The Library of Congress on Wednesday inducted 25 new selections, featuring recordings by Louis Armstrong, Janet Jackson, Ira Glass and Kermit the Frog among others, into a national registry.
The new selections, including Janet Jackson’s call for healing in “Rhythm Nation 1814” and Louis Armstrong’s “When the Saints Go Marching In,” are joining other “audio treasures worthy of preservation” in the National Recording Registry, the Library of Congress said in a statement.
“The National Recording Registry will preserve our history through these vibrant recordings of music and voices that have reflected our humanity and shaped our culture from the past 143 years,” Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden said.
The library received about 900 public nominations this year for recordings to add to the registry.
The other recordings that made the registry are:
Edison’s “St. Louis tinfoil” recording (1878)
“Nikolina” — Hjalmar Peterson (1917) (single)
“Smyrneikos Balos” — Marika Papagika (1928) (single)
Christmas Eve Broadcast—Franklin D. Roosevelt and Winston Churchill (December 24, 1941)
“The Guiding Light” — Nov. 22, 1945
“Odetta Sings Ballads and Blues” — Odetta (1957) (album)
“Lord, Keep Me Day by Day” — Albertina Walker and the Caravans (1959) (single)
Roger Maris hits his 61st home run (October 1, 1961)
“Aida” — Leontyne Price, et.al. (1962) (album)
“Once a Day” — Connie Smith (1964) (single)
“Born Under a Bad Sign” — Albert King (1967) (album)
“Free to Be…You & Me” — Marlo Thomas and Friends (1972) (album)
“The Harder They Come” — Jimmy Cliff (1972) (album)
“Lady Marmalade” — Labelle (1974) (single)
“Late for the Sky” — Jackson Browne (1974) (album)
“Bright Size Life” — Pat Metheny (1976) (album)
“The Rainbow Connection” — Kermit the Frog (1979) (single)
“Celebration” — Kool & the Gang (1980) (single)
“Richard Strauss: Four Last Songs” — Jessye Norman (1983) (album)
“Partners” — Flaco Jiménez (1992) (album)
“Somewhere Over the Rainbow”/”What A Wonderful World” — Israel Kamakawiwo’ole (1993) (single)
“Illmatic” — Nas (1994) (album)
“This American Life: The Giant Pool of Money” (May 9, 2008)
The most recently selected recordings bring the number of titles on the National Recording Registry to 575, which makes up a sliver of the national library’s recorded sound collection of nearly 3 million items.
Each year, the Librarian of Congress selects 25 titles that are at least 10 years old and “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant” to the registry.
• Shen Wu Tan can be reached at stan@washingtontimes.com.
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