Harry Belafonte, Run-DMC, Yo-Yo Ma Recordings Among Newly Announced Inductees
Tony Bennett’s hit single “I Left My Heart in San Francisco”; the Latin beat of Gloria Estefan and the Miami Sound Machine’s 1987 “Rhythm Is Gonna Get You”; the timeless soundtrack of “The Sound of Music”; Run-DMC’s 1986 crossover hit album “Raising Hell”; and radio coverage of the birth of the U.N. have been honored for their cultural, historic and aesthetic importance to the American soundscape.
Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden today named these recordings and 20 other titles to the National Recording Registry of the Library of Congress as aural treasures worthy of preservation.
“This annual celebration of recorded sound reminds us of our varied and remarkable American experience,” Hayden said. “The unique trinity of historic, cultural and aesthetic significance reflected in the National Recording Registry each year is an opportunity for reflection on landmark moments, diverse cultures and shared memories—all reflected in our recorded soundscape.”
Under the terms of the National Recording Preservation Act of 2000, the Librarian, with advice from the Library’s National Recording Preservation Board, is tasked with annually selecting 25 titles that are “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant” and are at least 10 years old.
The recordings selected for the class of 2017 bring the total number of titles on the registry to 500, a small part of the Library’s vast recorded-sound collection of nearly 3 million items. Scroll down for a list of the new inductees, and listen to an audio montage here.
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More information about the National Recording Registry is available on the Library’s website.
2017 National Recording Registry (Chronological Order)
- “Dream Melody Intermezzo: Naughty Marietta” (single), Victor Herbert and his Orchestra (1911)
- Standing Rock Preservation Recordings, George Herzog and Members of the Yanktoni Tribe (1928)
- “Lamento Borincano” (single), Canario y Su Grupo (1930)
- “Sitting on Top of the World” (single), Mississippi Sheiks (1930)
- The Complete Beethoven Piano Sonatas (album), Artur Schnabel (1932–35)
- “If I Didn’t Care” (single), The Ink Spots (1939)
- Proceedings of the United Nations Conference on International Organization (4/25–6/26, 1945)
- “Folk Songs of the Hills” (album), Merle Travis (1946)
- “How I Got Over” (single), Clara Ward and the Ward Singers (1950)
- “(We’re Gonna) Rock Around the Clock” (single), Bill Haley and His Comets (1954)
- “Calypso” (album), Harry Belafonte (1956)
- “I Left My Heart in San Francisco” (single), Tony Bennett (1962)
- “King Biscuit Time” (radio), Sonny Boy Williamson II and others (1965)
- “My Girl” (single), The Temptations (1964)
- “The Sound of Music” (soundtrack), Various (1965)
- “Alice’s Restaurant Massacree” (single), Arlo Guthrie (1967)
- “New Sounds in Electronic Music” (album), Steve Reich, Richard Maxfield, Pauline Oliveros (1967)
- “An Evening with Groucho” (album), Groucho Marx (1972)
- “Rumours,” (album), Fleetwood Mac (1977)
- “The Gambler” (single), Kenny Rogers (1978)
- “Le Freak” (single), Chic (1978)
- “Footloose” (single), Kenny Loggins (1984), remake released in 2011
- “Raising Hell” (album), Run-DMC (1986)
- “Rhythm Is Gonna Get You” (single), Gloria Estefan and the Miami Sound Machine (1987)
- “Yo-Yo Ma Premieres Concertos for Violoncello and Orchestra” (album), Various (1996)
