichem's stories. Librettist Joe Stein had become a fan of Aleichem's writing and enlisted the help of composer Jerry Bock and lyricist Sheldon Harnick to create a show that incorporated traditional Jewish music — like klezmer — into a modern musical theater framework in service of a story about old traditions in conflict with the modern world. In the process, the show brought Jewish audiences closer to part of their heritage (especially sobering in a post-World War II world) while presenting gentile audiences with a story built on universal themes and a central protagonist both conflicting and admirable. With direction from Jerome Robbins and opening with Zero Mostel as a riveting Tevye, "Fiddler" became a massive Broadway success, running for a record-setting 3,242 performances. This RCA Victor cast recording features the original versions of songs that have now become standards, such as "Matchmaker," "Tradition," "If I Were a Rich Man" and "Sunrise, Sunset." Selected for the 2019 registry.

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"I Started Out as a Child" (album). Bill Cosby. (1964)

Recorded live at Mr. Kelly's in Chicago, Bill Cosby's second album is made up of short vignettes on a wide range of topics, but mainly drawn from his childhood in Philadelphia. Cosby's delivery is intimate in style, but he utilizes the microphone and public address system of the venue to create humorous and evocative effects, and to conjure up the world as perceived by the eyes and ears of a young boy. Selected for the 2009 registry.

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“It’s a Small World” (single). The Disneyland Boys Choir. (1964)

Richard M. and Robert B. Sherman’s song “It’s a Small World” was first heard at 1964-1965 World’s Fair in New York, as the soundtrack to a ride created by Walt Disney for Pepsi Cola's tribute to UNICEF. There, guides, costumed as Disney characters, helped visitors into small boats that took them through tunnels peopled by brightly-colored puppets representing children from around the world, who cheerfully sang it to them. Today, the same experience can be had at Disneyland in California, where the ride was moved and reconstructed after the Fair closed at the end of its second season in October, 1965. Since then, the song has been heard daily ever since, as well as at other Disney theme parks, making it one of the most widely heard and remembered songs of all time. The motto of the 1964-65 World’s Fair was “Peace, Through Understanding,” but, day by day in the middle of the 1960s, there seemed to be less and less of that in the world. Still, the ride and the song became two of the most hopeful things about the Fair, and it has endured. During the Fair’s first season, the song was only available on a 7” disc at the Fair itself, but was later distributed to stores between the Fair’s two seasons, and eventually became part of an album of the same name. Selected for the 2022 registry.

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"It's My Way." Buffy Sainte-Marie. (1964) (album)

Buffy Sainte-Marie's debut album was an impressive and highly personal set of original and traditional songs, but her Cree heritage and songs like "Now That the Buffalo is Gone" and "The Universal Soldier" led the press to typecast her as a protest singer and the folk revival's token Native American, a superficial portrayal that she fought for years afterwards. On "It's My Way," Saint-Marie's voice is alternately soothing and harrowing, a facet of her style that many found difficult at the time but which paved the way for powerful female singers like Grace Slick a few years later, and reflected the intensity and passion which would continue to distinguish Sainte-Marie's work. Selected for the 2015 registry.

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"A Love Supreme." John Coltrane. (1964)

John Coltrane viewed "A Love Supreme" as a personal and deeply spiritual devotional work. As noted by others, not only do the titles of the four movements—"Acknowledgment," "Resolution," "Pursuance," and "Psalm"—suggest a redemptive spiritual journey, the second movement is harmonically related to the third movement and the first to the fourth in a way that unifies the piece. The qualities offered on this album guaranteed it a much wider listenership than most jazz albums at the time, letting it appeal to a public that was increasingly turning its attention to a wider range of spiritual concerns. The album's legacy, which includes a deep influence on a generation of saxophonists and other musicians and its repeated quotation in sampled music and its actual use in church services, has made the work huge and enduring. Selected for the 2015 registry.

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"Mississippi Goddam" (single). Nina Simone. (1964)

Written by Simone in response to the murder of civil rights activist Medgar Evers in Mississippi and the bombing of the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama, which killed four young African-American girls, "Mississippi Goddam" is one of the most vital songs to emerge from the Civil Rights era. Though surprisingly upbeat in tempo (Simone said of it, "This is a show tune, but the show hasn't been written for it yet."), the message of "Mississippi" is brutally clear and addressed racial strife in music without the safety of abstraction and metaphor. (In introducing the song in concert, Simone often said, "And I mean every word!") Simone's lyrics and impassioned vocal performance lays out her outrage and though the curse word in its title immediately limited the recording's radio airplay, the meaning and musicianship of this work has ensured its fame and endurance. Selected for the 2018 registry.

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"My Girl" (single). The Temptations. (1964)

"Were it not for The Temptations, I never would have written ‘My Girl,'" declared Smokey Robinson, who co-wrote the song and co-produced the recording with fellow Miracle Ronald White. According to Robinson, "My Girl" wasn't written about a specific girl, but it was written for a specific guy, David Ruffin. Robinson felt Temptations tenor Ruffin could be a star if he had the right song to show off his talent. Both he and The Temptations (Ruffin, Eddie Kendricks, Melvin Franklin, Paul Williams and Otis Williams) believed "My Girl" was that song and began working out the arrangements and rehearsing it while on the road. The recording took place in Studio A of Hitsville U.S.A., Motown's Detroit headquarters and featured the legendary group of session musicians known as the Funk Brothers. One of the most remarkable outcomes of "My Girl" is that James Jamerson's barely there opening bassline has become so iconic that the song is instantly recognizable from just those three notes. Guitarist Robert White quickly adds an ascending guitar riff, a pentatonic scale. From there, the sound builds, layer by layer: finger snaps, drums, Ruffin's lead vocal, other members of the Funk Brothers, vocal harmonies by the other Temptations and, finally, strings by members of the Detroit Symphony. "My Girl" was at the top of the charts for only one week, but it remained on jukeboxes for years, becoming a classic of the Motown era. Selected for the 2017 registry.

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"New Orleans' Sweet Emma Barrett and her Preservation Hall Jazz Band." Sweet Emma and her Preservation Hall Jazz Band (1964)

This 1964 offering by seven veterans of New Orleans jazz, before a live Minneapolis audience, well illustrates the credo of music spoken simply: play the melody from the heart and elaborate with care. Pianist Sweet Emma Barrett, along with the Humphrey Brothers (clarinetist Willie and trumpeter Percy); trombonist "Big Jim" Robinson; bassist Alcide "Slow Drag" Pavageau; banjoist Emanuel Sayles, and drummer Josie "Cie" Frazier, perform in a manner that has become known as "New Orleans Revival Jazz." The band's music is simple, direct, and majestic. The front line (trumpet, clarinet, and trombone) contains all the necessary elements needed to provide the ear with a satisfying melodic, harmonic and rhythmic picture. The support of the rhythm section provides the solid four-beats-to-the-measure that seems to push forward and hold back at the same time. This is the magical essence of New Orleans jazz. Selected for the 2014 registry.

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"Oh, Pretty Woman." Roy Orbison. (1964)

The last of Roy Orbison's string of hits for Monument records, "Oh, Pretty Woman" was his most enduring recording. Orbison and co-writer Bill Dees tapped out the initial rhythm of the song while sitting at Orbison's kitchen table. In the recorded version, this became the infectious and well-known opening guitar riff and propulsive drum beat. Artists as varied as Al Green, John Mayall and Van Halen have covered the song, and 2 Live Crew sampled the opening on their 1989 album, "As Clean as They Wanna Be." That appropriation, made without authorization, led to a 1994 U. S. Supreme Court case (Campbell v. Acuff-Rose Music, Inc.) which ruled that a commercial song parody qualified as fair use under Section 107 of the U. S. copyright law. Selected for the 2007 registry.

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"Once a Day" (single). Connie Smith. (1964)

Connie Smith has been called one of the most underrated vocalist in country music history. And she's greatly admired by her peers; Dolly Parton once said, "There's only three real female singers: Barbra Streisand, Linda Ronstadt, and Connie Smith. The rest of us are only pretending."  Smith's rise to that level of admiration began with her very first single, "Once a Day," written by Bill Anderson who was already successful, both as a singer and a songwriter, when he heard Smith at a talent contest. He helped her get a recording contract and, for her first session, wrote "Once a Day," an achingly sad song about a jilted woman who misses her lover only "once a day, every day, all day long." Recorded at RCA's famous Studio B in Nashville, Smith was backed by session musicians and members of Anderson's band, The Po' Boys, including one new player, steel guitarist Weldon Myrick, who would go on to become a Nashville legend himself. Producer Bob Ferguson wanted the steel guitar to be right up front and Myrick delivered, so much so that Smith credits Myrick with "creating the Connie Smith sound." "Once a Day" was Connie Smith's biggest hit and became her signature song. Selected for the 2020 registry.

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Interview with Connie Smith (PDF, 172KB)
Interview with Bill Anderson (PDF, 249KB)
Inductees' Gallery - Bill Anderson, songwriter
Inductees' Gallery - Connie Smith, performer
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"People" (album). Barbra Streisand. (1964)

Young Barbra Streisand, who set out to be an actress, used her singing voice to become both a famous singer and actress. Streisand eventually got a recording contract, then landed the lead in a Broadway show, "Funny Girl." This LP, Streisand's third, solidified her as a master interpreter thanks to her lovely treatments of such standards as "How Does the Wine Taste?," "Absent Minded Me," and "Autumn." The album's title song was taken from "Funny Girl," the hit single was released two months before the show opened. According to some accounts, there was a disagreement about whether to cut the instrumental introduction because, at 3:39, the length might discourage radio airplay, but the intro was kept. Arranger Peter Matz remembers that "there was a wrong note" by a French horn, but "Barbra's vocal on that first take was the best, so they went with it, flaws and all." "People" found a large and appreciative audience, becoming one of Streisand's signature songs. Selected for the 2016 registry.

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"Where Did Our Love Go?" The Supremes. (1964) (single)

The breakthrough hit for Diana Ross, Mary Wilson and Flo Ballard, "Where Did Our Love Go?" was written by Motown's star songwriters and producers Holland, Dozier and Holland. Lead singer Ross, singing in a lower register, found a distinctive and mature tone that set her apart from other female singers of the era, while Wilson and Ballard's full mastery of their behind-the-beat timing for their parts, helped reveal a depth of longing in the lyrics that made the song stand out even in the dynamic, varied and ever-shifting pop scene of 1964. This single's success ensured the future of both the Supremes and Motown Records. Selected for the 2015 registry.

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Interview with Mary Wilson (PDF, 65KB)
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"You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin.'" The Righteous Brothers (1964)

"You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'" is the epitome of Phil Spector's Wall of Sound, a carefully layered assemblage of sound combinations, often enhanced by echo. Spector, who'd recently signed the Righteous Brothers to his Philles label, asked the husband and wife team of Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil to write a song for them. Inspired by the yearning of "Baby, I Need Your Loving," they took their draft to Spector who suggested a riff from "Hang on Sloopy" for the bridge, which they liked, and added the vocal "whoa-whoa-whoas," which they didn't. Recorded at Gold Star Studios in Los Angeles, Spector crammed the modest-sized Studio A with musicians, including multiple guitars, basses, and pianos; the vocals were recorded in the same studio weeks later. The results were mixed down to a 45 rpm mono masterpiece. Selected for the 2014 registry.

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Interview with "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'" songwriters Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil (PDF, 59KB)
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"Azucar Pa' Ti" (album). Eddie Palmieri. (1965)

This album pointed the way for Latin music in the United States in the 1960s and beyond, and was the result of a conscious effort on Palmieri's part to capture on record the sound he and his eight piece La Perfecta band were then serving up to New York nightclub audiences. Though steeped in the earlier Afro-Cuban styles that he loved, Palmieri's band represented several Latin music traditions, and was particularly distinguished by the contributions of the hard-charging, Bronx-born trombonist Barry Rogers. Selected for the 2009 registry.

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Interview with Eddie Palmieri (PDF, 144KB)
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"A Charlie Brown Christmas" (album). Vince Guaraldi Trio. (1965)

"A Charlie Brown Christmas" introduced jazz to millions of listeners. The television soundtrack album includes expanded themes from the animated "Peanuts" special of the same name as well as jazz versions of both traditional and popular Christmas music, performed primarily by the Vince Guaraldi Trio. The original music is credited to pianist Guaraldi and television producer Lee Mendelson. Best remembered is the "Linus and Lucy" theme, originally composed by Guaraldi for an earlier "Peanuts" project, which remains beloved by fans of the popular television specials, those devoted to the daily newspaper comic strip, and music lovers alike. Selected for the 2011 registry.

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"Hoodoo Man Blues" (album). Junior Wells. (1965)

"Hoodoo Man Blues"is cited as one of the first studio recordings to capture the energy of a Chicago blues club. Delmark Records owner Bob Koester was so anxious to record an album with blues singer and harmonica player Junior Wells that he allowed Wells to choose his sidemen and songs. Because Koester believed the selected guitarist was contractually obligated to another company, guitarist Buddy Guy was billed as "Friendly Chap" on the original LP release. Koester also allowed Wells to stretch out a bit on songs, half of which lasted longer than three and a half minutes at a time when three minutes or less was the norm for a blues record. One bit of bad luck turned out to be a godsend. During the session, Buddy Guy's amplifier quit working, and while it was being repaired, engineer Stu Black wired him through the Leslie speaker of the studio's Hammond B-3 organ, which gave Guy's guitar a distinctive sound, easily noticeable on the title cut. Koester later remarked, "I've always been amazed at how rarely reviewers commented on the guitar-organ tracks." Selected for the 2012 registry.

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"(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction." The Rolling Stones. (1965)

Initially released as a single in the United States, "Satisfaction" also appeared on the Rolling Stones' 1965 album, "Out of Our Heads." Guitarist Keith Richards claims to have woken up in the middle of the night with the famous fuzz-laden guitar riff in his head and immediately committed it to tape. Although he was ambivalent about the riff, he nonetheless presented it to vocalist Mick Jagger who penned the song's anti-commercial lyrics. Despite both Richards' and Jagger's feelings that the song should not be released, the other members of the Rolling Stones voted to release the song and it became a classic of rock 'n' roll. Selected for the 2006 registry.

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"In the Midnight Hour." Wilson Pickett. (1965)

Though he was only 24 in 1965, Wilson Pickett had already logged 10 years as a singer in Detroit gospel and R&B groups and had some intermittent success as a solo artist. When he arrived in Memphis, Tennessee, he found a chemistry that had eluded him in earlier recording sessions. Pickett and Stax Records session guitarist Steve Cropper, of the house band Booker T. and the M.G.s, had never met before, but in barely an hour, the pair wrote Pickett's first hit. Atlantic producer Jerry Wexler, whose idea it was to bring Pickett to Stax, suggested a rhythm based on the teenage dance the Jerk, and an arrangement was quickly realized. "In the Midnight Hour" clicked with audiences across the country in the summer of 1965 and firmly established Pickett as a major artist. Selected for the 2016 registry.

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"I've Been Loving You Too Long (To Stop Now)." Otis Redding. (1965)

This gem of 1960s soul music balladry was composed by singers Otis Redding and Jerry Butler. Redding's recording for Volt Records exemplifies the brilliance of his vocal expressiveness and the spare but powerful instrumental accompaniments of the much-acclaimed Stax/Volt studio musicians. Selected for the 2003 registry.

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"King Biscuit Time." Sonny Boy Williamson II and others. (1965)

Blues harmonica master Sonny Boy Williamson II (aka Rice Miller, 1912-1965) achieved his first wide popularity as a regular performer on the daily daytime radio show "King Biscuit Time," sponsored by the flour brand of the same name, in West Helena, Arkansas, in 1941. From early on, he was billed as "Sonny Boy Williamson," the name used by popular blues recording artist John Lee Williamson (1914-1948), a star of the Chicago blues scene. Their styles were different, but the name stuck, and although he did not record commercially until 1951, the second Sonny Boy reached a large audience, becoming a best-selling blues artist himself when he relocated to Chicago. In the early 1960s, he found a young, large and even worshipful blues audience in Europe and toured there extensively, working with young musicians from groups like the Animals and the Yardbirds. When he returned to Arkansas in early 1965, he reportedly told friends that he expected to die soon, but he kept performing and made a return appearance on "King Biscuit Time." On May 25, 1965, he failed to show up for his broadcast and was later found dead in his room. "King Biscuit Time" is still heard daily on KFFA. Sunshine Sonny Payne, the host of this lone surviving broadcast featuring Williamson, died earlier this year at the age of 92, having continued as host until shortly before his death. Selected for the 2017 registry.

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"Live at the Regal" (album). B.B. King. (1965)

Bluesman B.B. King recorded this album at the Regal Theater in Chicago in 1964. The recording showcases King's inventive and emotional guitar style, which blends Delta blues with a rhythm and blues beat, spiking the combination with his "sliding note" style. The album, one of the first of an in-concert blues performance, also documents King's intimate relationship with his audience. King, who has been called "The King of the Blues" and the "best blues artist of his generation," has been a primary influence on a number of artists including Buddy Guy, Eric Clapton and Mike Bloomfield. Selected for the 2005 registry.

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"Make the World Go Away" (single). Eddy Arnold. (1965)

"Make the World Go Away" brought veteran country hitmaker Eddy Arnold to a new, younger audience and launched what he called his second career. The recording showcased songwriter Hank Cochran's memorable melody and plaintive lyrics, Arnold's mellow baritone vocal and the tasteful backing of such Nashville session stalwarts as guitarist Grady Martin, pianist Floyd Cramer and the Anita Kerr Singers, along with an eight-piece string section. "Make the World Go Away" was a prime example of the "Countrypolitan" style of country music and one of the high-water marks of the Nashville sound that producer Chet Atkins and others had pioneered. Released in the fall of 1965, it became an unexpected presence in the national top 10 alongside the Beatles, James Brown and Dean Martin at a time when few other country artists or songs were crossing over to the pop charts. Selected for the 2019 registry.

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"The Sound of Music" (album). (1965)

It was the era of the Beatles and big screen Hollywood musicals were already on the wane, yet the 1965 film "The Sound of Music" became one of the biggest box office hits in the history of movie-making. Named to the Library of Congress' National Film Registry in 2001, the decades-old film is a beloved, multi-generational cornerstone of American life. The movie's accompanying soundtrack, featuring the lush orchestrations of Irwin Kostal, the musical supervision by Saul Chaplin and cast performances led by Oscar winner Julie Andrews, all contribute to this remarkable achievement. Selections include such timeless singalongs as "Do-Re-Mi" and "My Favorite Things," to the rousing title tune and, of course, "Climb Ev'ry Mountain." Selected for the 2017 registry.

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"Tracks of My Tears." Smokey Robinson and the Miracles. (1965)

William "Smokey" Robinson wrote, produced and performed some of the sweetest, most poetic and enduring love songs in rhythm and blues history. "Tracks of My Tears" is highlighted by Robinson's velvety high tenor voice and his heartbreaking lyrics. It captures the peak of Robinson's talent. His smooth voice conveys the passion and pain required to maintain a false, happy exterior after a romantic breakup. He heightens the effect when he sweeps into his remarkable falsetto. The recording won numerous awards and is considered to be among the best recordings by the Miracles. Selected for the 2007 registry.

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"People Get Ready" (single). The Impressions. (1965)

The Impressions began as a five-man group in 1958, but achieved their greatest artistic and popular success as the trio of Curtis Mayfield, Sam Gooden and Fred Cash. Their background in gospel music informed not only their singing, but Mayfield's songwriting, which often achieved a rare level of spirituality and empathy. Mayfield, as he had previously, employed both folk and religious imagery in his composition "People Get Ready," and his message offered hope at the same time that it exhorted its audience to rise to its task. "People" was a hit at the time and it has continued to reach audiences ever since in the original version as well as in covers and tributes. Selected for the 2015 registry.

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“What the World Needs Now is Love” (single). Jackie DeShannon. (1965)

Even among the galaxy of beautiful, timeless songs co-written by the great songwriting team of Burt Bacharach and Hal David, this lovely 1965 creation sparkles. But its lightness belies its very serious, timeless and (still) timely message. Bacharach — recipient of the Library of Congress’ Gershwin Prize for Popular Song in 2012 — had the then raging Vietnam War in his mind during the song’s composition. Originally offered to the team’s frequent collaborator Dionne Warwick (who turned it down) they later made it available to singer/songwriter Jackie DeShannon who used it to kick off her fourth album. For that recording, Bacharach arranged the song, conducted the orchestra and produced the session. Released as a single in March of 1965, it became one of DeShannon’s signature hits. DeShannon would win the Grammy that year for Female Vocal Performance, and the song evolved into a standard, not only for her treatment of it but for later cover versions by the likes of Barbra Streisand, Sergio Mendes, Barry Manilow and, eventually, even Dionne Warwick.  Selected for the 2023 registry.

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"Carnegie Hall Concert with Buck Owens and His Buckaroos" (album). Buck Owens and His Buckaroos. (1966)

By the mid-1960s, Buck Owens was known for a number of hits and as the progenitor of the Bakersfield sound. This new sound sought to move country music away from the lush arrangements characteristic of most Nashville artists and to return it to traditional bands (without orchestration) playing honky-tonk and proto-rock and roll. Allaying Owens's initial fear that New Yorkers would dislike his music, the band sold out their 1966 Carnegie Hall show. The program featured rollicking versions of "Act Naturally" and "Love's Gonna Live Here Again," each enhanced by guitarist Don Rich's crisp percussive licks and drummer Willie Cantu show-stopping raucousness. The tear jerkers, "In the Palm of Your Hand" and "Cryin' Time," allowed steel player Tom Brumley to add soulful accents while Owens's vocals edged dangerously close to melodrama. The audience offered a standing ovation and a later critic astutely observed that they had witnessed "an inspired man render[ing] the greatest performance of his life." Selected for the 2013 registry.

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"Music from the Morning of the World" (album). Various artists. (1966)

The first recording in the celebrated Nonesuch Explorer Series, "Music from the Morning of the World" was one of the first attempts to offer "international music" and, in particular, ethnic field recordings as entertainment for commercial recording listeners. The series, recorded by David Lewiston, exposed listeners to new musical idioms and non-Western classical music and set high standards for recording quality and accompanying written documentation. "Music from the Morning of the World" provided many listeners with their first exposure to Balinese gamelan music and the unforgettably compelling "monkey chant." Selected for the 2007 registry.

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"Pet Sounds" (album). The Beach Boys. (1966)

Departing from the Beach Boys surf-music roots, "Pet Sounds" was an emotive and carefully planned recording that attempted to present an album as a unified work and not merely a collection of singles. The album is notable for Brian Wilson's lead vocals and the harmonizing support from the other band members. Equally compelling are the melodies and the arrangements, the latter featuring, among other instruments, horns, strings, theremin, accordion and a glockenspiel. The album has proven to be the most complete statement of Wilson's musical and lyrical aesthetic. Paul McCartney has remarked on several occasions that it is his favorite album. Selected for the 2004 registry.

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“Reach Out, I’ll Be There” (single). The Four Tops. (1966)

According to the Motown Museum, “Reach Out, I'll Be There” was the Four Tops’ biggest hit and is considered the vocal group’s theme song. Recorded in Studio A at Hitsville USA and written and produced by the powerhouse team of Holland-Dozier-Holland, the lyrics grew out of their feeling that women “wanted someone to be there for them, through thick or thin.” Lamont Dozier said that he wanted to write “a journey of emotions with sustained tension, like a bolero.” To achieve that, he “alternated the keys, from a minor, Russian feel in the verse to a major, gospel feel in the chorus.” Levi Stubbs’ impassioned vocal was inspired by an unlikely source: Bob Dylan. According to Dozier, they were inspired by Dylan’s shout singing style on “Like a Rolling Stone” and wanted lead vocalist Stubbs to sing like that. To give his vocal added intensity, HDH put Stubbs at the top of his vocal range so he would have to strain a little. The “galloping” sound, heard prominently at the beginning of the song, is a series of triplet beats struck on the plastic head of a tambourine with no jingles, played by Motown producer Norman Whitfield. Levi Stubbs improvised the lyric, “Just look over your shoulder.” It sounded good, so they kept it in. Selected for the 2022 registry.

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"Sounds of Silence" (album). Simon and Garfunkel. (1966)

The initial success of Simon and Garfunkel can be traced through the evolution of the title of their first hit record. The original, acoustic version released on their debut album, "Wednesday Morning, 3 A.M.,"was called "The Sounds of Silence." That album sold poorly and the duo split up. Without their knowledge, Columbia Records producer Tom Wilson overdubbed drums, electric guitar and electric bass for the song's release as a single. No stranger to merging rock music with folk lyrics, Wilson, that very day, had worked on Bob Dylan's "Like a Rolling Stone." This new version of "The Sounds of Silence" climbed the singles charts, prompting Simon and Garfunkel to reunite to record another album, this time in the folk-rock style of their surprise hit. At that point, the title of the single was changed to "The Sound of Silence," and the album became "Sounds of Silence." The duo's Everly Brothers-influenced harmonies remain, augmented by electric guitars, keyboards, drums and even horns. "Somewhere They Can't Find Me" shows the extent that their sound had changed in such a short time, displaying the influence of British guitarist Davey Graham, who contributed the opening of his now classic "Anji," also covered on the album. Simon and Garfunkel would continue to grow as artists, but their success began here, with a re-edited single they knew nothing about. Selected for the 2012 registry.

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"Today!" (album). Mississippi John Hurt. (1966)

In 1963, thirty five years after his last recording session, Mississippi John Hurt was rediscovered near Avalon, Mississippi, by Tom Hoskins, who had correctly guessed Hurt's location from geographical clues in his 1920s recordings. Coaxed out of retirement, a series of folk revival concerts led to a new recording contract and "Today!" "Today!" shows that Hurt's musical gifts, far from being diminished, had, like his voice, only deepened with the years. Mississippi John Hurt was the antithesis of a blues shouter. His gentle, soft-spoken delivery won him a legion of fans late in life. Selected for the 2009 registry.

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“Wang Dang Doodle” (single). Koko Taylor. (1966)

The hard-charging authentic Chicago blues sounds of “Wang Dang Doodle” made for an unlikely hit in the spring of 1966, when poppier sounds from both the U.S. and England dominated the charts. But when Koko Taylor, born Cora Walton in Tennessee in 1935, teamed up with blues composer, bassist and producer Willie Dixon to record it, they hit pay dirt and made a blues standard of a song that had not clicked with audiences even when the great Howlin’ Wolf released a version five years earlier. Taylor sang the lyrics with gusto, backed by a crack team of players that included Buddy Guy on guitar, and the song’s rogues’ gallery of party guests that included “Automatic Slim” and “Razor Totin’ Jim” rocked jukeboxes and radios around the country. Taylor went on to become one of the great voices of Chicago Blues, recording more than a dozen albums and performing around the world until her death in 2009. Selected for the 2023 registry.

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"The Who Sings My Generation" (album). The Who. (1966)

On their first album, The Who, assisted by The Kinks' producer Shel Talmy, laid down a set of tracks that would include both enduring classics and mainstays of their later concert performances. Pete Townshend penned the rebellious title track, "My Generation," which features John Entwistle playing one of the earliest bass leads in rock. Roger Daltrey's defiant tone and steely vocal delivery on this track and others on the album helped sealed his place as one of the most powerful rock vocalists of the next two decades. The song is also known for Townshend's proto-punk, two-chord guitar riff with distortion and feedback. The session later billed as "maximum rock 'n' roll," the sessions for the album also included Bo Diddley and James Brown covers. However, this album primarily marked Pete Townshend's assumption of main songwriting duties for the band. Selected for the 2008 registry.

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Interview with Roger Daltrey (PDF, 204KB)
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"You'll Sing a Song and I'll Sing a Song" (album). Ella Jenkins. (1966)

Performer and educator Ella Jenkins has been leading children on musical journeys around the world for more than 50 years. Her call-and-response songs, and gentle soothing voice, encourage children to join in and sing along, overcoming any shyness or reluctance they might have. Singing with Ella, children have learned songs from a variety of cultures and in many languages. Her vast repertoire of songs includes nursery rhymes, folk songs and chants as well as her own original compositions. In keeping with the policy of its record label, Folkways, "You'll Sing a Song and I'll Sing a Song" has remained in print since it was first published in 1966. Selected for the 2007 registry.

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Interview with Ella Jenkins (PDF, 109KB)
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Hiromi Lorraine Sakata Collection of Afghan Traditional Music (1966-67; 1971-73)

This collection of over 50 hours of important and unique field recordings from Afghanistan was the research of ethnomusicologist Hiromi Lorraine Sakata. Sakata first researched in Afghanistan in 1966-67 and captured 25 hours of recordings of singers and instrumentalists from the provinces of Kabul, Khandahar, Urozgan, Nangarhar, Herat, Balkh and Nuristan. Her second trip, from 1971 to 1973, resulted in 26 additional hours of recordings from Herat, Kabul, Badakhshan, Hazarajat and Kandahar. As she wrote in her book "Music in the Mind: The Concepts of Music and Musician in Afghanistan" (2002), these recordings document a time and place that are now completely gone. Invasion, civil war and social upheaval have disrupted and, in some cases, destroyed the musical life she documented between 1966 and 1973. Sakata, a well-known expert in the music of Afghanistan, taught at the University of Washington and the University of California (Los Angeles) for decades. These important recordings are now deposited at the Ethnomusicology Archives at the University of Washington. Selected for the 2019 registry.

Interview with Hiromi Lorraine Sakata (PDF, 76KB)
Inductees' Gallery - Hiromi Lorraine Sakata
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"Alice's Restaurant Massacree" (single). Arlo Guthrie. (1967)

A "massacree" is a Southern colloquialism for "an event so wildly and improbably and baroquely messed up that the results are almost impossible to believe." In this signature song, Arlo Guthrie (the son of the celebrated Woody Guthrie) immortalized his own true-life massacree. Years earlier, as a youth, he helped a friend take out trash on Thanksgiving Day, forgetting that the dump would be closed that day. Subsequently, Guthrie and his friend were arrested for littering, which eventually led to his rejection by the draft board to serve in Vietnam. A monologue set to music—and epic in length at 18 minutes—Guthrie's song is both a neo-comedy and an anti-war statement. In the past 10 years or so, the song (either by listening to it or by playing and singing it themselves) has become a yearly Thanksgiving tradition for many families and gatherings. Selected for the 2017 registry.

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Interview with Arlo Guthrie (PDF, 172KB)
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"Are You Experienced" (album). The Jimi Hendrix Experience. (1967)

This 1967 release remains not only one of the quintessential statements of psychedelic rock, but also has proved to be one of the most groundbreaking guitar albums of the rock era. Hendrix's playing, while strongly rooted in the blues, also incorporated a variety of jazz influences and a uniquely personal vocabulary of emotive guitar feedback and extended solos. Including such classics as "Purple Haze," "Hey Joe" and "The Wind Cries Mary," the album featured the able rhythm section of Noel Redding on bass and Mitch Mitchell on drums. It is difficult to overstate the enormous influence that Hendrix's recordings have had on subsequent guitarists. Selected for the 2005 registry.

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"Born Under a Bad Sign" (album). Albert King. (1967)

Albert King, with his signature Flying V Gibson guitar played in his distinctive left-handed manner, was one of the blues' greatest guitarists, and this album is considered to be his very best. Its title song became a blues standard, and was soon recorded by Eric Clapton and Cream. Other great songs on this album include "Crosscut Saw" and "The Hunter." Recorded in Memphis with backing from Booker T and the MG's, and the Memphis Horns, via this album, King was soon performing at the Fillmore East and West and gaining a large and enduring following. Selected for the 2020 registry.

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"The Doors." The Doors (1967)

The group the Doors were an unusual assemblage: a jazz keyboardist, a flamenco guitarist, a jazz drummer, and a poet vocalist who coalesced into a rock group with a sound unlike that of their peers. The summer hit, "Light My Fire," may have brought most listeners to the Doors eponymous debut album, but it was just the tip of a deep, dark iceberg. Although not as overtly political as some of their contemporaries, the Doors still pushed artistic, sexual, and psychological boundaries, explicitly so in "Break on Through (To the Other Side,)" which begins with a brisk bossa nova beat by drummer John Densmore before morphing into muscular rock and in the album's dark heart of "The End." Completed in just two takes, "The End" is remarkable for its 12-minute length and primal, Oedipal subject matter. Selected for the 2014 registry.

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"Forever Changes" (album). Love. (1967)

Love was an integrated psychedelic band from Los Angeles that played an aggressively original mix of rock, folk, and blues, but the band was falling apart as they prepared for their third album, "Forever Changes." Leader Arthur Lee was alarmed and pessimistic about the state of the world, and was convinced his own demise was imminent, though he lived until 2006. His new songs were filled with unexpected shifts and rife with foreboding, though his message was ultimately about resolution and self-reliance in the face of uncertainty and impermanence. Two compositions by second guitarist Bryan MacLean, somewhat augmented Lee's musings, were no less striking and unusual. Rock was growing more electric by the day in 1967, but "Forever Changes" is essentially acoustic, with a restrained and supple rhythm section supporting the ambitious horn and string charts of pop arranger David Angel, making Johnny Echols' searing guitar solos are all the more memorable. The fusion of psychedelic, mainstream, and classical styles, now seen as a landmark, found few takers at the time, and Love soon disintegrated, though "Forever Changes" continues to loom large. Selected for the 2011 registry.

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Interview with Bruce Botnick, producer of "Forever Changes" (PDF, 110KB)
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"New Sounds in Electronic Music" (album). Steve Reich, Richard Maxfield, Pauline Oliveros. (1967)

This avant-garde release was the first in composer and producer David Behrman's adventurous "Music of Our Time" series for CBS' budget label Odyssey. While each of the three compositions are unique, all employed tape machines as an expressive instrument, and each composer was as interested in the process of making the sounds as in the sounds themselves. Richard Maxfield's "Night Music" employs the tape machine's bias tone and an oscilloscope as the main sound sources. Neither of these sounds is typically heard: Bias is an inaudible signal that improves the tape's fidelity, whereas an oscilloscope is an audio-measurement device normally encountered on a work bench. Maxfield uses these sources to create a series of complex sounds intended to mimic the nighttime vocalizations of birds and insects. The sound source for minimalist composer Steve Reich's "Come Out" is, almost entirely, the phrase "come out to show them," heard both on the left and right of the stereo field and timed so the two repetitions slowly fall in and out of sync. In "I of IV," composer Pauline Oliveros used 12 tone generators, an eight-second tape delay and reverb to create a dense, reverberant recording that was entirely improvised; individual sound will rise to the surface and fade only to repeat later and disappear altogether. As with her later compositions that emphasized what Oliveros called "deep listening," close attention to "I of IV" reveals a wealth of detail. Maxfield died in 1969, but both Reich and Oliveros continued to develop the ideas evident here to create celebrated bodies of work. Selected for the 2017 registry.

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Interview with Steve Reich (PDF, 305KB)
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“Ode to Billie Joe” (single). Bobbie Gentry. (1967)

Imagery, as vivid as any Southern Gothic novel, meets superlative storytelling and musicianship in this 1967 country classic. It was not, necessarily, a local death that singer/songwriter Bobbie Gentry wanted to explore with the writing of this song but, rather, the banality with which many of us greet and process news regarding the tragedy of others: “Well, Billy Joe never had a lick of sense; pass the biscuits, please.” Spare and arresting, and written and recorded when Gentry was only 25 years old, its release in July 1967 was a distinctive break from most country music of the era, and it resonated strongly with country, pop and R&B audiences. In 1976, “Ode” would inspire a big screen film adaptation and return to the charts, powered once more by its fable-like quality and its central mystery that we are still debating over 50 years since it was proffered to us.  Selected for the 2023 registry.

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"Respect." Aretha Franklin. (1967)

Like Ray Charles, Aretha Franklin successfully integrated elements of her gospel background with pop tunes to create numerous gold records, including the perennial hit "Respect" composed by Otis Redding. Selected for the 2002 registry.

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Reflections by Reba McEntire (PDF, 130KB)
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"Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" (album). The Beatles. (1967)

The Beatles were undoubtedly the most successful and significant rock group in history. Their 1967 concept album, "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band," is a compilation of twelve unforgettable songs, each masterfully arranged. The songs embrace a myriad of divergent styles yet, through the collective genius of these musicians, they are melded into a cohesive whole. The album makes use of novel studio techniques in creating an enchanting musical experience which transcends genre. Selected for the 2003 registry.

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"Silver Apples of the Moon" (album). Morton Subotnick. (1967)

Morton Subotnick composed "Silver Apples of the Moon" entirely on the Buchla Electronic Music Box, a modular analogue synthesizer. One of the unique features of Buchla's instrument was its use of the electronic sequencer, a device capable of creating repeating, rhythmic sequences of musical notes or timbres. Subotnick used the sequencer effectively in the creation of many repeated figures in "Silver Apples of the Moon," creating a canonical statement for this pioneering technology. Selected for the 2009 registry.

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"Soul Man" (single). Sam & Dave. (1967)

Sam & Dave's biggest hit was inspired by a riot. After watching coverage of the 1967 Detroit riot, songwriters Isaac Hayes and David Porter were determined to respond with a positive song. Hayes said "... the word 'soul,' it was a galvanizing kind of thing for African Americans, and it had an effect of unity, it was said with a lot of pride." The result was "Soul Man," a danceable declaration of Black Pride. The dynamic vocal duo of Sam & Dave (Sam Moore and David Prater) were chosen to record it with Hayes and Porter producing and backed by Stax Records regulars Booker T. and the M.G.'s and the Mar-Keys horns. "Soul Man" is instantly recognizable by its first few notes, guitarist Steve Cropper's trademark sliding sixths. Later in the song, Hayes had asked Cropper to "Give me some Elmore James," referring to the legendary blues singer/guitarist, sometimes known as the "King of the Slide Guitar," whose classic "Dust My Broom" is also on the National Recording Registry. Not having a slide with him, Cropper improvised, using a metal Zippo cigarette lighter for a quick riff that inspired Sam to exclaim, "Play it, Steve." The engine that powers "Soul Man" is Donald "Duck" Dunn's infectious, ebullient bassline. The lyric "Woodstock" doesn't refer to the famous rock festival, which hadn't taken place yet, but, according to lyricist Porter, to "... a school that was out in the forest somewhere [but] they couldn't come up with the name for the school ... and they called it Woodstock." Selected for the 2018 registry.

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Interview with Sam Moore (PDF, 174KB)
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"The Velvet Underground and Nico" (album). The Velvet Underground and Nico. (1967)

For decades this album has cast a huge shadow over nearly every sub-variety of avant-garde rock, from 1970s art-rock to No Wave, New Wave and Punk. Referring to their sway over the rock music of the '70s and '80s, critic Lester Bangs stated, "Modern music starts with the Velvets, and the implications and influence of what they did seem to go on forever." Otherworldly vocals by the international model and actress Nico appear on three of the songs. John Cale's hard-edged electric viola playing adds an eerie quality to singer and guitarist Lou Reed's frank lyrical depictions of sex and addiction. Percussionist Maureen Tucker and guitarist Sterling Morrison make additional noteworthy contributions. Selected for the 2006 registry.

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"At Folsom Prison" (album). Johnny Cash. (1968)

On this live album, country and rockabilly pioneer Johnny Cash played directly to his "captive" audience with songs about imprisonment, separation, loneliness, salvation, crime, and death. As the concert progresses, artist and audience become collaborators in the enterprise, urging each other to greater levels of enthusiasm and release. At a time of great social upheaval, this album and its 1969 follow-up, "Johnny Cash at San Quentin," showed Cash to be a performer of great compassion, humor, and charisma. Selected for the 2003 registry.

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"Cheap Thrills" (album). Big Brother and the Holding Company. (1968)

This hotly anticipated album was Janis Joplin's second release with Big Brother and the Holding Company, and on the disc, her soulful, bluesy singing reaches transcendent heights. Big Brother and the Holding Company was not just a backing band for Joplin, however. Part of San Francisco's Haight-Ashbury music scene, they were an excellent psychedelic rock band in their own right that existed before Joplin joined and reformed after she left later that year. James Gurley's scorching, wildly overdriven guitar solos and the spidery interplay between his and Sam Andrew's guitars on several track plus the solid rhythm of Dave Getz's drums all attest to the band's expertise. The album's showstopper is the cover of Erma Franklin's "Piece of My Heart," which in Joplin's hands expresses both desperation and endurance. Remarkably, even when her voice seems to be breaking up she stays in tune. Selected for the 2012 registry.

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Interview with "Cheap Thrills" producer John Simon (PDF, 101KB)
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"Hair." Original Broadway Cast Recording. (1968)

"Hair," the self-proclaimed "Tribal Love-Rock Musical," was essentially sex, drugs, and rock 'n' roll in a Broadway show, with the Vietnam War and racial prejudice thrown in for good measure. Given the cultural division of 1968, depending upon which side of the divide one was on, it was surprisingly or naturally, a hit, running for 1,750 performances. The book and lyrics were written by James Rado and Gerome Ragni who appeared in the Broadway cast as Claude and Berger, respectively. Galt MacDermot composed the music. The Broadway production was greatly expanded from the earlier off-Broadway Public Theater and Cheetah discotheque versions. Even leaving politics aside, the Broadway show received some criticism despite its considerable success, such as the complaint that it didn't have much of a plot or that it's more of a revue than a musical. However, such criticisms are less pertinent to a cast album and they ignore the fact that the songs from "Hair" are extremely catchy. "Hair's" original Broadway cast recording was enormously successful. So good is the music that, during 1969, The 5th Dimension ("Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In"); The Cowsills ("Hair"); Three Dog Night ("Easy to Be Hard"), and Oliver ("Good Morning Starshine") all had major hits with covers of songs from the show.  The original LP release omitted a few songs which were later restored on the CD reissue. Selected for the 2018 registry.

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Interview with "Hair" lyricist James Rado External
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“In C” (album). Terry Riley. (1968)

Terry Riley’s composition, “In C,” forgoes a traditional score and, instead, is comprised of 53 melodic phrases that may be played and repeated at the discretion of each musician and accommodates any number of instruments. It was first performed in 1964 at San Francisco’s Tape Music Center, where Riley worked with other groundbreaking experimental composers such as Steve Reich, Morton Subotnick and Pauline Oliveros. The composition filled both sides of the album which Riley recorded for Columbia Record’s Music of Our Time series of albums in 1968, with Riley playing saxophone and leading a group of ten musicians. This series aimed to introduce to the home listening public new and experimental music forms and Riley’s work proved to be a popular and influential release across several genres, including classical rock and jazz. The album’s recording featured a group of performers for whom months of preparation lent confidence to the ever shifting improvisatory nature of the composition. Selected for the 2022 registry.

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Interview with Terry Riley (PDF, 259KB)
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"Lincoln Mayorga and Distinguished Colleagues." Lincoln Mayorga (1968)

Disappointed with the sound of classical piano LPs when compared to 78s, in the late 1950s, Lincoln Mayorga and friend Doug Sax ultimately concluded the only way to achieve the sound quality they wanted was to set up their own mastering lab, Sheffield Lab, and to pioneer direct-to-disc recording. It was a method that eschewed the use of tape recorders. Because there was no tape master, the quantity was limited by the number of cutting lathes. Each master could be used to make only a limited number of copies before the sound quality deteriorated. In 1970, Sheffield began selling copies. The response from audiophiles was enthusiastic. Listeners were forced to revise upwards the sound quality capability of LPs. Because of the expense and limited-pressing quantities, major labels didn't adopt direct-to-disc mastering. "Lincoln Mayorga and Distinguished Colleagues" may not have changed the way most LPs were made, but it raised the bar by showing how good an LP could sound. Selected for the 2014 registry.

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Interview with Lincoln Mayorga (PDF, 81KB)
Inductees' Gallery - Lincoln Mayorga, performer
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"Oh Happy Day." The Edwin Hawkins Singers. (1968)

Regarded as the springboard for the development of contemporary gospel music, "Oh Happy Day" was based on a 19th century white hymn. Its popular music and jazz-influenced harmonies, infectious rhythms and use of instruments--not often found on earlier gospel recordings--have made the recording enduringly popular and influential. Originally recorded in 1968 on the long-playing album "Let Us Go Into the House of the Lord," as a fund-raising effort for the Northern California State Youth Choir by director Edwin Hawkins, the song's compelling, exhilarating sound found its way onto radio playlists first in San Francisco. Re-released a a year later under the name Edwin Hawkins Singers, the song became an international crossover hit. Selected for the 2005 registry.

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"Soul Folk in Action" (album). The Staple Singers. (1968)

The Mississippi (via Chicago) family act the Staple Singers established themselves as a top gospel act in the 1950s, but began reaching out to a larger audience in the 1960s, playing folk festivals and recording protest songs. This 1968 release, their first on the Stax label, did not achieve the crossover success of their 1970s work, but is a pivotal recording, a work that is spiritually informed and socially aware. "Soul Folk" contains such timeless tracks as "Long Walk to D.C.," "Top of the Mountain," "(Sittin' on) the Dock of the Bay" and "The Weight." Selected for the 2009 registry.

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And more (PDF, 212KB)
Interview with Mavis Staples (PDF, 326KB)
Inductees' Gallery - Mavis Staples, performer
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"Stand by Your Man." Tammy Wynette. (1968)

Of the many popular recordings made by country-music vocalist Tammy Wynette, none elicited the reactions—pro and con—of "Stand By Your Man." The song, written by Wynette and her producer Billy Sherrill, is an ode to the weakness of men, the strength of their women, love, loyalty and support. When it was released in 1968, the women's movement in the U.S. was on the ascendancy and interpretation of the song created dissent. Must a woman stand by her man and forgive his transgressions because "after all, he's just a man" or do such attitudes signify subservience? However interpreted, Wynette's artistry transcends any literal message in the song. Her performance ranges from quiet, pensive reflection to a soaring, full-voiced chorus of affirmation, contributing to a song that remains one of the most beloved in country music. Selected for the 2010 registry.

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"Switched-On Bach" (album). Wendy Carlos. (1968)

This meticulously recorded album introduced the Moog synthesizer to a much wider audience than it had previously reached. Many of the separate synthesizer voices on the album were recorded to tape individually and carefully mixed to create the final product. After the recording, Bob Moog's musical circuitry enjoyed an enormous boom. Within a decade the synthesizer was well established in the idioms of rock, dance and Western art music. Wendy Carlos went on to record several more well-crafted Bach recordings. Selected for the 2005 registry.

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"We're Only In It For the Money" (album). Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention. (1968)

Frank Zappa's inventive and iconoclastic album presents a unique political stance, both anti-conservative and anti-counterculture, and features a scathing satire of hippiedom and America's reactions to it. For the album, Zappa's radical audio editing and production techniques produced an eclectic blend of electronic, avant-garde and rock music that was influenced by such composers as Varese and Stravinsky. Also evident in the work are pop melodies, virtuoso instrumental performances, verbal asides and sound effects that somehow combine into a cohesive work. The result is an electronic sound collage that may be Zappa's most definitive musical statement. Selected for the 2005 registry.

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Reflections by Dweezil Zappa (PDF, 172KB)
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"Mama Tried" (single). Merle Haggard. (1968)

"Mama Tried" is country singer-songwriter Merle Haggard's loosely autobiographical tribute to his mother's love and sacrifice as she tried to raise her restless, unruly child by herself. The song is the story of a young man sentenced to life in prison without parole and coming to understand too late that he alone is responsible for his situation. Haggard's direct, hard-driving, honky-tonk approach to both his songwriting and his performance directly contrasted with the then smoother, more honeyed Nashville-style of country music. "Mama Tried" has gone on to become a classic, covered by many groups, including the Grateful Dead. Selected for the 2015 registry.

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"Wichita Lineman" (single). Glen Campbell. (1968)

Glen Campbell made a splash on both the country and pop charts and achieved enormous fame in the 60s and 70s with a singing style that matched a genial tone with introspective lyrics, emphasizing them in a way that made him ideal for modern country songwriters, most notably Jimmy Webb. Webb conceived the tale behind "Wichita Lineman" while driving through Washita County, Oklahoma, during a time when counties had their own telephone company utilities and lineman employees. Among the endless lines of poles was a silhouetted lineman who struck Webb as "the picture of loneliness." What was the man saying into the receiver? Webb placed himself in the man's head and, with lingering feelings from an affair with a married woman, crafted one of the most beautiful songs to ever climb the charts. With the location changed from Washita to the more euphonious Wichita (of Kansas), "Wichita Lineman" struck listeners with its poetic lyrics about a man attempting to make a romantic connection in the face of his own crippling loneliness. BBC Radio 2 recently described the song as "one of those rare songs that seems somehow to exist in a world of its own — not just timeless but ultimately outside of modern music." Selected for the 2019 registry.

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Interview with Jimmy Webb (PDF, 399KB)
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Speech on the Death of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Robert F. Kennedy. (April 4, 1968)

On the night of April 4, 1968, Senator Robert F. Kennedy flew to Indianapolis to speak at a rally in a mostly African-American neighborhood of the city in support of his campaign for the Presidency. The news of Martin Luther King, Jr.'s death in Memphis reached Kennedy when he landed, but much of the assembled crowd only knew that King had been shot. After sharing the devastating news, Kennedy spoke extemporaneously from brief notes. He called for peace in the face of pain and rage and drew upon his experience of the assassination of his brother five years earlier. The recording of the speech captures the tone and emotion of his delivery and the expressions of the crowd—their dismay at the news of Dr. King's death as well as their support for his calls for the country to pull together in the pursuit of both peace and justice. Robert Kennedy himself would be shot and killed just two months later. Kennedy's remarks still resonate today and recall a frightening time of political violence as well as a dream for a better future to come. Selected for the 2018 registry.

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"The Band" (album). The Band. (1969)

The Band's debut album, "Music from Big Pink," was a shot across the bow of popular music. "We were rebelling against the rebellion," declared guitarist Robbie Robertson. Ignoring the prevailing "hard" rock, their second, self-titled LP (colloquially known as "the brown album") continued their emphasis on Americana, but featured even better songwriting and ensemble playing than that on "Pink." The Band mixed rock and roll with country, bluegrass, rhythm and blues, and even gospel. Robertson cited the influence of The Staple Singers on their vocals. Even the sound was deliberately against the grain, from touches such as the mouth bow harp-like Clavinet of "Up on Cripple Creek" to the overall woody sound of the album. "The Band" presented an image of America largely absent in the popular music of its time. Selected for the 2009 registry.

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Interview with Robbie Robertson (PDF, 45KB)
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"The Continental Harmony: Music of William Billings" (album). Gregg Smith Singers. (1969)

Composer William Billings published six collections of his choral music between 1770 and 1794. His "New England Psalm Singer" (1770) was the first tune book devoted entirely to the compositions of a single American composer. Billings was largely self-taught, yet his a cappella choral writing, featuring the melody in the tenor, created an indigenous sacred music that expanded the musical language of America. While Billings was well known in his lifetime—his song "Chester" was nearly as popular as "Yankee Doodle" during the American Revolution—his work was largely forgotten for more than a century. Despite his having composed over 340 works, little of Billings' music was included in mainstream American sacred choral music collections after 1820. His musical style and some of his pieces, however, were kept alive within the Southern U.S. shape-note singing tradition. Following World War II, a generation of scholars and performers rediscovered his fresh and vigorous music. This recording by the Gregg Smith Singers, a sixteen-member choral ensemble dedicated to the performance of American music, helped re-introduce Billings' music to the world. Selected for the 2011 registry.

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"Dusty in Memphis" (album). Dusty Springfield. (1969)

By 1968, London-born singer Dusty Springfield was already a success in the United Kingdom when she came to America to record "Dusty in Memphis," which would become the defining album of her career. Even before "Memphis," Springfield had strong ties to American music having released hits written by Burt Bacharach and Hal David as well as Gerry Goffin and Carole King. Three legendary producers were involved in the sessions: Jerry Wexler, Arif Mardin and Tom Dowd. The The instrumental tracks were recorded at legendary American Sound Studio in Memphis, Tennessee, featuring the 827 Thomas Street Band and backup vocalists, the Sweet Inspirations. Springfield initially recorded her vocals there as well, but reportedly dissatisfied with the results, later rerecorded them at Atlantic Studios in New York City. Although the single "Son of a Preacher Man" was a hit, early album sales proved modest. Over time, "Dusty in Memphis" grew in stature to become widely recognized as an important album by a woman in the rock era. Elvis Costello, who contributed the liner notes on the "Memphis" 2002 reissue writes, "Dusty Springfield's singing on this album is among the very best ever put on record by anyone." Her voice, Costello wrote, was "... recorded in the audio equivalent of 'extreme close-up.' Every breath and sigh is caught and yet it can soar." Selected for the 2019 registry.

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"The Eighty-Six Years of Eubie Blake" (album). Eubie Blake. (1969)

This two-LP set introduced ragtime composer, performer and songwriter Eubie Blake to a new generation of listeners. The recorded musical autobiography featured his ragtime compositions from the early years of the 20th century and his musical theater pieces of the 1920s. In the recording, Blake is reunited with his partner from the 1920s, Noble Sissle. The recording captures the full range of Blake's genius, his ebullient music and his infectious personality. It also documents his enduring contributions to jazz and musical theater. Selected for the 2006 registry.

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"Fortunate Son." Creedence Clearwater Revival. (1969)

Released in 1969, during the height of the Vietnam War, "Fortunate Son" wasn't a protest against the war itself but against the system that determined who would fight it. CCR's John Fogerty got the title from the term "favorite son," a phrase often used at political conventions. Fogerty said, "I wrote the music for the song that I was calling 'Fortunate Son' without actually knowing what the lyrics were. I rehearsed the band for a few weeks and, at some point, realized I was ready to write the words. I went into my bedroom…and wrote the whole song in twenty minutes." Since then, the wars may have changed but the resonance of "Fortunate Son" has not, as evidenced by a version Fogerty recorded with the Foo Fighters in 2013, a full 40 years after the original.  In a "Rolling Stone" 40th anniversary review, critic Barry Walters gave Fogerty credit for writing "…a protest song that makes you wanna dance." Selected for the 2013 registry.

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"Stand!" Sly and the Family Stone (1969)

Propelled by an impossibly smooth horn section, a funky organ, and dangerous maneuverings of the guitar and bass, the album's key selections "Sing a Simple Song," "I Want to Take You Higher," "Stand!" and "Everyday People," are all instantly recognizable and serve as foundational statements in the music of the late 1960s and as precursors of 1970s soul and funk. Having produced the multiracial band's previous three albums, Stone was amply qualified for this, their fourth studio effort. The resulting record remains one of the most heavily sampled records of all time and was the undisputed high-point of this band's recording legacy. Selected for the 2014 registry.

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"Sweet Caroline" (single). Neil Diamond. (1969)

"Sweet Caroline" was a top 10 hit for singer/songwriter Neil Diamond in 1969, but even such notable success can't explain the song's place in American culture. To do that, one has to look at its use in sporting events, particularly in the city of Boston, both in good times and bad, as a restorative anthem that evokes the good old days while affirming that better ones are still within reach. "Sweet Caroline" was first used at Fenway Park, home of the Boston Red Sox, in the late 1990s and has been played regularly during the eighth inning since 2002. During that period, the Red Sox have won four titles, ending generations of World Series failures. But the song also helped the city heal after the April 15, 2013 Boston Marathon bombing. The day after the tragedy, the New York Yankees, Boston's bitter rival, played "Sweet Caroline" at their home game after the third inning. Rather than cutting to commercials, the television coverage stayed on Yankee Stadium as many fans sang along while the huge center field scoreboard displayed "NEW YORK STANDS WITH BOSTON." Days later, Diamond himself appeared at a Red Sox home game to lead the crowd during the eighth inning tradition. The song has also been associated with the NFL Carolina Panthers and several college teams including Iowa State and Pitt. Selected for the 2018 registry.

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"Trout Mask Replica" (album). Captain Beefheart and His Magic Band. (1969)

This unclassifiable melding of country, blues, folk and free jazz filtered through Captain Beefheart's feverishly inventive imagination remains without precedent in its striking sonic and lyrical originality. Captain Beefheart (the stage name of Don Van Vliet) and the Magic Band—Bill Harkleroad, Jeff Cotton, Victor Hayden, Mark Boston and John French—had spent months sequestered in a house in the Los Angeles foothills, rehearsing and re-rehearsing the compositions to meet Van Vliet's exacting standards before they entered the studio, to be recorded by Frank Zappa. Upon its release, the album, by no means universally embraced, nonetheless garnered raves from many influential music critics. Scores of pop, new wave, punk and post-punk artists claim Beefheart as an influence, including The Gang of Four, Siouxsie and the Banshees, The Minutemen, Pere Ubu, The Fall, Tom Waits, The Red Hot Chili Peppers and The White Stripes. Selected for the 2010 registry.

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Apollo 11 astronaut Neil Armstrong broadcast from the moon. (July 21, 1969)

The landing of Apollo 11 on the moon had the world glued to its television set, yet the most enduring memories of the achievement are aural: "Houston. Tranquility base here. The Eagle has landed.... I'm going to step off the LEM now. That's one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind." These words, first broadcast from the moon, have become some of the most recognizable and memorable sentences spoken in United States history. Selected for the 2004 registry.

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"Amazing Grace." Judy Collins. (1970)

"Faith's Review and Expectation," a hymn written in 1779 by Anglican clergyman and former slave ship captain John Newton, has become one of the most famous hymns in the world, better known by its opening words "Amazing Grace." Originally published without music, it was not until 1835 that South Carolina singing instructor William Walker paired Newton's words to an existing tune, "New Britain," to create the song we know today. "Amazing Grace" has been recorded many times, beginning in the 1920s, but Judy Collins' deeply heartfelt 1970 recording became one of the best-known versions and unexpectedly her second-biggest hit. "When I sang ‘Amazing Grace,' my heart soared. My soul seemed to heal ...," Collins confided. Using a simple a cappella arrangement, Collins was beautifully recorded at Columbia University's St. Paul's Chapel, accompanied by a choir of friends, including her brother and her then-boyfriend, actor Stacy Keach. Her recording seemed to spark a newfound interest in "Amazing Grace," with treatments ranging from mournful to joyous. Collins' slow arrangement was likely the basis for arguably one of the second-best-known versions of "Amazing Grace," recorded in 1972 by the Pipes and Drums of the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards. Selected for the 2016 registry.

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Interview with Judy Collins (PDF, 45KB)
Inductees' Gallery - Judy Collins, artist
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"Coal Miner's Daughter." Loretta Lynn. (1970)

Loretta Lynn's signature song lovingly recalls her hardscrabble upbringing in Butcher Hollow, a poor coal mining community in Kentucky. With an upbeat melody and arrangement, the song warmly recounts a childhood of little economic means but much love. Lynn writes songs that are realistic and plain spoken, portraying strong and independent women like herself. She was named to the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1988, and her successful career continues to the present. Selected for the 2009 registry.

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“Déjà Vu” (album). Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young. (1970)

The trio of David Crosby, Steven Stills and Graham Nash re-defined folk-rock and brought a new musical and lyrical maturity to the pop music scene with their eponymous 1969 debut album, and expectations were high for the first release by the expanded “supergroup” of four created by Neil Young’s arrival. Once again, the combination proved far more than the sum of its parts, even though the four found it hard to work together in the studio and the album was largely recorded in individual sessions. Stephen Stills estimates that the album took 800 hours of studio time. While that may be exaggerated, the band’s meticulous attention to detail coupled with the patience and skill of engineer Bill Halvorson, made “Déjà Vu” one of the most iconic albums of the last 50 years. “Déjà Vu” found its audience immediately, and remains the highest-selling album of each member’s career to date, with over eight million copies sold. The three singles released from it: “Woodstock,” “Teach Your Children,” and “Our House” were AM and FM hits at the time and have each proved to be enduring, defining songs of early 1970s rock. Selected for the 2023 registry.

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Interview with Graham Nash (PDF, 145KB)
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"Don't Crush That Dwarf, Hand Me the Pliers" (album). Firesign Theatre. (1970)

Firesign Theatre, the Los Angeles-based comedy group, started on radio station KPFK in 1966 and began producing comedy records in 1968. "Don't Crush That Dwarf" was recorded in 1970 utilizing many sophisticated production techniques for the first time on a comedy album, including 16-track recording and Dolby noise reduction. The technology, enlisted in the service of the ensemble's creativity, enabled the use of surreal sound effects and layered storytelling. "Dwarf" is a one-act play that satirizes radio and television programs to comment on political, social and literary topics of its day. Selected for the 2005 registry.

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Interview with Firesign Theatre member Phil Proctor (PDF, 103KB)
Inductees' Gallery - David Ossman, performer
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"The Revolution Will Not Be Televised." Gil Scott-Heron. (1970)

This poem, first released on Gil Scott-Heron's debut album, "Small Talk at 125th and Lenox," served as a rallying cry to black America and proved a foreshadowing of the more politically active strains of rap music. Having published a novel before he switched to a career as a recording artist, Scott-Heron's street poetry proved uncompromising in its vision. Selected for the 2005 registry.

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"Songs of the Humpback Whale" (album). (1970)

The use of underwater microphones called hydrophones showed that not only can whales communicate, but they do so with beauty and complexity. Frank Watlington and Roger Payne, among others, made these unique recordings. The haunting sounds on "Songs of the Humpback Whale," along with Payne's liner notes for CRM Records, helped turn the tide of U.S. public opinion against whaling. In addition to the album's aesthetic and political significance, it can also be considered historically valuable: whales change their songs over time so these recordings document a cetacean performance practice of a time gone by. Selected for the 2010 registry.

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Interview with Roger Payne (PDF, 51KB)
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"Abraxas." Santana. (1970)

Santana's second album consolidated the group's position as purveyors of a unique blend of Latin music, rock, blues and modal jazz. The group's rhythm section was of key importance in this musical mission. While the songs "El Nicoya" and "Se Acabo" allow Jose "Chepito" Areas's timbales and Mike Carabello's congas a chance to stretch out, their contributions are even more important on the more rocking numbers and especially on the jazz-influenced ones. Greg Rollie proves adept at writing compelling rocker tunes while contributing outstanding organ solos. Meanwhile, the standard rock rhythm section--Dave Brown, bass; Mike Shrieve, drums—prove adept at switching from jazz to rock to Latin. Still, it is Carlos Santana's signature guitar tone, which is possessed of nearly infinite sustain, and his lyrical melodies, that have proven highly compelling to this day. Selected for the 2015 registry.

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"The Allman Brothers Band at Fillmore East" (album). The Allman Brothers Band. (1971)

This classic live performance of southern blues rock contains a powerfully emotional rendition of "Whipping Post" sung by Gregg Allman. That song became a touring standard for the band while the album received wide acclaim for its lengthy improvisational jams featuring the distinctive dual lead guitars of Duane Allman and Dickie Betts. Selected for the 2004 registry.

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"American Pie" (single). Don McLean. (1971)

Don McLean had been singing "American Pie" in concert for several months when his album and single of the same name began to reach a wider audience in the fall of 1971. After a decade of social and musical tumult, new affection for ‘50s rock and roll was growing not only among its original fans but with new generations. "American Pie" seemed to reach all of them with its cascade of images from 1959 to 1969 and a chorus that was both playful and ominous. At the time, McLean mostly declined to confirm the many interpretations and analyses of his lyrics. However, the album was dedicated to Buddy Holly and McLean acknowledged that his description of reading of Holly's death in a plane crash in the newspaper he delivered as a boy was from personal experience. Selected for the 2016 registry.

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Interview with Don McLean (PDF, 55KB)
Inductees' Gallery - Don McLean, writer/performer
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"Coat of Many Colors." Dolly Parton. (1971)

Dolly Parton's autobiographical song, "Coat of Many Colors," affectionately recounts an impoverished childhood in the hills of Tennessee that was made rich by the love of her family. The song was instrumental in establishing Parton's credibility as a songwriter. Her voice uplifts the song with emotion and tender remembrances of her close-knit musical family. Parton has called "Coat of Many Colors" the favorite of her compositions because of the attitude and philosophy it reflects. Parton's prolific songwriting career has embraced many different musical styles, including pop, jazz, and bluegrass, as well as country. Dolly Parton was voted the Country Music Association's Female Vocalist of the year for 1975 and 1976 and inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1999. Selected for the 2011 registry.

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Interview with Dolly Parton (PDF, 57KB)
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“Imagine” (single). John Lennon. (1971)

Even among the litany of breathtakingly beautiful songs written by John Lennon, either alone, with the Beatles or with his wife, Yoko Ono (as this song was), his “Imagine” resonates. The best-selling single of Lennon’s solo-career, “Imagine” with its lyrical plea of moving beyond materialism and nationalism and towards a worldwide peace, has become a balm and anthem for people in difficult times. It has been performed at Olympic ceremonies, at tributes to the victims of war, and at memorial services worldwide. Since 1986, the original “Imagine” has been played in New York City every New Year’s Eve as its glittery ball drops signifying the end of one time and the start of a new. Over the years, “Imagine” has been one of the globe’s most often covered songs, with significant versions performed by everyone from Elton John and Lady Gaga to Dolly Parton, Diana Ross and David Bowie. From the song’s debut in 1971, its lyrics have been equal parts heartfelt and thought-provoking (and sometimes controversial) and have been rendered all the more poignant, now, in light of Lennon’s tragic, untimely death in 1980. Selected for the 2023 registry.

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"Let's Stay Together." Al Green. (1971)

Al Green's musical career began as a member of a gospel music vocal quartet. He found great commercial success when teamed with Memphis producer Willie Mitchell, crafting a singing style that incorporates an understated delivery with occasional climbs to a casual, pure falsetto. Green's sleek delivery is complemented effectively by underlying brassy horns and funk rhythms played by the accomplished Hi Records studio band. At the height of his popularity in the mid-'70s, Green stopped performing secular music to pursue religious endeavors, singing gospel music and becoming an ordained minister. Since the mid-'80s, he has performed and recorded both secular and sacred music. Selected for the 2010 registry.

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"Philomel: For Soprano, Recorded Soprano, and Synthesized Sound" (album). Bethany Beardslee, soprano. (1971)

Milton Babbitt's "Philomel" was commissioned by the Ford Foundation for the noted soprano Bethany Beardslee. It is an outstanding example of an early synthesizer composition. Selected for the 2002 registry.

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"Tapestry" (album). Carole King. (1971)

Composer Carole King wrote many early rock and roll classics and then became a successful solo recording artist with her 1971 album, "Tapestry." It established King as a premier and influential force for female singer-songwriters and stayed on the charts for over 300 weeks. Selections on the album include "I Feel the Earth Move," "You've Got a Friend," and "It's Too Late." Selected for the 2003 registry.

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Interview with Carole King (PDF, 40KB)
Interview with "Tapestry" producer Lou Adler (PDF, 57KB)
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"Theme from 'Shaft'" (album). Isaac Hayes. (1971)

After several years behind the scenes as a writer and producer at Stax Records in Memphis, Isaac Hayes broke through as a solo artist with a series of albums that featured his lengthy, multi-layered compositions and distinctive speaking and singing styles. In 1971, after the Hollywood recording sessions for his soundtrack to "Shaft," a groundbreaking film about an African-American private detective caught between the mob and the police, Hayes returned to Memphis and created this double album. Hayes enhanced and expanded his earlier work as he saw fit, and created a listening experience as innovative and exciting as the film itself, leading off with an unforgettable opening theme highlighted by Charles Pitts's wah-wah guitar and Hayes's sexy banter with a female chorus. Selected for the 2013 registry.

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“Stairway to Heaven” (single). Led Zeppelin. (1971)

The familiarity of “Stairway to Heaven” can obscure the fact that it is a carefully crafted song. Jimmy Page, Led Zeppelin’s guitarist and producer, was responsible for much of the song’s structure and feel. Early in his career as a studio musician, Page had learned that one of the cardinal rules of studio work was to keep an even tempo and resist the urge to speed up at all costs. Ironically, “Stairway to Heaven” violates this rule to masterful effect, as it gradually increases speed, while adding instruments one at a time. First, we hear a lone acoustic guitar, soon a recorder enters, and, as the sound broadens, we hear vocals, a 12-string guitar and bass. Remarkably, the drums don’t enter until half way through the eight-minute song. As it gains momentum, the acoustic instruments fall away and we find ourselves listening to a fully electric hard-rock band. Bassist John Paul Jones contributed the recorder melody, lending a medieval feel to the song’s early measures. He and drummer John Bonham’s rhythm activities build to their usual huge and thunderous level. Few can imitate Robert Plant’s singing, and his lyrics, most of which were written during the band’s rehearsals, have appealed to a wide range of fans, while proving open to a bewildering number of interpretations. Finally, Page recorded one of the most tasteful solos in rock music.  Selected for the 2023 registry.

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“Take Me Home, Country Roads” (single). John Denver. (1971)

Though the song clearly celebrates West Virginia, its inspiration actually occurred on the winding highways of the east coast — rural Maryland, with a little nostalgic influence from the New England states. It was there, on one of those byways, that two of the song’s co-writers, Bill Danoff and Taffy Nivert (later to become two-thirds of the Starland Vocal Band), struck upon the feelings and imagery for the song that would become “Take Me Home….” Later, in December 1970, the duo met up with singer/songwriter John Denver at a New York City gig they were both playing. After they shared the song with him, Denver added the song’s bridge and later recorded it for his fourth album. It became that album’s first single and his breakout, career-making hit. “Take Me Home…” went on to define much of Denver’s career while also becoming a family and sing-along favorite, hitting a common ground simultaneously shared by the genres of country, folk and pop. Selected for the 2023 registry.

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Interview with Bill Danoff (PDF, 136KB)

"What's Going On" (album). Marvin Gaye. (1971)

A masterful stylist of sophisticated soul, Marvin Gaye's songs helped promote the Motown sound throughout the 1960s. Many of his vocal collaborations with Tammi Terrell topped the rhythm and blues charts. His 1971 concept album, "What's Going On," explored deeply held spiritual beliefs while offering social commentary on cultural events of the day. This self-written, self-produced concept album was an abrupt departure from previous Motown releases and became a huge commercial success. Selected for the 2003 registry.

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"All Things Considered," first broadcast. (May 3, 1971)

The National Public Radio flagship news program "All Things Considered" launched on May 3, 1971, one month after the network itself began broadcasting. With an emphasis on "interpretation, investigative reporting on public affairs, the world of ideas and the arts," in the words of programming head Bill Siemering, "All Things Considered" aimed to give voice to diverse segments of American society in a relaxed, conversational mode. The first broadcast, however, featuring recorded excerpts from a huge antiwar protest in the nation's capital that took place the same day, was "raw, visceral, and took listeners to the heart of America's agonies over the war in Vietnam," remembered Susan Stamberg, an NPR staffer at the time, who became a co-host of the show the following year. While the inaugural program was broadcast to approximately 90 stations across the nation, reaching only a few hundred thousand listeners, "All Things Considered" has since become, according to NPR, "the most listened-to afternoon drive-time news radio program in the country." Selected for the 2016 registry.

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"Black Angels (Thirteen Images from the Dark Land)" (album). The New York String Quartet. (1972)

Composers Recordings Inc. (CRI) was established in 1954 by Otto Luening, Douglas Moore and Oliver Daniel. CRI was dedicated to the recording of contemporary classical music by American composers and, in doing so, helped to introduce hundreds of new musical works to audiences. American composer George Crumb is noted for his challenging and often surreal, emotionally effective works, which frequently incorporate new musical timbres and take complex forms. "Black Angels," one of Crumb's best-known pieces, was inspired by the Vietnam War. The piece is written for amplified electric string quartet and includes the playing of a number of percussion instruments, crystal goblets and chanting by the quartet members. The CRI recording of the New York String Quartet performing "Black Angels" creates an opportunity for listeners to appreciate this rich and dramatic work, as have the company's recordings of so many other new musical compositions. Selected for the 2010 registry.

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Interview with George Crumb (PDF, 85KB)
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"An Evening with Groucho" (album). Groucho Marx. (1972)

On May 6, 1972, 81-year-old Groucho Marx took the stage at Carnegie Hall and dazzled an audience young enough to be his children and grandchildren for more than an hour with songs, stories and insults. Though he was still well remembered by fans of the Marx Brothers and his quiz show "You Bet Your Life," he had recently become an unlikely countercultural hero and was determined to make the most of it. Introduced by Dick Cavett and ably accompanied by Marvin Hamlisch on piano, Groucho began with a violin-smashing tribute to Jack Benny and concluded with a sing-along of "Lydia the Tattooed Lady." In between, he recounted his long and varied life in vaudeville, theater, films, radio and television. The album "An Evening with Groucho" was released six months later and remains a unique and hilarious document of one of the 20th-century's greatest entertainers. Selected for the 2017 registry.

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"For the Roses" (album). Joni Mitchell. (1972)

In "For the Roses," Joni Mitchell took the confessional lyrics of her critically-acclaimed "Blue" album and infused them with touches of jazz. The result is a mélange of folk, rock, jazz and country that retains the heartfelt tone of her earlier work, but presents it on a broader canvas. While Mitchell later delved more deeply into jazz, "For the Roses" remains the album in which all the elements of her creative palette are in perfect balance. Selected for the 2007 registry.

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Reflections by Shawn Colvin (PDF, 191KB)
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"Free to Be…You & Me" (album). Marlo Thomas and Friends. (1972)

The 1972 album "Free to Be...You and Me" is remarkable both as a snapshot of social change with regard to gender norms and expectations in the early 1970s and for the wide array of talent it assembled. Marlo Thomas explained in a 2003 interview that the inspiration for the project came from her niece, and a desire for children's educational materials that did not impose rigid and arbitrary gender roles and societal expectations. Thomas expected modest sales at best, but the album quickly sold hundreds of thousands of copies, ultimately achieving gold, platinum, and diamond status. Those sales were likely due in part to Thomas's own celebrity status, but also because the album's message of gender equality resonated with a large segment of American society, young and old, male and female. Appearances by talents as varied as Diana Ross, Harry Belafonte, Dick Cavett, and former pro football player Rosey Grier (in "It's All Right to Cry") further ensured appeal to a wide audience. The album and follow-up book led to an ABC television special two years later, and the project was reprised in the 1988 TV special "Free to Be...A Family." Selected for the 2020 registry.

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Interview with Marlo Thomas (PDF, 225KB)
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"The Harder They Come" (album). Jimmy Cliff. (1972)

In 1972, reggae singer Jimmy Cliff starred in the first Jamaican-produced feature film, "The Harder They Come." Around the time of the film's release, the soundtrack to this film made its way to American audiences and has been credited by "Rolling Stone" magazine as "the album that took reggae worldwide." Cliff has six songs on the album, including the title track, and the seminal "Many Rivers to Cross," which has since been covered by myriad artists, including Cher, John Lennon, UB40, Annie Lennox, Linda Ronstadt and Percy Sledge. While only the title track was recorded specifically for the soundtrack, the album collected numerous reggae stars and presented essential works in the genre to a new global audience. Other reggae pioneers and luminaries appearing on the album include Toots and the Maytals ("Pressure Drop" and "Sweet and Dandy"), Desmond Dekker ("Shanty Town"), and The Melodians ("Rivers of Babylon"). This exemplar of the diverse sounds of reggae in the '70s has enjoyed enormous critical praise and continued popularity in the US. The album has appeared on every version of "Rolling Stone's" Top 500 albums of all time. Selected for the 2020 registry.

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"Only Visiting This Planet" (album). Larry Norman. (1972)

"Only Visiting This Planet" is the key work in the early history of Christian rock. Norman was a veteran of the American rock scene of the 1960s (as well as a street corner evangelist) and his songs were musically assured and socially aware. Many earlier efforts in this genre concentrated on joyful affirmations of faith, but Norman also commented on the world as he saw it from his position as a passionate, idiosyncratic outsider to mainstream churches. "Only Visiting This Planet" was recorded at George Martin's AIR studio in London with a group of top studio musicians that included John Wetton of King Crimson (and, later, Asia) on bass. The album set new production standards for Christian music.  For some, Norman and his work are still controversial, but, regardless, his influence remains strong. Selected for the 2013 registry.

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The old foghorn, Kewaunee, Wisconsin. Recorded by James A. Lipsky. (1972)

In the late 19th century, Kewaunee, Wisconsin, one of the great maritime ports of the northern Great Lakes, sought to challenge Chicago as Lake Michigan's supreme port city. Its car ferry and rail-loading tracks were constructed in 1891 within a vast program of harbor improvements with an eye toward this goal. Its iconic foghorn was installed in 1906. However, in time, improved rail connections to other cities led to the ultimate decline of the port; hence, Kewaunee's ambitious aspirations were short lived. This recording preserves lost sounds of the once bustling northern lake port. The port's original fog signal was removed in 1981 when an automated signal was installed. Selected for the 2005 registry.

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"The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars." David Bowie. (1972)

On this apocalyptic concept album, Bowie combined several themes from his previous work to create the persona of Ziggy Stardust, an androgynous rock star who communicates with space aliens and whose rise and fall heralds the end of the world. While the album fits squarely in the glam-rock genre of the time, it incorporates influences from soul ("Soul Love"), blues, cabaret, garage rock, proto-punk ("Suffragette City") and stadium rock guitar ("Moonage Daydream"). Bowie's knowledge of theater is also on display with his voice ranging from sneering and outrageous to sincere and mellow. Aided by Mick Ronson's blistering guitar, at least two of the songs—"Ziggy Stardust" and "Suffragette City"—can be considered rock standards. Selected for the 2016 registry.

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"Superfly" (album). Curtis Mayfield. (1972)

"Superfly" is the soundtrack album from the Blaxploitation film of the same name. In a shrewd marketing move, the album was released weeks before the movie, increasing the interest of both the audience and film distributors. However, while supporting the film in those ways, songwriter Curtis Mayfield was concerned that the movie glorified drug use and sought to deliberately undercut what he saw as a "commercial" for cocaine. Mayfield wanted to counter "Superfly's" portrayals of drug use with songs that showed the consequences. For example, "Freddie's Dead" is used in the movie only as an instrumental, but Mayfield not only wrote stinging lyrics for it, he released it as the first single from the soundtrack. Having lived in Chicago's notorious Cabrini Green public housing project, Mayfield was all too familiar with the damage done by gangs and pushers. Mayfield said, "It was important for me to counter the visuals—to go in and explain it in a way that the kids would not read it as an infomercial for drugs." Mayfield produced the recording sessions and did all the vocals, but some of the credit for "Superfly's" sound should go to Johnny Pate, who is credited as an arranger and orchestrator on the album. Pate had previously worked with Mayfield on some of the Impressions' hits, including "Keep on Pushing." Selected for the 2018 registry.

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"Will the Circle Be Unbroken" (album). The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band. (1972)

For "Will the Circle Be Unbroken," the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, previously known for their country-rock and jug band music, brought together a stellar group of musical giants of country music for an unprecedented collaboration. The recordings, made in Nashville, showcased traditional songs and country music classics with guest performances by Doc Watson, Roy Acuff, Jimmy Martin, Maybelle Carter, Merle Travis and Earl Scruggs. The resulting three-LP set introduced acoustic country music to a new generation of audiences and revived the careers of several of its guest performers. Selected for the 2005 registry.

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"Class Clown." George Carlin. (1972)

In the late 1960s, George Carlin withdrew from a successful career as a mainstream standup and reinvented himself with a far riskier, countercultural style. "Class Clown" was the second album of his second phase, and contains his "Seven Words You Can Never Say On Television" routine, a discourse not only on those words and their power to offend, but also on the varieties and vagaries of the English language itself. At the time of the album's release, Carlin had actually been arrested on a charge of obscenity for a live performance of this routine, though the charges were ultimately dropped. Yet those words are still banned broadcast. Selected for the 2015 registry.

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"Robert & Clara Schumann Complete Piano Trios." The Beaux Arts Trio. (1972)

The Beaux Arts were an ideal vehicle for the trios of Robert and Clara Schumann, whose music is full of interesting musical details, and whose structures might get lost without the balance of musical values the Trio puts into everything. While the Trio's approach puts both composers in the best light, they demonstrate very strongly the musical identity of Clara Schumann. The temptation is to compare Clara's writing with her husband's, but her work stands strongly on its own. The work of both Schumanns is some of the most nuanced in classical music—and it found three sympathetic advocates in the members of the Beaux Arts Trio. Selected for the 2015 registry.

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"Burnin'" (album). The Wailers. (1973)

This 1973 release was the last album reggae master Bob Marley released under the name The Wailers and featured the final performances of Peter Tosh and Bunny Wailer within the group. While the group was rhythmically tight, Marley's role on this album is predominant. The album covers a variety of topics and moods from the militancy of "Get Up, Stand Up" and "I Shot the Sheriff" to the heartfelt rage and poverty-induced despair of "Burnin' and Lootin'." The final track, the traditional "Rastaman Chant," sounds a more redemptive note. These themes continued in Marley's work after he left the earlier Wailers lineup and became an internationally acclaimed solo artist. Selected for the 2006 registry.

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"The Dark Side of the Moon" (album). Pink Floyd. (1973)

"The Dark Side of the Moon" benefits from the fact that Pink Floyd worked out the songs in live performances for months before going into a studio. And when they did, they had some recent technological innovations at their disposal, such as 16-track recorders and synthesizers. Rather than overdoing it, "The Dark Side of the Moon" is an example of brilliant, innovative production in service of the music. The album is notable for the close vocal harmonies of Richard Wright and David Gilmour and for double tracking, both of voices and guitars. More unusual effects include the flanged choir in "Time," the precisely placed delays in "Us and Them," and a tape loop at the beginning of "Money" that was so long a microphone stand had to be used to hold it up. Band member Roger Waters interviewed studio staff and others responding to a series of flashcard questions, then used snippets of their answers throughout the album. Befitting its title, the themes of the concept album are dark – madness, violence, greed and the passage of time, culminating in death – as Waters put it, "those fundamental issues of whether the human race is capable of being humane." Selected for the 2012 registry.

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"Head Hunters" (album). Herbie Hancock. (1973)

"Head Hunters" is a pivotal work in the career of Herbie Hancock; it was his first true fusion recording. Possessing all the sensibilities of jazz but with R&B and funk soul rhythms, "Head Hunters" had a mass appeal that made it the greatest-selling jazz album in history at the time of its release. The recording is notable for its use of an extremely wide range of instruments, including electric synthesizers which brought that new instrument to the forefront of jazz for the first time. Hancock's experiments caused controversy among jazz purists, many of whom at the time belittled it as "pop." "Head Hunters" proved to be influential not only to jazz, but also to funk, soul and hip hop musicians. Selected for the 2007 registry.

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"Live in Japan" (album). Sarah Vaughan. (1973)

Captivating performances by singer Sarah Vaughan, who Gunther Schuller once called "the greatest vocal artist of our century," are preserved in this two-LP set. The 1973 recording is an excellent example of Sarah Vaughan's range of talents: her stunning virtuosity, glorious instrument, heartfelt interpretations, and ease of performing before a live audience. It features several signature tunes, including "Summertime" and "Poor Butterfly." "Live in Japan" was produced relatively late in Vaughan's career and illustrates that, unlike most singers, Vaughan's voice seemed to grow richer, stronger and more versatile as she aged. Selected for the 2006 registry.

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"Mister Rogers Sings 21 Favorite Songs From ‘Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood’" (album). Fred Rogers. (1973)

Almost two decades after the last broadcast of "Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood" in 2001, Fred Rogers remains an influential figure in American culture. As an enduring presence on national public television since 1968, Rogers emphasized holistic child development through play, curiosity and human interaction, while fostering emotional intelligence. Rogers held a bachelor's degree in music composition and aptly leveraged the potential of music to influence emotion, memory and cognitive development by composing prolifically for his program. Numerous musical guests and the consistent presence of an in-house jazz trio led by pianist Johnny Costa also exposed listeners to a wide range of high-quality music. Certain tunes became synonymous with the program, especially the opening and closing themes as well as "You Are Special" and "I'm Proud of You." His recitation of his lyrics for "What Do You Do (With the Mad That You Feel)" was a high point of his 1969 testimony before the Senate Subcommittee on Communications that helped save funding for public broadcasting. Selected for the 2019 registry.

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"Ola Belle Reed" (album). Ola Belle Reed. (1973)

Ola Belle Reed was born in 1916 in Grassy Creek, North Carolina, a small town near the Virginia and Tennessee border. The area was rich in traditional music, and by her teens she was an accomplished singer, guitarist and clawhammer banjo player, playing at local gatherings before her family relocated to Rising Sun, MD, when she was 18. After many years of performing with her brother, Alex Campbell, she formed a group with husband Bud and her son David. They recorded this album for Rounder Records in 1973. The album mixed older pieces such as "Wayfaring Pilgrim" and "Billy in the Lowground" that showcased her deep feeling for traditional material, with her own compositions, including "My Epitaph" and "High on a Mountain," which has since become part of the Bluegrass, Country and Americana canons in versions by Marty Stuart, Tim O'Brien, Del McCoury and others. Though Reed had been a popular performer around northern Maryland and southern Pennsylvania for many years, this album brought her to a much wider audience. By the time of her death in 2002, she was a beloved and influential artist who had mentored many young musicians and was awarded a National Heritage Fellowship by the National Endowment for the Arts in 1986. Selected for the 2018 registry.

Interview with David Reed, musician and Son of Ola Belle Reed (PDF, 61KB)
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"Precious Lord: New Recordings of the Great Gospel Songs of Thomas A. Dorsey" (album). Thomas Dorsey, Marion Williams, and others. (1973)

Composer of many enduring gospel classics, Thomas A. Dorsey is considered to be the Father of Gospel Music. The recording features Dorsey's recounting of his life, as well as contemporary performances of his greatest works. Selected for the 2002 registry.

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"Music Time in Africa: Mauritania." Leo Sarkisian, host. (July 29, 1973)

"Music Time in Africa," first aired in 1965, is the longest-running English-language show in the history of the Voice of America (VOA), the international news and information broadcasting arm of the United States. The creator and host of the program, Leo Sarkisian, made his first trip abroad to record traditional music in the field in the late 1950s. A one-time artist and music editor, Sarkasian was recruited in 1963 for work at the VOA by Edward R. Murrow, then director of the director of the United States Information Agency (USIA), the organization responsible for communicating U.S. policy abroad and carrying out much of the government's international information and cultural programs. Over the next 30 years, Sarkasian would record in every nation on the African continent, as well as in Asian countries such as Bangladesh and Pakistan. Letters to Sarkisian from African listeners thanked him for introducing them to music from other African nations. On this representative program from 1973, Sarkisian discusses and presents music recorded in Mauritania. At the time of Sarkisian's retirement in 2012 at the age of 91, his original library numbered over 10,000 one-of-a-kind reel-to-reel recordings. Housed at VOA headquarters, the Leo Sarkisian Library of African Music (1958-c.1990s) is being digitized by the University of Michigan. Selected for the 2012 registry.

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Interview with Leo Sarkisian (PDF, 77KB)
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"Piano Man" (single). Billy Joel. (1973)

Billy Joel's first hit, "Piano Man"—which would go on to become his signature song--was based upon his own experience from when he played in an LA piano bar. According to Joel, "All the characters in that song were real people." There actually was a sailor named Davy and a real estate agent named Paul who sat at the bar working on his novel. The waitress who was "practicing politics" would later become Joel's wife. Unfortunately, clocking in at 5:38, his record company considered "Piano Man" too long to get radio airplay, so they cut out over a minute from the single and nearly two and a half minutes from the DJ promo. Joel later sarcastically referenced this in later composition, "The Entertainer": "It was a beautiful song but it ran too long…so they cut it down to 3:05." Selected for the 2015 registry.

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Crescent City Living Legends Collection. New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Foundation archive/WWOZ New Orleans. (1973-1990)

This collection of tapes in the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Foundation Archive contains an outstanding array of interviews, live concert recordings, and radio broadcasts of Big Easy musicians including Clifton Chenier, Professor Longhair, Queen Ida, and others, culled from the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival. Selected for the 2002 registry.

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"Celia & Johnny" (album). Celia Cruz and Johnny Pacheco. (1974)

Cuba's Celia Cruz was a dominant artist in the Afro-Cuban scene of the 1950s, when she sang with the great Sonora Matancera band. She came to America in 1962, and did well initially but, by the early 1970s, Latin styles nurtured in the US were dominant, and her career entered a slump. For this mid-'70s album, rather than recreate the large orchestras that Cruz usually fronted, New York based bandleader and co-founder of the Fania Records label Johnny Pacheco assembled a small group that included pianist Papo Lucca, tres player Charlie Martinez, and several percussionists, including himself. This proved to be the perfect setting for Cruz to reach a newer and younger audience while simultaneously remaining true to her roots. And she responded with some of the most inspired singing of her career, especially in "Celia & Johnny's" many improvised passages. The album's opening rumba, "Quimbara," was a huge dance floor hit and Cruz was soon acclaimed as the Queen of Salsa.Selected for the 2013 registry.

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"Copland Conducts Copland: Appalachian Spring" (album). Aaron Copland. (1974)

In 1942, with funding from the Coolidge Foundation, Martha Graham commissioned Aaron Copland to write a score for a ballet that told a story set in 19th century rural Pennsylvania. Because of space limitations at the intended venture—the Coolidge Auditorium at the Library of Congress—Copland had to score the work for a chamber orchestra of only 13 instruments. Throughout the composition process, Copland thought of the work as "Ballet for Martha." Shortly before its 1944 premiere, Graham, inspired by a Hart Crane poem, renamed it "Appalachian Spring." In 1945, Copland reconfigured the ballet into an orchestral suite of which numerous recordings have been made, and which have been hailed for its rich symphonic vision of early America. But this 1974 release, with the composer conducting the Columbia Chamber Orchestra, was the first commercial recording of the original version, and is memorable for restoring the intimacy and charm of the 13 player score, as well as for the vibrant and haunting textures that Copland and the smaller ensemble achieved. Selected for the 2013 registry.

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"Heart Like a Wheel" (album). Linda Ronstadt. (1974)

In the 1970s, a decade which saw the ascendance of singer-songwriters, Linda Ronstadt was a bit of an anomaly. Primarily an interpreter, she was blessed with excellent taste in song selection and the talent to put her own stamp on each of her covers. Ronstadt's fifth solo album, "Heart Like a Wheel," continued her tradition of eclecticism and contained covers of songs by Hank Williams, Paul Anka, and Little Feat's Lowell George. "Heart" also shows a keen ear for new material, such as the achingly beautiful title track by Anna McGarrigle. What made "Heart Like a Wheel" different from Ronstadt's previous efforts was the addition of producer Peter Asher, who had been crucial to the career of James Taylor, and the addition of Andrew Gold, who not only arranged the music, but also played several instruments on the album sessions. Selected for the 2013 registry.

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Interview with Linda Ronstadt (PDF, 53KB)
Reflections by Rosanne Cash (PDF, 39KB)
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"Lady Marmalade" (single). Labelle. (1974)

The elemental trio of Labelle—Patti LaBelle, Nona Hendryx and Sarah Dash—first formed in 1962 as Patti Labelle and The Bluebelles. By the early 1970s, they were simply Labelle, and released six albums under that name. Their biggest hit was this French-infused dance track written by Bob Crewe and Kenny Nolan and produced by Allen Toussaint and Vicki Wickham. Inspired by a few choice streets in New Orleans, the song has been covered several times since its release, still unwittingly prompting listeners to sing its famous refrain phonetically:  "Voulez-vous coucher avec moi, (ce soir)?," often unaware of its true meaning. Selected for the 2020 registry.

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Interview with Patti Labelle (PDF, 168KB)
Interview with Nona Hendryx (PDF, 190KB)
Interview with Sarah Dash (PDF, 152KB)
Inductees' Gallery - Sarah Dash of Labelle, performer
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"Late for the Sky" (album). Jackson Browne. (1974)

Although Jackson Browne had some success with his first two albums (in '72 and '73), in 1974, he was still primarily known as a songwriter, his works having been recorded by Linda Ronstadt, Tom Rush, and the Eagles, among others. "Late for the Sky", nominated for a Grammy a year later, changed all that. It was recorded more quickly and for less money than his previous album and neither of the album's released singles charted. But none of that mattered. The maturity and depth of Browne's writing did. Brilliantly supported by his touring band, especially David Lindley on guitar and fiddle, the lyrics deal with apocalypse, uncertainty, death, and, especially, love and the loss of it experienced by someone transitioning to manhood. In "Fountain of Sorrow," Browne wrote, "I'm just one or two years and a couple of changes behind you/In my lessons at love's pain and heartache school ...."  When Browne was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2004, Bruce Springsteen called "Late for The Sky" Browne's "masterpiece." Selected for the 2020 registry.

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Interview with Jackson Browne (PDF, 544KB)
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Hank Aaron’s 715th Career Home Run. (April 8, 1974)

On April 8, 1974, when Hank Aaron stepped up to the plate, history was in the making. He was on the verge of smashing Babe Ruth’s home-run record, and the crowd, radio listeners and even the game’s own announcers were anxious, hopeful and on edge. Their anticipation can be heard, and felt, thanks to WSB-Atlanta’s vivid radio coverage, helmed by the legendary Milo Hamilton. When Aaron hit that homer, Hamilton’s on-air exuberance matches that of those in the stands. Almost as well remembered as the 715th home run itself, Hamilton’s announcing of the breaking of “the record that would never be broken” is one of baseball’s—and radio’s—greatest ever calls. Selected for the 2022 registry.

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"A Prairie Home Companion." First broadcast. (July 6, 1974)

Garrison Keillor, writer and humorist, began broadcasting his radio variety program, "A Prairie Home Companion," for Minnesota Public Radio in 1974. In the show, Keillor weaves together regional humor, musical guests, comical advertisements for imaginary products, and extraordinary monologues about his fictional creation, Lake Wobegon. Thirty years after its inception, the radio variety program is still heard on more than 500 public radio stations nationwide. Selected for the 2003 registry.

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“Bohemian Rhapsody” (single). Queen. (1975)

“Bohemian Rhapsody” breaks nearly every rule in the playbook for rock songs: it starts with a gentle a cappella intro; it has a complex structure without a chorus, and it clocks in at nearly six minutes. Nonetheless, songwriter and vocalist Freddie Mercury, while acknowledging the risk, was convinced that the public would receive it enthusiastically. Guitarist Brian May remembers the band being largely supportive of Mercury’s composition, finding it “intriguing and original, and worthy of work.”  In fact, the recording required a huge amount of work with one section requiring 180 overdubs, and the vocal sessions with Mercury, May and drummer Roger Taylor stretched to ten or twelve hours. Bassist John Deacon does remember an attempt to edit the song, but, in the end, he and the band felt nothing should be lost. Ultimately, “Rhapsody” was released in its full length and audiences embraced it.  The song has proven to have a number of afterlives, appearing in “Wayne’s World” and the bio-pic “Bohemian Rhapsody,” ensuring its continued place in the public’s consciousness. Selected for the 2022 registry.

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"Born to Run" (album). Bruce Springsteen. (1975)

Singer and songwriter Bruce Springsteen, whose live performances are renowned for their energy and passion, burst onto the rock scene in the early 1970s, a time when many believed that rock was in need of new lifeblood. Billed early in his career as "the next Bob Dylan," his music evolved into a unique synthesis of early rock and roll, blues, rhythm and blues, folk, gospel, and country. Though "Born to Run" was Springsteen's third LP, it was the first in which he fully realized the sound that would earn him the title "The Boss." Not coincidentally, it was also his first album to feature the revamped lineup of his dynamic E Street Band featuring saxophone player Clarence Clemons, second guitarist "Miami" Steve Van Zandt, organist Danny Federici, pianist Roy Bittan, bassist Garry Tallent, and drummer Max Weinberg. In addition to the title song, the album contains such Springsteen anthems as "Thunder Road," "Backstreets," and "She's the One." Selected for the 2003 registry.

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"Horses" (album). Patti Smith. (1975)

Before recording this proto-punk classic, Patti Smith and her band had honed the tunes in a triumphant run of shows at New York's CBGB's. In the studio, producer John Cale helped the band to further refine the selections in a process that Smith remembers as not always pleasant, but as greatly beneficial to the final product. Smith's background as a rock critic and poet are equally in evidence on this record which includes re-imaginings of such oldies as "Gloria" and "Land, of a thousand dances" with the addition of Smith's provocative and uncompromising lyrics. Selected for the 2009 registry.

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"Live at Yankee Stadium" (album). The Fania All-Stars. (1975)

The All-Stars are the house band of Fania Records, one of the U.S.'s most significant Latin music record labels. The All-Stars popularized New York City salsa during the 1970s through their concerts at the Red Garter in Greenwich Village, Yankee Stadium in The Bronx, and Coliseo Roberto Clemente in San Juan, Puerto Rico. This two-LP set features top salsa singers Celia Cruz, Hector Lavoe, Cheo Feliciano, Ismael Miranda, Justo Betancourt, Ismael Quintana, Pete "Conde" Rodriguez, Bobby Cruz, and Santos Colon. Selected for the 2003 registry.

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"Mothership Connection" (album). Parliament. (1975)

"Ain't nothin' but a party, y'all" intones George Clinton on the title track of this lively and unbelievably rhythmic funk album. While this undeniably is a party record, it is also rooted in the deepest currents of African-American musical culture and history. For example, the words "Swing down, sweet chariot/Stop, and let me ride" are an unmistakable reference to the influential spiritual recorded by the Fisk Jubilee Singers. The album was released in late 1975 shortly after the arrival to Parliament of saxophonist Maceo Parker and trombonist and arranger extraordinaire Fred Wesley. Like Parker and Wesley, bass player Bootsy Collins, dubbed by one critic a "bass deity," had played with pioneer of funk James Brown. Add to such assembled talent the classically trained Bernie Worrell whose synthesizer conjures galaxies of cosmic sound, but whose piano, as heard on the track "P-Funk," evokes the ethereal chords of jazz pianist McCoy Tyner. DJ, conductor, arranger and wild lyricist George Clinton oversees the whole, providing an amazing range of space characters (Lollipop Man, Star Child) outlandish vocabulary ("supergroovalistic," "prosifunkstication") and all-around funkiness. The album has had an enormous influence on jazz, rock and dance music. Selected for the 2011 registry.

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"Red Headed Stranger" (album). Willie Nelson. (1975)

At the time composer and performer Willie Nelson recorded "Red Headed Stranger," he had just moved to Columbia Records with a contract that gave him complete artistic control. The new freedom allowed him to compose an album of uncommon elegance and power, one built primarily of his own compositions, but including older country songs like Fred Rose's "Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain." Set in the Old West, it told the tale of a tormented preacher on the run from killing his wife and her lover. In the studio, Nelson relied on extremely spare arrangements which emphasized guitar, harmonica and piano. At times the only accompaniment was Nelson's nylon-string guitar. The resulting album was met with considerable skepticism from Columbia's executives, but Nelson's instincts proved prescient and "Red Headed Stranger" resonated with an audience weary of the elaborate production techniques associated with Nashville studios, setting a new course for country and popular music. Selected for the 2009 registry.

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Interview with Willie Nelson (PDF, 401KB)
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"The Wiz." Original cast album. (1975)

An urbanized retelling of Baum's classic "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz," "The Wiz" (as both show and cast album) has endured as a family favorite and cultural touchstone since its debut on the New York stage in 1975. One of the first musicals with an all-black cast in the history of the Great White Way, the musical would go on to win seven Tony Awards, including for best musical. Along with showcasing the talents of Dee Dee Bridgewater, Ted Ross and Mabel King, the show made an instant star of its original "Dorothy," Stephanie Mills. The original-cast album from the show included well-known songs as "Home," "Don't Nobody Bring Me No Bad News," "So You Wanted To Meet The Wizard" and, of course, "Ease On Down the Road." Selected for the 2016 registry.

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"Bright Size Life" (album). Pat Metheny. (1976)

Pat Metheny's debut album, "Bright Size Life," signaled a new direction for jazz in the mid-1970s--not only for leader Pat Metheny, but also bassist Jaco Pastorius, drummer Bob Moses, and Gary Burton, who went uncredited as a producer at the time, though he wrote the album's liner notes. In their only album together, all participants built on the musical traditions that preceded them to create a new expression of jazz distinguished by their own styles and personalities, before blazing their own distinctive trails in the music. The album saw modest initial sales, but the passage of time has made its significance clear. Selected for the 2020 registry.

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Interview with Pat Metheny (PDF, 145KB)
Inductees' Gallery - Pat Metheny, performer
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"Their Greatest Hits (1971–1975)." Eagles. (1976)

It's unusual for a group to be best known for a greatest-hits compilation, especially for the Eagles who, at the time, were thought of as an album band, not a singles band. It's even more surprising because the members of the group had no say in the decision to release such an album and didn't want one released. Against a backdrop of lawsuits, their record company decided to put out a greatest-hits package while the Eagles worked on their next studio album. The supposed potboiler, "Their Greatest Hits (1971–1975)," was intended merely to generate income and buy the Eagles some time while they worked on what would become "Hotel California." Instead, the overwhelming response thrilled the record company—less so some members of the band. Don Henley complained that cobbling together a hits package diminished the artistic integrity of a concept album like "Desperado," from which two songs were taken. Nevertheless, fans loved "Their Greatest Hits" and it undeniably elevated the stature of the Eagles, making them one of the most successful and best-loved groups of their era. Selected for the 2016 registry.

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"Ramones" (album). Ramones. (1976)

Clash cofounder Joe Strummer has stated that the first time he saw Ramones, the band generated a "white heat" attributable as much to the speed of the songs and volume of the amplifiers as to the fact that "you couldn't put a cigarette paper between the end of one song and the beginning of the next." The band's first album captured the incandescence of guitarist Johnny Ramone's speedy, no-nonsense guitar work, Dee Dee Ramone's propulsive bass, and the surfy sonorities of Tommy's drums. The youthful tone of Joey Ramone's singing voice was equally influenced by Iggy Pop and bubblegum rock and when combined with the backing vocals and lyrics portraying teen love and anxiety, gave the album a strong pop flavor despite its heavy sound and the disturbing aspects of other songs dealing with drug use, Nazism and male prostitution. Recorded on a miniscule budget with little separation between instruments, few overdubs and no guitar solos, the album is an early example of a do-it-yourself aesthetic that inspired thousands of teens to form bands. The album's outsized influence has been cited by first-generation British punkers (Strummer, The Sex Pistols, Captain Sensible of the Damned), hardcore bands (Husker Du, Black Flag, The Minutemen), alternative rockers (Nirvana, Sonic Youth, Soundgarden) and post rockers (Sleater Kinney) alike, over more than three decades of punk rock's history. Selected for the 2012 registry.

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"Scott Joplin's Treemonisha." Gunter Schuller, arr. (1976)

Scott Joplin's operatic swan song "Treemonisha" languished in obscurity for decades before a renewal of interest in ragtime spurred scholars to reconstruct the work from surviving vocal and piano scores and perform and record it in the 1970s. Until then, the lone performance of the 1911 work had been a concert read-through with only Joplin on piano for accompaniment. The first of these was presented at Morehouse College in 1972 with orchestration by T.J. Anderson and stage direction by Katherine Dunham. In 1975, the Houston Grand Opera presented a new version orchestrated and conducted by Gunther Schuller. Deutsche Grammophon's 1976 recording of this version sold well and increased audience exposure to Joplin's "Treemonisha." Selected for the 2016 registry.

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"Songs in the Key of Life" (album). Stevie Wonder. (1976)

In addition to Stevie Wonder's impeccable musicianship, this album features contributions from Nathan Watts (bass), Raymond Pounds (drums), Greg Phillinganes (keyboards), Ben Bridges and Mike Sembello (guitar) and a guest appearance by jazz pianist Herbie Hancock. To produce the album, Wonder and the group worked in the studio relentlessly for two years, occasionally logging sessions of 48 hours in duration. These efforts paid off with a number of excellent jazz, blues and gospel-influenced songs including "I Wish" and "Pastime Paradise." The album also includes the Duke Ellington tribute "Sir Duke," in which Wonder acknowledges his debt to the African-American musical tradition. Selected for the 2005 registry.

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"Wild Tchoupitoulas" (album). The Wild Tchoupitoulas. (1976)

Since the 19th century, bands of African Americans in New Orleans have masqued as American Indians during Mardi Gras. They wear elaborate, homemade costumes planned and constructed throughout the year preceding the celebration, and take to the streets chanting merry boasts about their tribes. Their music is one of the many rich strands of New Orleans music, and Indians themselves are celebrated in many songs originating in the city. George Landry, an uncle of the famous Neville Brothers, formed the Wild Tchoupitoulas Indian group in the 1970s. The Nevilles were not yet performing as a group, but two brothers belonged to the Meters, New Orleans' top r&b and funk group. The Meters and the other Nevilles formed the backing group for the Wild Tchoupitoulas album, and with Landry and the other Wild Tchoupitoulas, they celebrated this century-old tradition and broke new musical ground at the same time. Although it was not a success outside of New Orleans, the record marked the beginning of the Neville Brothers as a performing group and has attained classic status. Selected for the 2012 registry.

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"Bogalusa Boogie." Clifton Chenier. (1976)

Zydeco, a driving mix of Cajun, creole and blues influences, has now an international audience, but it wasn't always the case. Accordionist and singer Clifton Chenier, born into a French-speaking family in Louisiana, in 1925, was part of the generation that added a strong blues feeling and hot rhythms to Cajun and creole music to create a new style that would sweep across Louisiana and Texas. "Bogalusa Boogie," recorded in 1976, was the second album Chenier recorded with his Red Hot Louisiana Band, the expanded group that accompanied him during the most successful phase of his career. This album was cut in a single day, with no second takes, and remains a definitive performance by Zydeco's greatest artist. Selected for the 2015 registry.

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Ronald Reagan radio broadcasts. (1976-1979)

This collection of over 1,000 radio broadcast recordings, the majority penned by Ronald Reagan himself, documents the development of his political vision in the years immediately preceding his election to the White House. In the broadcasts, Reagan sounded what would become the familiar themes of his presidency: reduction of government spending, tax cuts, supply-side economics and anti-communism. These radio "chats" did not focus on specific policy prescriptions as much as they outlined a conservative governing philosophy. Also showcased is Reagan's conversational, folksy rhetorical style, which adds immeasurably to his public appeal. Selected for the 2007 registry.

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"Aja" (album). Steely Dan. (1977)

"Aja" is an apotheosis of jazz-pop, a seamless fusion of jazz, pop and blues crafted with meticulous precision. Swimming against the tides of then-popular punk rock and disco, Walter Becker and Donald Fagen of Steely Dan created an adult pop album—lyrically cynical and cryptic, melodically rich, and musically dense. The impeccable playing by a number of world-class musicians helped to achieve a musical whole even greater than the sum of its impressive parts. Selected for the 2010 registry.

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"I Feel Love." Donna Summer. (1977)

Brian Eno famously declared after hearing Donna Summer's single "I Feel Love" that the track would "change the sound of club music for the next 15 years." Summer wrote the song in collaboration with producers Giorgio Moroder and Pete Belotte, who felt that the song was supposed to represent the music of the future and should be entirely electronic. Consequently, they hired Robbie Wedel who brought four cases of Moog synthesizer to the session and which produced nearly all the sounds on the record, including synthesized bass drums and cymbals. Particularly notable was the bass line which Belotte has described as "a giant's hammer on a wall." When the thunderous sound was combined with Summer's breathy and ethereal vocal, the cut, as Eno predicted, took the clubs by storm. Partly through the involvement of Patrick Cowley, who made remixes of 15 and 8 minutes lengths, the song won particular popularity in gay dance clubs and soon achieved the status of an anthem in the LGBT community. Selected for the 2011 registry.

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“Margaritaville” (single). Jimmy Buffett. (1977)

Though he began his career as a country-folk artist in Nashville in the late 1960s, it was after an early ‘70s move to Key West that Buffett seemed to find the direction, niche and even persona that would not only endure but also endear him to many generations. Buffett seemed to have created his own genre of music, one that takes life easy, enjoys the beach, the sun, the wind and waves, no matter where one happens to be. It was Buffett’s second release, 1973’s “A White Sport Coat and a Pink Crustacean” that began his transformation but it became fully realized in 1977 with the release of the LP “Changes in Latitudes, Changes in Attitudes.” And that was thanks largely to its breakthrough song “Margaritaville.” The song stayed on industry charts from April to September, scoring with pop and country audiences alike, as well as teenagers and adults. And, today, its lyrics are as memorized as any song in history, “Margaritaville” is as well known and omni-present as ever — a regular component of bars, beach parties, karaoke and any place cool vibes are required. Selected for the 2023 registry.

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"The Sounds of the Earth." Disc prepared for the Voyager spacecraft. (1977)

This disc was prepared to introduce aurally our planet to any alien intelligence that might encounter the Voyager spacecraft many millions of years in the future. The disc contains encoded photographs, spoken messages, music and sounds as well as greetings delivered in 55 languages. The sound essay includes life sounds (EEGs and EKGs), birds, elephants, whales, volcanoes, rain and a baby. The 90 minutes of music features selections ranging from ragas to Navajo Indian chants, Javanese court gamelan, Bach's Brandenburg Concerto No. 2, a Peruvian Woman's Wedding song, and Chuck Berry's "Johnny B. Goode." Selected for the 2007 registry.

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"Rumours" (album). Fleetwood Mac. (1977)

Stevie Nicks said: "Devastation leads to writing good things." It's little wonder, then, that Fleetwood Mac's "Rumours" is so highly regarded, having been forged by the crumbling relationships of every member of the group. In 1974, the then-remaining members of Fleetwood Mac—drummer Mick Fleetwood, bassist John McVie and his wife, vocalist and keyboard player Christine McVie—found themselves without a male vocalist or guitarist. A chance meeting at a recording studio led to guitarist and vocalist Lindsey Buckingham and vocalist Stevie Nicks, who were romantically involved, joining the group. The newly formed Anglo-American lineup soon struck gold with their eponymous 1975 album. They should have been on top of the world, but as they began working on their follow-up album, "Rumours," relationships became so strained that, except as musically necessary, they would barely speak to each other while playing songs about each other. However, because the group had a sense that the songs were so strong, they not only endured, they prevailed. As engineer and co-producer Richard Dashut put it, they wanted to " ... make sure that every song on ["Rumours"] was worth its weight in gold." Selected for the 2017 registry.

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"Saturday Night Fever" (album). Bee Gees, et.al. (1977)

"Saturday Night Fever," the soundtrack to the popular movie starring John Travolta, was released in November 1977 as the disco dance craze was in decline. The popularity of the album, featuring the Bee Gees trademark falsettos over vibrant and infectious beats, was a major factor in reversing that course. More than 20,000 discotheques opened during the next year, attracting some 36 million patrons, according to one estimate. Following "Saturday Night Fever's" success, disco records became a major component of the music business. Along with the Brothers Gibb, this disco masterpiece features songs by Tavares, Yvonne Elliman, K.C. & The Sunshine Band, and Kool & The Gang. Selected for the 2012 registry.

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"Star Wars" (album). John Williams. (1977)

This soundtrack score has been credited with reviving symphonic film scores in Hollywood motion pictures. The recording was a bestseller, its themes well remembered and often quoted. When the blockbuster motion picture was released in 1977, home video did not exist; hence, it was the soundtrack recording which enabled audiences to evoke images from the film in their living rooms. Selected for the 2004 registry.

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Barton Hall Concert by the Grateful Dead. (May 8, 1977)

The rock band Grateful Dead was known for its eclectic style that drew on many genres of popular and vernacular music, an improvisational foundation, and a commitment to touring and "live" performances. The Dead was one of the few musical groups to not only allow, but encourage fans to record its concerts, offering tickets to a special "tapers" section at their shows. The organized trading of Grateful Dead tapes goes back at least to 1971 with the formation of the First Free Underground Grateful Dead Tape Exchange. Fans of the Grateful Dead will never completely agree about which of their over 2,300 concerts was the best, but there is some consensus about the tape of their May 8, 1977, performance at Barton Hall, Cornell University. The soundboard recording of this show has achieved almost mythic status among "Dead Head" tape traders because of its excellent sound quality and early accessibility, as well as its musical performances. Selected for the 2011 registry. 

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"Cheap Trick at Budokan" (album). Cheap Trick. (1978)

Though a handful of U.S. critics and devoted fans could have told you about their formidable live performances, Cheap Trick had had, by the late 1970s, very little impact at home in the USA. But they were already huge in Japan. In 1978, at the Budokan in Tokyo before 12,000 ardent fans, the band recorded this seminal live album, which was originally meant solely for sale in the Japanese market. But stoked later by word-of-mouth and airplay on a few U.S. FM rock stations, high-priced imports of the album began to sell in unheard-of numbers for a Japanese release in the U.S. Further airplay and interest increased when Epic, the band's record company, serviced radio stations with a promotional version of the album unavailable in stores before finally releasing "Cheap Trick: Live at Budokan" domestically in February 1979. It proved to be the making of the band in their home country, as well as a loud and welcomed alternative to disco and soft rock and a decisive comeback for rock and roll. Selected for the 2019 registry.

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Interview with Tom Petersson (PDF, 72KB)
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Frederick Fennell, The Cleveland Symphonic Winds / Holst: Suite No. 1 in E-Flat, Suite No. 2 in F / Handel: Music for the Royal Fireworks / Bach: Fantasia in G (Special Edition Audiophile Pressing) (album). (1978)

This recording was the first commercial digital recording of symphonic music in the United States and was captured on the Soundstream recorder, the first available commercial digital recorder, introduced by U.S. inventor Thomas Stockham. The original recording was released to vinyl in 1978 and then again in 1983 as the first CD release for the U.S.-based Telarc label. The recording was produced by Robert Woods and engineered by Jack Renner, co-founders of the Telarc label. Telarc and Soundstream worked together increasing the capability of the Soundstream recorder and the results had an immediate impact on audiences around the globe. The WorldBook Encyclopedia described this recording as having "The bass drum heard around the world." Selected for the 2019 registry.

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"The Gambler" (single). Kenny Rogers. (1978)

Don Schlitz was a young night shift computer operator at Vanderbilt University in Nashville in 1976, writing songs and shopping them around on Music Row on the side, when he came up with "The Gambler," a haunting story about a mysterious card player and a metaphor for navigating life's ever-changing stakes. Recorded and released by Bobby Bare to little attention in spring 1978, the song was later recorded by Johnny Cash, whose career was at a low point because of his struggles with drugs. Kenny Rogers, however, hit the jackpot with the song, the centerpiece of the accompanying album. As a former pop star with the group First Edition who had come into his own as a solo country artist, Rogers was well-positioned to bring the song to both pop and country audiences, earning the song its indelible place in popular culture. Placing high in both the country and pop charts that year, "The Gambler" later spawned a made-for-TV movie featuring Rogers and even a duet between Rogers and one of the Muppets in 1979. Selected for the 2017 registry.

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Interview with Don Schlitz (PDF, 107KB)
Inductees' Gallery - Don Schlitz, songwriter
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"I Will Survive." (single). Gloria Gaynor. (1978)

According to its co-writer, Dino Fekaris, "I Will Survive" was initially inspired by his being fired from his job but then realizing that he was going to be okay. For performer Gloria Gaynor, it took on added meaning as she was, at the time, recovering from a serious spinal injury. Originally released as a "B" side, so many deejays began playing "Survive" that the record company reissued it as a single. It was immediately embraced as an emblem of women's empowerment and soon became anthem among the LGBT community. Over time, it has also been adopted as an anthem by survivors of all kinds. Selected for the 2015 registry.

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Interview with Gloria Gaynor (PDF, 146KB)
Inductees' Gallery - Gloria Gaynor, artist
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"Le Freak" (single). Chic. (1978)

One of the most influential disco acts of the 1970s, the five-member band Chic had a unique sound propelled by the innovative, funky guitar work of guitarist Nile Rodgers and bassist Bernard Edwards. Rodgers and Edwards were also the writers of this, the group's biggest hit—an infectious, danceable confection that lyrically celebrated the then-moment (with its mention of "54") as well as the past (with its mention of the Savoy), while rhythmically keeping everyone on the dance floor in motion. Chic's work has gone on to influence a host of other acts, including Madonna, Mtume, The Pointer Sisters, The Sugarhill Gang, Evelyn "Champagne" King, Teena Marie, Shalamar, Soul II Soul and Justin Timberlake, among others. Despite the supposed "death" of disco, Chic's "Le Freak" has become a staple of wedding receptions, movie soundtracks and nightclubs. Selected for the 2017 registry.

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Interview with Nile Rodgers (PDF, 138KB)
Inductees' Gallery - NIle Rodgers, songwriter/erformer
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"September" (single). Earth, Wind & Fire. (1978)

Earth, Wind and Fire guitarist Al McKay remembers waking one morning "feeling really good" and picking up his guitar to have the central guitar groove of "September" roll out effortlessly "piece by piece." When he showed it to Maurice White, the band's leader and co-writer on the track, White wrote the opening lyric after only a few repetitions. Then assisted by the inimitable Allee Willis, the immediate, buoyant and upbeat mood of this beginning remained imprinted on the track through the final mix, and these attributes help explain much of the song's enduring appeal. White also singles out Thomas "Tom-Tom" Washington's Latin-tinged horn arrangement with opening fanfare, and the nonsense "ba-dee-ya" vocalization as contributing to the "feel-good, anthemic qualities" that the band strove for in their songs of the time. The pioneering multi-track techniques employed on this recording sustained the deep groove the band was noted for. The synthesis of funk, falsetto, and forward driving momentum of just a few chords are powered by the clarity of the individual channels and the punctuation of the horns. Selected for the 2018 registry.

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Interview with Allee Willis (PDF, 92KB)
Inductees' Gallery - Allee Willis, co-songwriter
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"Wanted: Live in Concert." Richard Pryor. (1978)

At the height of his career in 1978, Richard Pryor recorded a rare double album of fresh comedy, "Wanted: Live in Concert." While a version was also released successfully as a theatrical film, "Wanted," the album, epitomizes the art of Pryor's verbal comedy unleashed. Raised in Peoria, Illinois, Pryor grew up in the family "house of ill-repute." His genius was to live on the edge and manage to laugh about it. His hilarious characterizations of Jim Brown ("Give me the ball") and Leon Spinks ("Ain't got no teefes") were only second to his universe of monkeys making love in trees; German Shepherds that psychoanalyze ("Hey, Rich, what's the matter?"); and Dobermans snarling ("I want to play!"). Pryor even personified his own heart in a heart attack ("Don't breathe no more!") and examined the woods ("Snakes make you run into trees. Snake!... Pow!"). Pryor did not avoid talking about the harder aspects of life, but his sensitivity made him one of the greatest stand-up comedians of all time. This album captures all the hilarity and vulnerability that propelled Pryor to the top of the 1980s comedy boom. Selected for the 2016 registry.

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"A Wild and Crazy Guy." Steve Martin (1978)

Steve Martin has been called, among other things, a postmodern humorist, a meta-comic, and an anti-comedian. While these terms all have deficiencies, they do underscore the risky, self-conscious tightrope Martin walks on this album, where he hovers between satire and utterly absurd and meaningless behavior. Having performed more traditional comedy for years, Martin became disillusioned in the early 1970s with formulaic jokes that ended with punchlines. As stated in his memoir, he wondered at the time "what if there were no punch lines." What if he were "to create odd situations in which people could choose their own places to laugh?" This album abounds in such moments. The record also includes his hilarious and wildly popular "King Tut." Selected for the 2014 registry.

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Interview with Steve Martin (PDF, 39KB)
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"Y.M.C.A." (single). The Village People. (1978)

In 1977, the Village People emerged as a purposely campy and extravagantly costumed vocal sextet of guys — the Native American, the cop, the biker, the soldier, the cowboy and the construction worker — singing upbeat dance floor anthems that often referenced gay pop culture. Now, over 40 years since it hit the streets and the dance floors, "Y.M.C.A.," their biggest hit, is an American cultural phenomenon people from all walks of life do the "Y.M.C.A." dance at weddings, Bar Mitzvahs or sporting events. It is as likely to be heard at a Midwestern prom as it is at New York City's annual Gay Pride parade. Back in its heyday, "Y.M.C.A." was a hit around the world, going to No. 1 on the charts in over 15 countries, and its ongoing popularity is evidence that, despite the naysayers, disco has never truly died. Selected for the 2019 registry.

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Interview with Victor Willis, singer/co-writer
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"You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real)" (single). Sylvester. (1978)

Disco was at its peak of popularity in late 1978 when Sylvester (nee Sylvester James, Jr., a.k,a. The Fabulous Sylvester) released "You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real)." His urgent falsetto reflected his childhood background in both African-American gospel music and his more recent work as a drag performer in San Francisco. Though, to some, "You Make Me…" evidenced that disco was just a mass-produced sound, lacking in depth or personality, to others, the highly personal and emotional performance of Sylvester gave it gravitas while also pushing gender-bending (which Sylvester reveled in) further into the musical mainstream. Patrick Cowley's production anticipated later developments in electronic dance music and, together, the result was an anthem that has since been covered, successfully, several times. Selected for the 2018 registry.

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Interview with “You Make Me Feel” co-songwriter James Wirrick (PDF, 46KB)
Reflections by Sandra Bernhard (PDF, 58KB)
Inductees' Gallery - James Wirrick, co-writer
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"Einstein on the Beach" (album). Philip Glass, Robert Wilson. (1979)

Influenced by non-Western music and avant-garde theater, composer Philip Glass and theater director Robert Wilson created "Einstein on the Beach," the nearly five-hour opera that brought both international renown, incorporating visual images, dance, a chorus of untrained singers, and performers dressed as Albert Einstein. Characterized by one reviewer as "a heterogeneous surreal entertainment of 'spectacle' and 'event,'" "Einstein on the Beach," though lacking in narrative action, provides a series of "living pictures" divided into four acts, nine scenes and five connecting "knee plays," and revolves around three recurring visual images: trains, a trial and a spaceship, each with corresponding music. Glass has written, "My main approach throughout has been to link harmonic structure directly to rhythmic structure, using the latter as a base." Premiering in 1976, the opera, called a "mixture of mathematical clarity and mystical allure" by New York Times reviewer John Rockwell, was performed by an ensemble of amplified wind, voices and keyboards, as well as violin solos, solo soprano arias and a cappella choruses. Selected for the 2012 registry.

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Interview with Philip Glass (PDF, 172KB)
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"The Rainbow Connection" (single). Kermit the Frog. (1979)

Written by Paul Williams and Kenneth Ascher, "Rainbow Connection" opened the Muppet's first foray into film in "The Muppet Movie." The song is performed by Kermit the Frog (voiced by Jim Henson), and was produced by Williams and Jim Henson. Williams and Ascher received an Academy Award nomination for Best Original Song at the 52nd Academy Awards for its composition. Since then, the song has been covered dozens of times, from Judy Collins in 1980 to Kacey Musgraves in 2019, but the Kermit/Henson recording remains the iconic version of the work. It has been used as a theme song by many charitable organizations, and its plaintive message about dreams and their fulfillment remains enduring. Selected for the 2020 registry.

Interview with co-songwriter Paul Williams (PDF, 156KB)
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"Rapper's Delight." Sugarhill Gang. (1979)

The Sugarhill Gang's infectious dance number from late 1979 might be said to have launched an entire genre. Although spoken word had been a component of recorded American popular music for decades, this trio's rhythmic rhyming inspired many MC's-to-be and other future rap artists. The album version of "Rapper's Delight" is an epic 14-1/2 minute salvo of irreverent stories and creative word play. The song dates from hip-hop's infancy. As such, it does not address subject matter that has given rap music both positive and negative notoriety, but the song's inventive rhymes, complex counter-rhythms, and brash boastfulness presage the tenets of hip hop. "Rapper's Delight" also reflects an early instance of music sampling and a legal settlement; it draws its bass line and other features from Chic's 1979 hit "Good Times." As a result, songwriting credits for "Rapper's Delight" include that song's composers, Chic guitarist Nile Rodgers and bassist Bernard Edwards, as well as Sylvia Robinson and the Sugarhill Gang (Michael Wright, Guy O'Brien, and Henry Jackson). Selected for the 2011 registry.

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"Sweeney Todd" (album). Original cast recording. (1979)

In reviewing the cast album for "Sweeney Todd," critic John Rockwell characterized Stephen Sondheim's work as "complex mosaics, built up of bits and pieces of tunes." The recording, Rockwell suggested, allows a listener a better chance to more fully appreciate such construction than a spectator in the theater, where elements of the production vie with music for attention. A moral tale presented in the form of a horror story--a wronged barber partners with an amoral businesswoman to make meat pies out of clients--the show ultimately dramatizes the value of human life. Thomas Z. Shepard, the record's producer, stated that he conceived of this work "to a large degree, as re-creating an old-time radio program.... You should be able to close your eyes and get a fairly satisfying dramatic experience." Known for the meticulousness with which he oversaw recordings of his shows, Sondheim contributed greatly during "Sweeney's" recording session. Upon listening to the final product, he was moved to tears. Selected for the 2013 registry.

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Interview with Stephen Sondheim (PDF, 47KB)
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"We Are Family" (single). Sister Sledge. (1979)

The four members of Sister Sledge were veteran performers by their early 20s, but as 1979 dawned, they had enjoyed only intermittent success in eight years of recording. A collaboration with the members of the disco powerhouse Chic proved to be the turning point for the family group, and they scored their first major hit early that year with "He's the Greatest Dancer," setting the stage for the release of the album and single "We Are Family," written by Chic founders Nile Rodgers and Bernard Edwards, in May. Twenty-year-old lead singer Kathy Sledge nailed the eight-and-a-half-minute song entirely on the first take, and it seemed to be everywhere through the summer and fall of 1979. Baseball's Pittsburgh Pirates made it their theme song, and the group's performance of it at the opening game of the World Series and the Pirates' subsequent come-from-behind victory to win the championship made "We Are Family" an anthem, with its own status and meaning. Selected for the 2016 registry.

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Interview with Sister Sledge (PDF, 184KB)
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"The Audience with Betty Carter" (album). Betty Carter. (1980)

In 1969, after 20 years as a professional jazz singer that were sometimes frustrating, Betty Carter took the difficult and risky step of starting her own label, Bet-Car Records. It proved fortuitous for her, as once she was in charge of her own recording, she entered the most productive and successful phase of her career. Her double album, "The Audience with Betty Carter," was recorded with her instrumental trio during a three night engagement at San Francisco's Keystone Korner, one of her favorite venues, and the material is divided between her original compositions like "Sounds (Movin' On)," her 25-minute tour de force of improvisation and scat singing; and an eclectic mix of standards such as "The Trolley Song," "My Favorite Things," and more obscure gems such as Charles Henderson and Rudy Vallee's "Deep Night." Throughout, one can appreciate the special rapport with her musicians and listeners that informed her live performances, and which enabled her to gain recognition as a superlative musician during a lean era for jazz singers. Selected for the 2012 registry.

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"Celebration" (single). Kool & the Gang. (1980)

Founded in 1964 by brothers Robert "Kool" Bell and Ronald Bell, Kool and the Gang (formerly the Jazziacs or the Soul Town Band early on) had already had hits with their songs "Ladies Night" and "Jungle Boogie," when they released their 1980 album "Celebrate!" containing the group's most famous and enduring song--"Celebration." Led by J.T. Taylor's spirited lead vocal, it would be their biggest hit and quickly became a feature of national celebrations like the 1980 World Series, the 1981 Super Bowl and the 1981 NBA Finals. While others have released covers to great success, such as Kylie Minogue in 1992, the original remains a staple of every party DJ's set list--be it at a high school dance or a 50th anniversary party. Selected for the 2020 registry.

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"He Stopped Loving Her Today." George Jones. (1980)

George Jones has said that he initially thought "He Stopped Loving Her Today" was too sad to be very popular, but, at one of the lowest points of his career and personal life, he made it one of country music's most defining and enduring songs. Billy Sherrill's restrained production highlighted the plaintive yet highly nuanced vocals that are the hallmark of Jones' mature style but which also stretch back to his days singing for tips in the streets of his hometown, Beaumont, Texas, in the 1940s. Selected for the 2008 registry.

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And more (PDF, 202KB)
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"Remain in Light." Talking Heads. (1980)

"Remain in Light" presents the Talking Heads at their most essential—contradictory. Layers of driving dance rhythms balance vague postmodern lyrics about the body and mind. Accessible pop-music structures make room for experimental instrumental breaks and electronic noise. The album builds on the successes of the band's previous three albums while distinguishing them as innovators even among the new wave. "Remain in Light" fully embraced and assimilated funk and African styles with an expanded ensemble that included guest musicians such as Adrian Belew, Nona Hendryx and Jon Hassel, and David Byrne drew inspiration from rap and preaching for his lyrics. "Remain in Light" was unlike anything else released in 1980, and little else since then. Selected for the 2016 registry.

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And more (PDF, 111KB)
Interview with David Byrne (PDF, 43KB)
Inductees' Gallery - Chris Frantz and Tina Weymouth of Talking Heads, performers
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Radio Feature (MP3)

“Don’t Stop Believin’” (single). Journey. (1981)

Powered by lead singer Steve Perry’s soaring, crystalline lead vocal, “Don’t Stop Believin’” was the second single off of the super group Journey’s 1981 album “Escape.” It went to #9 on the charts—selling over seven million copies in the US alone—and has since been described as a “perfect rock song.” While it has never left the airwaves—or Journey’s set list—the song has gained further permanence within the culture via its frequent use at sporting games, within the Broadway rock musical “Rock of Ages” (where the song was the show’s big closer) and in film and television, most notably in the cryptic final episode of “The Sopranos” and in the debut episode of “Glee.” Additionally, the song, written by Perry with bandmates Neal Schon and Jonathan Cain, has now taken its place, not only as Journey’s greatest legacy, but also as the personal empowerment anthem of millions of people of various generations. Selected for the 2022 registry.

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Interview with Steve Perry
Interview with Steve Perry (transcription; expanded) (PDF, 351KB)
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"Radio Free Europe." R.E.M. (1981)

The original Hib-Tone single of this song set the pattern for later indie rock releases by breaking through on college radio stations targeted by label owner and producer Jonny Hibbert, in the face of mainstream radio's general indifference. Although a more elaborately produced version of the song appeared on the band's first album "Murmur," the original maintains a raw immediacy that undoubtedly contributed to its overwhelmingly favorable critical reception. Singer Michael Stipe's elliptical lyrics and guitarist Peter Buck's arpeggiated open chords would not only become signatures of the band's future output, but they added greatly to the song's enigmatic appeal. Selected for the 2009 registry.

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Interview with Mike Mills of REM (PDF, 72KB)
Inductees' Gallery - Mike Mills, performer
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Radio Feature (MP3)

"A Feather on the Breath of God" (album). Gothic Voices; Christopher Page, conductor; Hildegard von Bingen, composer. (1982)

Twelfth century Benedictine abbess Hildegard von Bingen (1098-1179) is the earliest known woman composer whose works have survived to present day. She was a writer, philosopher, Christian mystic and visionary as well — the title of the album is a quote from one of her writings. Her repertoire had been ignored for decades until the release of this beautiful recording by the award-winning Gothic Voices, directed by Christopher Page and engineered by Tony Faulkner. This was Gothic Voice's first recording; it also marked the beginning of Gothic Voices as a permanent group. The release helped heighten — albeit belatedly — von Bingen's life story and remarkable achievements both inside and outside of music. Selected for the 2019 registry.

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"The Message." Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five. (1982)

Grand Master Flash and the Furious Five was a pivotal group in the early days of rap, developing crucial aspects of the genre. Their 1982 hit, "The Message," is significant because of its focus on urban social issues--a course followed by many later rap artists. Selected for the 2002 registry.

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"Thriller" (album). Michael Jackson. (1982)

Michael Jackson's second album with legendary producer Quincy Jones attained stratospheric national and international success. Featuring outstanding guest performances by Paul McCartney on "The Girl is Mine" and Eddie Van Halen on "Beat It," the album's influence on the record industry and subsequent popular music is immeasurable. The album also includes the strong disco-inflected "Billie Jean" and the compelling title track "Thriller," featuring an eerie voice-over by Vincent Price. Jackson's keen pop sensibilities, the performances by a wide range of talented musicians and Quincy Jones' expert production all contributed to making "Thriller" the best-selling album of all time. Selected for the 2007 registry.

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Interview with "Thriller" producer Quincy Jones (PDF, 109KB)
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“Flashdance…What a Feeling” (single). Irene Cara. (1983)

A film about a determined young woman who dreams of living her life in the spotlight doing what she loves to do — dance — needed a song that fully embodied and echoed that very sentiment. In 1983, that movie was “Flashdance,” and to fashion that all-important title track, the filmmakers turned to some experts in the field of music for movies: Giorgio Moroder, Irene Cara and Keith Forsey. Their result not only worked perfectly for the final, climatic moment of the film but sprung out from it to become a major radio hit that lasted 25 weeks on the pop chart, 14 of them in the top 10. While Moroder — as he had done for previous soundtrack songs like Blondie’s “Call Me” — created the pulsating melody, Forsey and Cara, the latter already an icon for her “Fame” success, produced the lyrics, which Cara sang with her characteristic fervor and, indeed, passion. Since its ride on the charts, “Flashdance,” the song, has emerged as an enduring anthem for anyone working to prove the doubters wrong. Selected for the 2023 registry.

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"Richard Strauss: Four Last Songs" (album). Jessye Norman. (1983)

This superb recording by African-American opera singer Jessye Norman is beloved by critics and audiences alike. In homage to Norman after her death in 2019, fans mentioned this recording most often as Norman's best, while Alex Ross in "The New Yorker" wrote of it: "In her prime, she let loose sounds of shimmering magnificence. Her timbre carried with it a sonic chiaroscuro: pure tones gleamed out of depth and shadow. I remember the dazed bliss I felt on first hearing her recording of 'Im Abendrot' ('At Sunset'), from Strauss's 'Four Last Songs.'" Selected for the 2020 registry.

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Listen — "Beim Schlafengehem" (MP3)

"She's So Unusual" (album). Cyndi Lauper. (1983)

Her debut solo album, "She's So Unusual," wasn't exactly what Cyndi Lauper had in mind, but it may have been just what she needed. By 1983, Lauper had weathered both bankruptcy and losing her voice, hardships which might have forced a less resilient artist to give up, but she persevered. When she finally got another chance, she wanted to make the most of it by recording her own songs, whereas the record company suggested material by others. As the sessions progressed, a mutual respect and trust developed between Lauper and producer Rick Chertoff. As a result, Lauper warmed to some of the proposed cover versions, including "Girls Just Want to Have Fun," which became the first of her four hit singles from this album. Chertoff encouraged Lauper to work with singer/songwriter Rob Hyman on an additional song for the album. That effort, "Time After Time," became Lauper's first number one hit and, in an interesting twist, her most covered song. Lauper's handling of the covers also shows her creativity. She kept the dominant drumbeat of Prince's "When You Were Mine," but slowed the tempo to give it a different feel. She brightened Jules Shear's "All Through the Night" with sparkling synthesizer riffs and with what "Rolling Stone's" Kurt Loder christened as her "… wild and wonderful skyrocket of a voice." Whereas her version of The Brains' "Money Changes Everything" hewed close to the original, Lauper's take on Robert Hazard's "Girls Just Want to Have Fun" wasn't a mere cover, it was a transformation of the song into a joyous feminist anthem. Selected for the 2018 registry.

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Interview with Cyndi Lauper (PDF, 42KB)
Inductees' Gallery - Cyndi Lauper, performer
Listen—"Girls Just Want to Have Fun" External

“Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)” (single). Eurythmics. (1983)

David Stewart and Annie Lennox, popularly known as Eurythmics, had enjoyed some chart success prior to the release of “Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This),” but this synth-pop song with its propulsive drum and synth line proved their breakthrough hit. Stewart remembers the track coming together very quickly in a recording session that had initially demoralized Lennox so much that she had fallen on the floor in despair. Stewart was continuing to wrestle with his drum machine, failing to produce the sound he wanted, when Lennox perked up, asking, “What’s that?” She quickly seized a synth, set it on a string ensemble sound, and with Stewart’s addition of one more synth, the rhythm track was complete. Lennox then wrote the bulk of the lyrics on the spot. With the addition of one more section, they had created one of the most recognizable tracks in pop.  Selected for the 2023 registry.

Interview with Annie Lennox (PDF, 219KB)>
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“Synchronicity” (album). The Police. (1983)

For their final studio album, which eventually garnered three Grammy awards, The Police gave us a five-year distillation of their previous work that included punk, reggae, and jazz, and a sophisticated sense of melodic line and harmony that echoed the previous 50 years of classic popular song. Instead of an obvious fusion, the musical divisions are so neatly layered and dovetailed that one cannot help but not notice. It is all a dream-like musical tour: from the title song’s hypnotic and somewhat off-balance feel, to the plaintive and heart-wrenching “King of Pain,” to the ear-catching intervallic leaps and magical layering of “Tea in the Sahara.” The Police represented, not a pastiche, but a stylistic ethos. In 1988, Police singer and bassist Sting warned of not labeling music, “The labeling process limits it…gives people prejudice, when they should just be listening to music.” Selected for the 2023 registry.

Listen — "Every Breath You Take" (MP3)
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"Footloose" (single). Kenny Loggins. (1984)

Inspired remarkably by real-life events, the 1984 movie "Footloose" was one of the biggest film hits of the decade and the career-breakthrough for its leading man, Kevin Bacon. The film's title tune, performed by Kenny Loggins, remains today deeply emblematic of the 1980s—fun, invigorating and, in its way, a little rebellious. Co-written by Loggins and the film's screenwriter, Dean Pitchford, the song would prove to be the biggest hit of Loggins' long career (dating back to his work with Jim Messina from the early 1970s) and the biggest hit from the film's multi-platinum soundtrack. Since its debut and initial 16 weeks on the Billboard charts, the song has served as the musical centerpiece for both the 1998 Broadway musical and the big-screen remake released in 2011. Selected for the 2017 registry.

Learn more (PDF, 367KB)
Interview with Kenny Loggins (PDF, 176KB)
Interview with songwriter Dean Pitchford (PDF, 92KB)
Inductees' Gallery - Kenny Loggins, performer
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“Like a Virgin” (album). Madonna. (1984)

Madonna began her cultural ascent with her self-named debut album in 1983. But, even then, few could have predicted the worldwide domination she would achieve, starting on the dance floor, with her follow-up collection, “Like a Virgin.” Madonna was taking greater control of her musical output and skillfully integrating her image with the world mood of the moment. The album did much to solidify the early iconography of the soon-to-be legend — from the bridal dress to the “Boy Toy” belt buckle — but it is the music that endures. Collaborating with the equally legendary Nile Rodgers, Madonna proved no one could craft pop quite like her. Of the nine songs originally included on the album, four became top 10 hits, and a fifth, “Into the Groove,” which was added to a latter pressing, also was a smash. With 21 million copies of this album sold, the influence of Madonna and this album especially — catchy, controversial, coy — has yet to abate, and the beats have yet to stop. Selected for the 2023 registry.

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Listen — "Like a Virgin" (MP3)

"Private Dancer" (album). Tina Turner. (1984)

Tina Turner survived a brutal marriage to reclaim fame and obtain recognition as a solo artist and a superstar in her own right with this timeless 1984 comeback album. After several solo projects she released following her divorce from Ike Turner failed to sell, Turner was without a recording contract when John Carter signed her to Capitol Records in 1983 and she began work on "Private Dancer" in England. Propelled by the lead single, "What's Love Got To Do With It?" (later the title of the big screen biopic about Turner's life), "Private Dancer" revealed Turner as a mature and versatile singer whose work transcended categories like rock and pop. Since then, the album and its song cycle have become a touchstone and a symbol for powerful womanhood. "Private Dancer" solidified her as a legend — a status she achieved on her own terms. Selected for the 2019 registry.

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Listen—"What's Love Got To Do With It?" (MP3)

"Purple Rain" (album). Prince. (1984)

Prince was already a hit-maker and a critically acclaimed artist when his sixth album, the soundtrack for his 1984 movie debut, launched him into superstardom. Earlier, he had played all the instruments on his records to get the sounds he wanted, but now he led an integrated band of men and women who could realize the dense, ambitious fusion that he sought, blending funk, synth-pop, and soul with guitar-based rock and a lyrical sensibility that mixed the psychedelic and the sensual. Prince experimented throughout the album, dropping the bass line from "When Doves Cry" to fashion a one-of-a-kind sound, and mixing analog and electronic percussion frequently. Portions of "Purple Rain" were recorded live at the First Avenue Club in Prince's hometown of Minneapolis, and the success of the album served notice that the Twin Cities were a major center for pop music as numerous rock and R&B artists from the region emerged in its wake. Like much of Prince's other work, "Purple Rain" was provocative and controversial, and some of its most explicit lyrics led directly to the founding of the Parents Music Resource Center. Selected for the 2011 registry.

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Recordings of Asian elephants. Katharine B. Payne. (1984)

Katharine B. Payne's recordings of Asian elephants revealed that the animals use infrasonic sounds to communicate with one another. Such acoustic monitoring of the mammals has provided important insights into the mechanisms by which matrilineal groups of elephants maintain distance among one another over time and how males locate receptive females. In addition, the use of recordings has proven a very effective method for surveying populations of elephants. It has opened new windows into the complex lives of elephants and provided a tool for conservation. The Macaulay Library of Natural Sounds at Cornell University holds this important collection. Selected for the 2004 registry.

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Interview with Katharine B. Payne (PDF, 84KB)
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“Black Codes (From the Underground)” (album). Wynton Marsalis. (1985)

“Black Codes (From the Underground)” is regarded as one of Wynton Marsalis’ most beloved and artistically successful recordings. In contrast with the electronic and funk-infused jazz of the 1970s, these recordings hearken back to the acoustic jazz of the 1950s and ’60s, but with a distinctly 1980s flair and virtuosity. Aided by Marsalis’s brother Branford, the brilliant playing by everyone defined the era, and launched the group that came to be known as the “Young Lions.” Drummer Jeff “Tain” Watts, bassist Charnett Moffett and pianist Kenny Kirkland play with muscular assurance, and a guest appearance by bassist Ron Carter, an alumnus of the second Miles Davis quintet, gives a seal of approval on this new take on 1960’s post-bop jazz. Recorded when he was only 23 years old, “Black Codes” won two Grammy awards that year, including Best Jazz Instrumental Performance-Group. Two years later, in 1987, Wynton Marsalis would help start the Classical Jazz summer concert series at Lincoln Center in New York City and the Jazz at Lincoln Center department, which continues today. Selected for the 2023 registry.

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Learn more - Wynton Marsalis, “Black Codes” and Thoughts on the Highway | Timeless
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"Graceland" (album). Paul Simon. (1986)

On "Graceland," Paul Simon not only incorporated a great number of musical styles, including zydeco, Tex-Mex and African vocal music, but also showcased the talents of many accomplished musicians. The recording features Linda Ronstadt, Adrian Belew, Los Lobos, the Everly Brothers and Youssou N'dour. The album is probably best known for Simon's collaboration with the South African vocal group Ladysmith Black Mambazo. "Graceland" fueled that group's rise to international fame. Selected for the 2006 registry.

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"Master of Puppets." Metallica. (1986)

The third release by the band Metallica showed that the group was less interested in maintaining its reputation as a progenitor of thrash metal than in exploring interesting new ideas. Thrash, a reaction against the pop metal of the early 1980s which aimed to renew metal by emphasizing speed and aggression, is evident on this collection's song "Battery" and it is as rousing an example of the sub-genre as one could find. But, other songs on the record soon break free of thrash orthodoxy. Cliff Burton's clean bass lines, volume swells, and careful harmonies, for example, on "Orion," set that song apart. The title track starts unsurprisingly enough with a crisp power chord and catchy riff, but halfway through, the tempo slows and a clean arpeggiated progression, introduces Hetfield's mid-tempo lead which eschews tapping, sweep picking, and other metal guitar techniques. Black Sabbath bassist and lyricist Geezer Butler has commented that Metallica's 1980s output brought the music "back to the spirit of [Black] Sabbath" and, he further emphasizes, "If we started it, then [Metallica] reinvented it." Selected for the 2015 registry.

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Interview with Lars Ulrich of Metallica (PDF, 71KB)
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Super Mario Bros. theme. Koji Kondo, composer. (1985)

Perhaps the most recognizable video game theme in history, Koji Kondo's main motif for the 1985 Nintendo classic, “Super Mario Bros.,” helped establish the game's legendary status and proved that the five-channel Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) sound chip was capable of vast musical complexity and creativity. The game's main theme, or “Ground Theme,” is a jaunty, Latin-influenced melody that provides the perfect accompaniment to Mario and Luigi's side scrolling hijinks. Kondo's score laid the groundwork for an entire generation of chiptune musicians and has been performed by orchestras around the globe, befitting its status as one of the most beloved musical compositions of the last 40 years. Selected for the 2023 registry.

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Interview with Koji Kondo (PDF, 171KB)
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GOPAC Strategy and Instructional Tapes. (1986-1994)

GOPAC is a non-profit organization established in 1978 to develop and educate conservative leaders in the U.S., and to provide support to Republican candidates running for local, state and national offices. Among the most effective and best-known tools developed by GOPAC are instructional tape recordings made by Republican leaders. The tapes inform GOPAC members and aspiring politicians of conservative positions and assist them in articulating and honing their language and message on a wide array of issues, as well as providing "how-to" primers on everything involved in running an effective political campaign. The recordings have proved to be extremely influential in shaping political discourse from the 1980s to the present. Selected for the 2010 registry.

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"Raising Hell" (album). Run-DMC. (1986)

Darryl "DMC" McDaniels, Joseph "Run" Simmons and Jason "Jam Master Jay" Mizell, or Run-DMC, introduced hip-hop to mainstream audiences on this, their third and best album. DMC has observed that the lyric from "My Adidas," which affirms that "[w]e took the beat from the street and put it on TV," describes what the album achieved as a whole. The album's mass appeal can partially be explained by their collaboration with Steven Tyler and Joe Perry of Aerosmith on a remake of the rock band's 1975 hit "Walk This Way." Co-producer and guitarist Rick Rubin added power chords and guitar riffs on the title track, lending the album a rock flavor in keeping with DMC's mission to "take rock to the left." While this element of rock with a twist brought many new fans, songs like "Peter Piper" stayed true to the band's earlier stripped down minimalism in which only beats, lyrics and samples were required. Selected for the 2017 registry.

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Interview with Darryl McDaniels (PDF, 74KB)
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“Canciones de mi Padre” (album). Linda Ronstadt. (1987)

Even when she was working mainly within the genres of country/rock and pop, Linda Ronstadt often referenced her Mexican-American roots. In 1987, with her remarkable vocal prowess then at its considerable peak, she paid full tribute to it with her album “Canciones de mi Padre.” Though Ronstadt’s record label was expecting little after the collection’s release, the album quickly went double platinum, earned the Grammy for Best Mexican/Mexican-American album and is the biggest-selling non-English recording in American recording history. The album also spawned two equally successful follow-ups. As its title suggests, “Canciones” is a tribute to the musical history of Ronstadt’s family, incorporating many layers of musical influence. Ronstadt’s album brought 13 classic songs to a previously underserved audience. She recorded her selections with four distinguished mariachi bands (Maricahi Vargas de Tecaltlan, Mariachi Vargas, Mariachi Los Camperos, and Mariachi Los Galleros de Pedro Reyand), in the process, introducing mariachi music to an untold number of new listeners. Selected for the 2022 registry.

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Interview with Linda Ronstadt (PDF, 799KB)
Listen—"La Charreada" (MP3)

"The Joshua Tree" (album). U2. (1987)

Brian Eno, co-producer and creative guru for this album, has stated that "Joshua Tree" erupted from the creative tension existing in the music of the time--between the "revolutionary form of passionate agitprop art" enacted by punk groups like The Clash and the robotic electronic pop of bands like Kraftwerk. "Joshua Tree's" passion and engagement were from punk; its overt electronic sounds were from synth pop, but with the latter genre's careful calculation replaced here by "the sound of machinery being pushed to its limits." In this case, the specific machinery being tortured is The Edge's amplifier on "Bullet the Blue Sky." It is driven by slide guitar and excessive gain in order to emit controlled feedback which manages aptly to serve the song's melody and anti-colonial lyrics. Elsewhere, most notably on the songs "Where the Streets Have No Name" and "With or Without You," the guitarist perfects the chiming delayed guitar sound that syncs the rhythm section and complements Bono's impassioned vocals. This combination would henceforth form the band's signature sound and the album on which it gelled remains an enduring classic. Selected for the 2013 registry.

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"Rhythm is Gonna Get You" (single). Gloria Estefan and Miami Sound Machine. (1987)

From the moment of her debut on the U.S. charts—fronting the Miami Sound Machine with their 1985 earworm "Conga"—Gloria Estefan has been recognized as not only the banner-carrier for Latin rhythms within American music but also for her superlative vocal abilities. She is equally adept in either slow, contemplative ballads or, as in this selection, with high-octane, dance-oriented party anthems. "Rhythm," the first single from Estefan and the Machine's 1987 album "Let It Loose," was co-written by Estefan and Sound Machine drummer Enrique "Kiki" Garcia. His pounding backbeat, along with the song's lively congas and Estefan's spirited vocals, have turned "Rhythm" into a modern classic and one that repeatedly proves the promise made in its title. Selected for the 2017 registry.

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Interview with Gloria Estefan (PDF, 46KB)
Inductees' Gallery - Emilo Estefan and GLoria Estefan, performers
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"Daydream Nation" (album). Sonic Youth. (1988)

Pioneer members of New York City's clangorous early 1980s No Wave scene, Sonic Youth are renowned for a glorious form of noise-based chaos. Guitarists Thurston Moore and Lee Ranaldo had previously performed with Glenn Branca's large guitar ensembles, and their alternative guitar tunings and ringing harmonies attest to this apprenticeship. On "Daydream Nation," their breakthrough album, the group's forays into outright noise always return to melodic songs that employ hypnotic arpeggios, driving punk rock rhythmic figures and furious gales of guitar-based noise. Bassist Kim Gordon's haunting vocals and edgy lyrics add additional depth to the numbers she sings. Selected for the 2005 registry.

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"Straight Outta Compton" (album). N.W.A. (1988)

The debut of the seminal rap group N.W.A. with their album "Straight Outta Compton" signaled not only a seismic shift in rap from East Coast to West Coast sensibilities, but also a startling socio-political shot across the bow of the culture. With its at times alarmingly blunt, raw language, imagery and subject matter, the musical partnership of Arabian Prince, Dr. Dre (who co-produced the album), Eazy-E, Ice Cube, DJ Yella and MC Ren ignited controversy (via tracks like "F—the Police") and ample doses of inspiration with the creative rhymes they delivered and the honesty and force with which they were delivered. Even within the fast-moving, ricocheting world of hip-hop, "Compton" remains—30 years after its arrival—one of the definitive works of the genre. Selected for the 2016 registry.

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"3 Feet High and Rising" (album). De La Soul. (1989)

Bucking hip-hop's increasing turn toward stark urban naturalism in the late 1980s, De La Soul released this upbeat and often humorous album to widespread acclaim in the U.S. and abroad. The trio—Kelvin Mercer (Posdnuos), David Jolicoeur (Trugoy) and Vincent Mason (DJ Maseo)—was ably assisted by producer Prince Paul (Paul Huston) who has reported that these were some of the most productive, creative and entertaining sessions he ever worked on. For the album, the group marshaled an astonishing range of samples that included not only soul and R&B classics by Otis Redding and the Bar-Kays, but also Steely Dan's "Aja" and cuts by Johnny Cash, Billy Joel, Kraftwerk, Hall and Oates, and Liberace. Perhaps the most far-flung sample is a snippet of New York Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia reading the comics over the radio in 1945. Selected for the 2010 registry.

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Listen—"Me, Myself & I"

“All Hail the Queen” (album). Queen Latifah. (1989)

The release of Queen Latifah’s debut album “All Hail the Queen” in 1989 solidified the success of her past singles while also announcing that rap could be female, Afrocentric, and incorporate a fusion of musical genres. Those genres include reggae, as well as hip-hop, house and jazz as she raps in the song, “Come Into My House.” Moreover, Queen Latifah sang as well as rapped on the album. Lyrically, the album addresses race, gender, political and social issues that were contemporary and yet remain universal. The album was released when Queen Latifah was 19 years old. Born Dana Elaine Owens in New Jersey, Queen Latifah was not the first female rapper, but her work with other female rappers, like Monie Love, on both the single and the video for “Ladies First,” opened a new door for discussion about gender in rap. The success of “All Hail the Queen” was both a product of, and led to, Queen Latifah’s success in other areas of media.  Selected for the 2023 registry.

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Listen — "Ladies First" (MP3)

"Janet Jackson's Rhythm Nation 1814" (album). Janet Jackson. (1989)

Despite her record label's wishes, Janet Jackson resisted the urge to release another album like her previous "Control" (1986) in favor of an album with more socially conscious lyrics. On the album, Jackson explores issues of race, homelessness, poverty, and school violence among other topics. Musically, the album continued the productive relationship Jackson had enjoyed on "Control" with producers James "Jimmy Jam" Harris and Terry Lewis. The duo relied on drum machines and samples of street sounds, breaking glass, and trash can lids to create several brief interludes between the songs that lent the album a unified feel. Jackson's impeccable vocal timing also helped the producers build up dense multi-layered vocal mixes of the funky "Alright" and other songs on the LP. Despite such cutting-edge touches, Jackson did deliver dance songs like the lively "Escapade," but also on display were ballads like "Someday is Tonight" and even the guitar-driven rocker "Black Cat." Even the tunes with a serious call for racial healing and political unity like "Rhythm Nation" featured catchy beats, proving that dance music and a social message are not mutually exclusive. Selected for the 2020 registry.

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Interview with Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis (PDF, 117KB)
Listen — "Rhythm Nation" (MP3)

“Nick of Time” (album). Bonnie Raitt. (1989)

Bonnie Raitt released her first album in 1971 and had long been considered a great and respected talent. But, though often critically acclaimed, significant commercial success had often eluded her. In 1989, seven years after being dropped from her previous record label and after suffering a debilitating skiing accident, Raitt rallied herself and returned to the studio and, with the assistance of renowned producer Don Was, not only fashioned the most important album of her career but an album many consider among the best of the decade. “Nick of Time,” Raitt’s 10th LP, would earn her three Grammy Awards, including Album of the Year, top the “Billboard” chart, sell five million copies and earn a permanent place in the book “1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.” With the aid of Was, Raitt dove deep emotionally and cared little about genre labels or categories. About the record, it was said “[she] never rocks too hard, but there is grit to her singing and playing, even when the surfaces are clean and inviting.”  About the album, Raitt herself said, “Basically, it’s a return to my roots.” Selected for the 2022 registry.

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Listen—“Nick of Time” (MP3)
Inductees' Gallery - Bonnie Raitt, performer

"Fear of a Black Planet" (album). Public Enemy. (1990)

"Fear of a Black Planet" brought hip hop respect from critics, millions of new fans, and a passionate debate over its political content. The album signaled the coupling of a strongly political message with hip hop music. Its hit single, "Fight the Power," was the theme for Spike Lee's powerful film, "Do the Right Thing." Public Enemy forged a new sound for hip hop that included funk rhythms, samples from James Brown and Eric Clapton, and "found" sounds. Selected for the 2004 registry.

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"Rachmaninoff's Vespers (All-Night Vigil)." Robert Shaw Festival Singers. (1990)

By age 75, the conductor Robert Shaw had already attained the heights of musical performance, both as an expert choral conductor with his Robert Shaw Chorale and the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra and Chorus. After retiring from the latter group, in 1988 he founded a festival in the rural Quercy region of southwest France, called the Robert Shaw Institute of Music, where he brought together singers, teachers and conductors to study and perform choral masterworks in historic, acoustically resplendent Romanesque churches dating from the 12th and 13th centuries. During the second festival, Shaw conducted Sergei Rachmaninoff's Russian Orthodox "Vsenschchnoye bdeniye" ("All-night Vigil," more commonly known as "Vespers") evening service in the Church of St. Pierre in Gramat, France. The work's texts come from the Psalms and Orthodox versions of the "Magnificat" and "Nunc dimittis," often adapting melodies from three styles of plainchant: Znamennïy, Greek and Kiev. Selected for the 2016 registry.

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Listen—"Now let thy servant depart" (MP3)

"Ven conmigo" (album). Selena. (1990)

This 1990 album by Selena Quintanilla, known to millions of fans simply as Selena, was the first Tejano record by a female artist to achieve gold status. The album also marks a turning point both in Selena's career and within the Tejano music genre — as it brought the music to a wider American audience and upended the dominance of male-led acts within the genre. Selena's biographer, Joe Nick Patoski, highlights the expanded stylistic scope of the album, which Selena's versatility made possible. The selections pushed the boundaries of the Tejano genre at the time while keeping the beat at the heart of the music; as Patoski quoted Selena, "I don't think you can really mess with the beat." Hits like "Baila esta cumbia" helped establish Selena as "the reigning queen of the Tejano music world," as her obituary in The New York Times called her just five years later. Selected for the 2019 registry.

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Listen—"Baila Esta Cumbia" (MP3)

“The Low End Theory” (album). A Tribe Called Quest. (1991)

“The Low End Theory” was A Tribe Called Quest’s second studio release and is frequently seen as the definitive record of jazz and rap fusion. Featuring sparse, live-sounding beats and acoustic-feeling bass runs with melodic jazz samples, the production of Ali Shaheed Muhammad showcases the nimble flows of Phife Dawg and Q-Tip, as well as a guest spot from an up-and-coming Busta Rhymes. Lyrically, Tribe infuses the laid-back vibe with deft and infectious chemistry, touching on themes of social awareness and commentary, celebration of blackness, self-deprecating humor and classic MC boasting as a counterpoint to the rising mainstream popularity of “gangsta rap” that was often seen as glorifying depictions of criminality and violence within primarily black communities. The result was a distinctive sound that helped to expand and deepen the sonic palette of the growing rap and hip hop genres. Selected for the 2022 registry.

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Listen—"Excursions" (MP3)
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"Nevermind" (album). Nirvana. (1991)

This surprising chartbuster from a grunge band from Aberdeen, Washington, brought to the public's attention a new, heavily distorted sound that would catch on and prove an enduring influence in rock. Characterized by raw vocals, driving rhythms and surprising shifts in dynamics, the record resonated with America's youth and climbed to number one on the "Billboard" charts, selling over 10 million copies. Selected for the 2004 registry.

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"The Chronic" (album). Dr. Dre. (1992)

"The Chronic" is the 1992 solo debut album of hip-hop artist and producer Dr. Dre, a former member of N.W.A. Along with exemplifying the "G Funk" style of hip-hop production, it solidified the West Coast's dominance of the genre, and its influence would be heard for years to come. Although a solo album, "The Chronic" also featured appearances by future superstar Snoop Dogg, who used the album as a launching pad for his own solo career. "The Chronic" is considered one of the most important and influential albums of the 1990s and is regarded by many fans and peers to be the most well-produced hip-hop album of all time. Selected for the 2019 registry.

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Listen—"Lil' Ghetto Boy" (MP3)

"I Will Always Love You" (single). Whitney Houston. (1992)

Inspired in part by the end of her musical partnership with Porter Wagoner, this song had been a big hit on the 1974 country charts for its writer, Dolly Parton. Later, it would become one of her signature compositions; over the years, she often concluded her concerts and her TV variety shows with it. In the early 90s, actor Kevin Costner suggested that pop diva Whitney Houston record it for the soundtrack of their forthcoming film, "The Bodyguard." Already recognized as one the great voices of her generation, Houston took the song and made it her own. Her powerful, passionate performance drove her rendition to the top of the charts. The recording would eventually become Houston's signature song and sell upwards of 20 million copies. Selected for the 2019 registry.

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"Partners" (album). Flaco Jiménez. (1992)

When asked about the significance of American roots music, Leonardo "Flaco" Jiménez once replied that it was in "the sharing and blending of different kinds of music, like a brotherhood thing. It makes the world rounder when there's coordination." Jiménez, the son of conjunto pioneer Santiago Jiménez, has combined tradition and innovation throughout his seven-decade career, working with artists as varied as the Rolling Stones, Dwight Yoakam, Carlos Santana, and Willie Nelson. On this bilingual album, the San Antonio-born artist shows this philosophy in action in collaborations with Stephen Stills, Linda Ronstadt, John Hiatt, Ry Cooder, Emmylou Harris, and Los Lobos, in a variety of traditional and contemporary musical settings. Selected for the 2020 registry.

Interview with Flaco Jiménez (PDF, 138KB)
Inductees' Gallery - Flaco Jimenez, performer
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“Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers)” (album). Wu Tang Clan (1993)

The Wu-Tang Clan released “Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers)” in 1993, in the process shaping the sound of hardcore rap and reasserting the creative capacity of the East Coast rap scene, centered around New York City. The lo-fi sound of the mix, an artifact of the equipment band member RZA employed, communicated the rough-hewn nature of underground rap and the hard experiences that formed the intense, combative, paranoid energy of the group. Across the record, samples from dozens of pulp kung-fu movies lend imagery of a secret knowledge and a warrior’s honor, and blend with the wordplay of the Clan’s MC to develop an evocative mythology. While the Wu-Tang Clan, collectively, signed with Loud Records to release “Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers),” their contract preserved each artist’s ability to sign with other labels of their choice for solo work. This flexibility enabled a constellation of Wu-Tang affiliated projects to flourish which served to deepen the influence of the group throughout subsequent decades of hip hop. Selected for the 2022 registry.

Learn more (PDF, 269KB)
Interview with RZA (PDF, 357KB)
Listen—"Clan in da Front" (MP3)

"Somewhere Over the Rainbow"/"What A Wonderful World" (single). Israel Kamakawiwo'ole. (1993)

Israel Kamakawiwo'ole, or "Bruddah Iz" or "Iz" as he was also known to his fans in Hawaii, created this medley of two classic pop standards. But, in it, he stayed true to his vision of creating contemporary Hawaiian music that fused reggae, jazz and traditional Hawaiian sounds. Driven primarily by Iz's angelic voice and ukulele playing, the song is melancholy and at once. Taken from Iz's album "Facing Future"—the first Hawaiian album ever certified platinum—this single was an international hit, and it has had a sustained life via its use in motion pictures, television programs and commercials. Selected for the 2020 registry.

Listen — "Somwehere Over the Rainbow" (MP3)

“All I Want for Christmas is You” (single). Mariah Carey. (1994)

For the past 40 years, the lower rungs of the pop chart have been littered with attempts to launch a new Christmas standard, a song for the season to modernize the feelings that Bing Crosby and Mel Torme had so resoundingly put onto disc decades before. None of them had ever endured, however, nor taken their place with those previous hits and all the classic Christmas hymns and carols. That was until 1994 when, for her fourth collection, Carey went into the studio to make the now almost obligatory holiday album. For it, she laid down 10 songs, most of them holiday favorites like “Silent Night” and “Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town.” But, in the mix, she and collaborator/producer Walter Afanasieff (a.k.a. Baby Love) also contributed this original tune. The song was first released in October 1994, but, now, almost like Christmas itself, the song comes back again and again; it continues to chart every year. In fact, each year since 2000, the song has even charted higher than the year before! “All I Want…” has now gone 12 times platinum and is the best-selling holiday song ever recorded by a female artist. Selected for the 2023 registry.

Interview with Mariah Carey (PDF, 240KB)
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"Hallelujah." Jeff Buckley. (1994)

"Hallelujah" is the rare song that has graduated from being a well-known standard to attaining the status of a cultural phenomenon. Leonard Cohen developed the song over a long period, writing numerous verses, but never creating a fixed version, and Jeff Buckley drew his initial inspiration from a version that John Cale formulated for a Cohen tribute album. He rehearsed the song for years in live performances before engaging in a painstaking recording session that required re-recordings, alternate takes and overdubs to fully satisfy him. The arrangement is a spare one, including just a reverb-drenched Telecaster and Buckley's closely-mic'd voice. The intimacy of the recording, coupled with Buckley's quietly dexterous skill at holding and bending notes, has enhanced the song's deep meaning in both public and private commemorations of grief, piety and celebration. Buckley's version fueled the dispersion of the song widely, and it has been looped beneath news coverage of 9/11, on film soundtracks and in television dramas, as well as for weddings, funerals, disaster benefits and religious services. Selected for the 2013 registry.

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"Illmatic" (album). Nas. (1994)

Rapper Nasir bin Olu Dara Jones—"Nas"—released his groundbreaking studio debut in 1994. Critics quickly extoled it for its rhythmic originality, and its realistic yet fresh take on life in the Queensbridge projects. Characterized by the masterful use of multi-syllabic and internal rhyme, surprising line breaks, and rhythmic complexity, the album's technique has been widely copied and proven broadly influential. The album featured (along with Nas' father Olu Dara) the sample-soaked production of a set of deeply talented and experienced producers including Q-Tip, Large Professor, Pete Rock, L.E.S. and DJ Premier. The sound they forged features gritty drums, hazy vinyl samples and snatches of jazz and 70s R&B. It has been described as the sound of a kid in Queensbridge ransacking his parents' record collection. While the album pulls no punches about the danger, struggle and grit of Queensbridge, Nas recalls it as a musically rich environment that produced many significant rappers, and that he "felt proud being from Queensbridge…. [W]e were dressed fly in Ballys and the whole building was like a family." Selected for the 2020 registry.

Listen — "One Time 4 Your Mind" (MP3)

“Pale Blue Dot.” Carl Sagan. (1994)

Few people understood astronomy, planetary science and astrophysics like Carl Sagan, and even fewer could communicate it in a way that makes us think and feel a deeper connection with the universe. In 1990, as the space probe Voyager 1 was finishing its final mission, Sagan asked NASA to take a photo of Earth in a wide shot across the great span of space. The photo and concept resulted in Sagan’s 1994 book, “Pale Blue Dot,” and reminds us of the humility of being the only known species in the solar system and beyond. Reading the words is one thing, but hearing the recording, in Sagan’s own voice, really paints the perspective on how vast the universe is and the responsibility of our existence. As Sagan so eloquently speaks, “It has been said that astronomy is a humbling and character-building experience. There is perhaps no better demonstration of the folly of human conceits than this distant image of our tiny world. To me, it underscores our responsibility to deal more kindly with one another, and to preserve and cherish the pale blue dot, the only home we've ever known.” Selected for the 2023 registry.

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"Dear Mama." Tupac Shakur. (1995)

In this moving and eloquent homage to both his own mother and all mothers struggling to maintain a family in the face of addiction, poverty, and societal indifference, Tupac Shakur unflinchingly forgives his mother who, despite a cocaine habit, "never kept a secret, always stayed real." The song displays further evidence of hip hop as a musically sophisticated and varied genre which can artfully encompass a wide variety of themes and musical influences. Selected for the 2009 registry.

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"Sesame Street: All-Time Platinum Favorites" (1995)

With its catchy, jazzy, infectious theme song, "Sesame Street" burst onto television screens in the early mornings of November 1969. Composers and lyricists Joe Raposo, Jon Stone, Bruce Hart, Christopher Cerf, and many others, used music as an integral part of educational development for young children. Never content with writing "kid songs," they wrote complex, humorous, inventive musical compositions. All together the music of "Sesame Street" has become the most culturally significant children's recordings of the late ‘60s and early ‘70s. "Sesame Street: All-Time Platinum Favorites," released in 1995, is a collection of 20 classic recordings, beloved by generations, including "The People in Your Neighborhood," Rubber Duckie," "I Love Trash," and "Bein' Green." Selected for the 2014 registry.

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"Schoolhouse Rock!: The Box Set." (1996)

"Schoolhouse Rock" is well remembered as a series of short animated programs that aired on ABC television beginning in 1973. They featured infectiously catchy songs cleverly explaining important educational concepts, such as multiplication and grammar. The recordings began as an experiment by advertising executive David McCall to help his son remember his multiplication tables as easily as he remembered the lyrics to his favorite pop songs. McCall then enlisted jazz pianist Bob Dorough's songwriting and singing talents and the result was the song "Three is a Magic Number." Partnering then with Tom Yohe and George Newall, a series of song and animations were crafted on various subjects for Saturday morning airings, including "I'm Just a Bill," "Conjunction Junction," "Elbow Room," and "Interjections!" The features aired for 12 years. They might have fallen off the radar if not for the reissues produced by Kid Rhino Records in the 1990s followed by a complete box set of the songs in 1996. Parents who grew up watching the cartoons could play the songs for their children in the car, and keep the music alive and relevant for another generation. Selected for the 2018 registry.

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"Yo-Yo Ma Premieres Concertos for Violoncello and Orchestra" (album). Various. (1996)

This album contains cello concertos by two generations of award-winning American composers: Richard Danielpour, Leon Kirchner and Christopher Rouse. They are all premiered by Yo-Yo Ma in this recording. The album won two Grammy Awards in 1997—Best Classical Album and Best Instrumental Soloist Performance with an Orchestra. Ma is considered the best living cellist in the world. He has made over 100 recordings and won 18 Grammy Awards. Selected for the 2017 registry.

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“Buena Vista Social Club” (album). (1997)

In 1996, guitarist Ry Cooder and producer Nick Gold journeyed to Havana, Cuba, to record an all-star ensemble of 20 Cuban musicians, most of whom had been central in the development of the key Cuban musical styles of son, danzon, and bolero.  The group adopted the name the Buena Vista Social Club to honor the popular nightclub of the same name at which many of the performers had appeared in the 1940s and 1950s. The album’s surprising popularity helped fuel a resurgence of Cuban and Latin music, and propelled the band to concert dates in Amsterdam and New York’s Carnegie Hall, and led to a popular film by director Wim Wenders. Wender’s film, “The Buena Vista Social Club,” was previously selected for the National Film Registry, and it is now fitting to add the record that started all the excitement. Selected for the 2022 registry.

Learn more (PDF, 181KB)
Interview with Ry Cooder (PDF, 147KB)
Listen—“Chan Chan” (MP3)

"OK Computer." Radiohead (1997)

On their third album, Radiohead create an information-age dystopia characterized by psychopaths, corrupt politicians, ill-behaved consumers, tyrannical robots, airline disasters, car crashes, and failed safety protocols. For the album, the band had mostly stripped away such alt-rock signposts as personalized lyrics, sinus-clearing guitar, and thunderous bass and drums. While these bold moves risked alienating the band's sizeable audience, it paid off with more than a decade of critical praise for this masterful recording. The band used guitars—both searing and angelic—mellotrons, laptops, samples, fat synth lines, machine-like drums and drum machines to produce a dense topology of sound, music and public service announcements. The album has endured as a statement, and a cautionary tale for the digital age. Selected for the 2014 registry.

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"Old Regular Baptists: Lined-Out Hymnody from Southeastern Kentucky" (album). Indian Bottom Association (1997)

These hymns are considered the oldest type of Anglo-American religious music passed down orally in the United States. They represent a historic type of singing that can be traced back to the music of the 16th century English parish church and the Protestant reformation. Once a common way of singing sacred songs in the American colonies, the Old Regular Baptists of southeastern Kentucky are one of the few groups who still worship using this style of "lining hymn." A single song leader leads the congregation through the hymn one line at a time. Typically, the leader sings the line quickly, then the congregation repeats the words in unison but to a tune much longer and more elaborate than the leader's original chant or lining tune. The congregation's response has no regular beat or harmonizing parts and is often very emotional. The result is heterophonic, a musical texture characterized by the simultaneous variation of a single melodic line sung by many different voices, unique in Western music. Selected for the 2014 registry.

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"Signatures." Renée Fleming. (1997)

Renée Fleming ranks as one of the best sopranos of our time and, in the course of her career, has been seen on cultural stages from the Metropolitan Opera to "Sesame Street" and from "The Prairie Home Companion" to the Super Bowl. Her ability to bring beautiful singing in a variety of styles to mainstream audiences has been extraordinary. Her first recordings were all signals to the wider public that this voice could go places, and while most of those early recordings dealt with a particular aspect of her abilities, the "Signatures" recording from 1997 showed a variety of strengths in her voice: beautiful sound, excellent support, ability to project and a thorough understanding of the characters she's portraying. Selected for the 2016 registry.

Learn more (PDF, 119KB)
Interview with Renée Fleming (PDF, 258KB)
Listen—"Ich Komme, Ich Komme"
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"The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill." Lauryn Hill (1998)

Lauryn Hill's debut solo record, following the breakup of the Fugees, is a work of incredible honesty in which Hill explores her feelings on topics that included the deep wonder of pregnancy, the pitfalls of modern relationships, and the experience of the sacred. The album effortlessly fuses soul, rap, rhythm and blues, and reggae. Hill's vocal range, smooth, clear highs and vibrato are stunning. The rapping is rhythmically compelling while always retaining, and frequently exploiting, the natural cadences of conversational speech. Selected for the 2014 registry.

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"Fanfares for the Uncommon Woman." Colorado Symphony Orchestra, Marin Alsop, conductor; Joan Tower, composer (1999)

Tower's five-part "Fanfares for the Uncommon Woman" was composed between 1986 and 1993, with the whole piece revised in 1997. Each of the five fanfares is written for a different instrumental combination. The work is a tribute to "women who are adventurous and take risks" and each fanfare is dedicated to a different inspiring woman in the musical world. This recording marks the first time all five fanfares were recorded together and the total work intended to be viewed as a celebration of women in music. Selected for the 2014 registry.

Learn more (PDF, 101KB)
Interview with Joan Tower (PDF, 63KB)
Inductees' Gallery - Joan Tower, composer
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“Livin’ La Vida Loca” (single). Ricky Martin. (1999)

When ex-boy band member Ricky Martin (once a part of Latin America’s perpetually young Menudo group) gave a legendary, star-making performance at the 1999 Grammy Awards (singing the World Cup anthem “Cup of Life”), audiences quickly realized that big things were going to be coming from this young singer. But few expected the massive overwhelming popularity of his first major US release, “Livin’ La Vida Loca.” Written by Draco Rosa and Desmond Child, and drenched in the swagger of Martin’s lead vocal, the song went #1 in 20 countries and was certified platinum in the US, the UK and Australia. Later, it was named the ASCAP Song of the Year, the BMI Latin Awards Song of the Year and would win four Grammys. Earworm-y, fun and danceable, yet true to its Latin roots thanks to its horns and percussion, Martin was soon labeled by the press as the “original Latin Crossover King,” in the process paving the way for the globalization of Latin Pop and the emergence of such other acts as Shakira, Paulina Rubio and others. Selected for the 2022 registry.

Inductees' Gallery - Desmond Child, co-songwriter
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"The Blueprint" (album). Jay-Z. (2001)

As Jay-Z's fame and mainstream popularity grew, he became a tempting target for other hip-hop artists and his credibility came under threat. He was also facing charges relating to assault and weapons possession that could have dramatically affected his life and career. Hence, there was a lot riding on the success of his sixth album, "The Blueprint," when it was released on September 11, 2001, the same day as the devastating terrorist attacks in New York, Washington, DC, and Pennsylvania. But music critics quickly recognized it as a signature achievement. Neil Strauss, writing for "Rolling Stone," believed "personal and legal problems have provoked Jay-Z to write what may be his most personal, straightforward album, but also his most self-aggrandizing work." The album featured tracks crafted by two up-and-coming producers recently signed to Roc-a-Fella Records: Just Blaze, who went on to produce numerous R&B and pop hits, and Kanye West who, of course, would go on to become a significant producer and performer himself. "The Blueprint" demonstrates Jay-Z's range, from battle raps throwing shade on his lyrical adversaries such as Nas and Prodigy of Mob Deep, to triumphant anthems about life at the top, to heartfelt examinations of his personal history. Selected for the 2018 registry.

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Listen—"Izzo (H.O.V.A.)"

“Songs in A Minor” (album). Alicia Keys. (2001)

On this album, J Records label head, Clive Davis, afforded singer/songwriter Keys great independence in creating the album she wanted to release.  Under a previous record deal, Keys had written and recorded much of the album, but the label rejected it. Dissatisfaction with the rejection and the label’s unwillingness to take her seriously led Keys to J Records where Davis’ instinct proved prescient. Keys has describe her influences on the album as a “fusion of my classical training, meshed with what I grew up listening to,” which included the jazz from her mother’s record collection, along with the classic R&B and Hip Hop that was prevalent in her Hell’s Kitchen neighborhood.  Reviewers were quick to point out the sophistication and assurance with which the 20-year-old Keys realized the sound on this album. Her unaffected vocals were capable expressing feelings from heartbreak to new love, and from righteous women’s empowerment to elegant, stylish yearning. Selected for the 2022 registry.

Learn more (PDF, 249KB)
Interview with Alicia Keys (PDF, 199KB)
Listen—"Fallin'" (MP3)

WNYC broadcast for the day of 9/11. (9/11/2001)

American media endured perhaps no greater test than on the morning of September 11, 2001 and perhaps no New York City media outlet was more directly affected than WNYC-AM and FM. In 2001, the studios for the station were located in the Manhattan Municipal Building, only blocks from the World Trade Center towers and, in fact, the station had their transmitters on top of the towers. An NPR affiliate, the station was in the middle of that day’s “Morning Edition” when, at around 8:50am, the first plane struck the north tower. Down the street, WNYC felt the reverberations in their building, and would later see the buildings’ smoke and flames. Breaking in, the station conveyed the first chaotic details of the day and broadcast the tragedy’s first eye-witness accounts. With WNYC’s broadcast antennas knocked off the air, a quick-thinking engineer switched the AM signal from its microwave connection to a 15khz Telco (telephone company broadcast quality) line to reconnect the AM transmission. Amazingly, this connection was maintained via a pair of small metal clips. Remarkably, as the story unfolded, including the attacks in Washington, DC, and the crash in Somerset County, PA, the dedicated staff of WNYC remained on the air. Selected for the 2022 registry.

Learn more (PDF, 266KB)
Interview with Mark Hilan, WNYC On-Air (PDF, 145KB)
Listen—Patricia Willens (MP3)

"Concert in the Garden" (album). Maria Schneider Orchestra. (2004)

Dance permeates Maria Schneider's "Concert in the Garden" with titles such as "Dança Ilusória" and "Choro Dançado." Listening to "Pas de Deux," it is hard not to be reminded of the seminal "Sketches of Spain" album Miles Davis made with arranger Gil Evans', with whom Schneider worked closely in the 1980s. It is a testament to Schneider's composing and arranging talents that her work can be seen not as a copy of Evans work, but an extension of it. And it is a tribute to her determination and leadership that the Maria Schneider Orchestra was some 15 years old at the time of this recording, with its 18-piece membership largely intact over that entire period. For them, Schneider created an amalgam of big band, chamber music and improvisational jazz. Such improvisation can be seen in Donny McCaslin's critically acclaimed solo in "Buleria, Solea y Rumba." In addition, "Concert in the Garden" was the first album to win a Grammy without having been sold in stores, being only distributed through the internet. Also, the album was funded and distributed by crowdfunding site ArtistShare, to respond to fan-driven demand for styles of music not otherwise readily available, while offering artists greater control over their work. Selected for the 2019 registry.

Learn more (PDF, 44KB)
Listen—"Three Romances: Choro Dancado" (MP3)

“Gasolina” (single). Daddy Yankee. (2004)

Its roots source back to Panama, Puerto Rico and other Latin American countries in the 1980s. The genre now called “reggaeton” was originally described as Reggae, reggae en español, dancehall, hip-hop and dembow. But despite its genesis 30 years prior, reggaeton was only truly ignited with the debut of Daddy Yankee’s massive, seismic-shifting 2004 hit “Gasolina.” A song by a Latin artist first released to Latin radio, “Gasolina’s” unparalleled success quickly poured over every border, musically and geographically, hitting big with a wide swath of audiences. “Gasolina’s” aural dominance was so great that it ushered in a full reggaeton explosion and even saw various radio stations switching their formats — some even switching from English language to Spanish — to be part of the reggaeton revolution. “Barrio Fino,” the album which includes “Gasolina,” debuted at No. 1 on the Top Latin Albums chart, and “Gasolina” was the first reggaeton nominee for a Latin Grammy Award for Record of the Year. Not surprisingly, “Gasolina” is the first reggaeton recording to be added to the National Registry. Selected for the 2023 registry.

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"Percussion Concerto" (album). Colin Currie; Jennifer Hidgon, composer. (2008)

A drummer's dream, Jennifer Higdon's composition "Percussion Concerto" received a Grammy after it was unveiled in 2010. It began its life as a co-commission between the Philadelphia Orchestra, the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra and the Dallas Symphony Orchestra. Tim Smith of the Baltimore Sun wrote that the one-movement work "unleashes a kinetic storm of urban beats, balanced by passages of Asian-influenced musings that exploit the most seductive qualities of the diverse percussion instruments assigned to the soloist." And Marin Alsop, the conductor of this particular performance by Currie and the London Philharmonic and released over LPO's label, said that the concerto "embraces the concept and explains that a major priority for her is to give listeners a sense of grounding and a feel for where they are in her compositions." This 2008 recording by percussionist supreme Colin Currie — indeed, the piece was written for him — captures his great virtuosity. The piece would go one to win the Grammy for Best Classical Contemporary Composition. Selected for the 2019 registry.

Learn more (PDF, 84KB)
Interview with Jennifer Higdon, composer (PDF, 44KB)
Interview with Marin Alsop, conductor (PDF, 29KB)
Interview with Colin Currie (PDF, 44KB)
Inductees' Gallery - Colin Currie, performer
Inductees' Gallery - Jenifer Hidgon, composer
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"This American Life: The Giant Pool of Money." (May 9, 2008)

While "This American Life" started as a radio series in 1995 and continues in that format on public radio, it has also found perhaps its greatest popularity as a podcast, with millions of listeners downloading it every week. The show describes itself as "journalism that is built around plot," and it is usually structured in "acts."  "Life" is the first winner of the Pulitzer Prize for audio reporting. This episode, "The Giant Pool of Money," is from 2008. Co-produced with NPR News, it tells the story of the complex subprime mortgage crisis in a compelling and accessible form. The episode won a Peabody Award and is an exceptional example of the work that "This American Life" has done and continues to do on a regular basis. This is the first broadcast, available as a podcast, ever named to the National Recording Registry. Selected for the 2020 registry.

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“WTF with Marc Maron” (Guest: Robin Williams). (April 26, 2010)

Marc Maron started his “WTF” podcast after losing his radio show at Air America in 2009, at a time when podcasts were largely seen as personal hobby projects or as extensions of established programs. This startlingly intimate conversation with actor and comedian Robin Williams gave the lie to that notion, as have many of Maron’s interviews since. The show is structured around an interview, initially with comedians and actors Maron knew. Each episode opens with a check-in by Maron where he reflects on his life, mental state, and reactions to the world around him. These confessional segments work to build a sense of intimacy and investment with the audience and have become a feature in the podcast genre. As the popularity of the program expanded, Maron has interviewed a wide segment of notables including actors such as Harry Dean Stanton and Aubrey Plaza; musicians including Joan Jett, Robbie Robertson, and Rosanne Cash; and even President Barack Obama. With nearly 1,300 episodes posted so far, “WTF with Marc Maron’s” popularity has helped to legitimize the podcast as a media format and created an idiosyncratic document of this moment of American culture. Selected for the 2022 registry.

Learn more (PDF, 277KB)
Interview with Marc Maron (PDF, 316KB)
Inductees' Gallery - Marc Maron, host
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“Concerto for Clarinet and Chamber Orchestra.” Chamber Music Northwest. Ellen Taaffe Zwilich, composer.  (2012)

Composer Ellen Taaffe Zwilich had already written the first movement of this work when the terrorist attacks of 9/11 took place. Clarinetist David Shifrin leads the Chamber Music Northwest on this live recording made in Portland, Oregon, in 2004. He and several members of the ensemble had performed its premiere a year earlier, and their feeling for it comes through in the buoyancy of the first movement, suggesting the hustle and bustle of a normal working day in New York City, and in the violence, anger and sorrow of the rest of the day expressed in the subsequent movements. The 2012 CD release of this performance, and its enduring impact and reputation, are singular for a 21st century classical recording. Selected for the 2023 registry.

Learn more (PDF, 252KB)
Interview with David Shifrin (PDF, 142KB)
Interview with Ellen Taaffe Zwilich
Inductee’s Gallery—David Shifrin, performer
Inductee’s Gallery—Ellen Taaffe Zwilich
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