Songs By Jay-Z, Nina Simone, More More Added To National Recording Registry
The Library of Congress announced Wednesday (March 20) that songs performed by Jay-Z, Cyndi Lauper, Neil Diamond and Nina Simon are among 25 recordings being inducted to the National Recording Registry.
This year’s selection includes: Jay-Z’s Blueprint album, Lauper’s “She’s So Unusual,” Diamond’s “Sweet Caroline,” Simon’s “Mississippi Goddam,” Earth, Wind & Fire’s “September,” Sam & Dave’s “Soul Man,” Curtis Mayfield’s “Superfly,” Sylvester’s “You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real),” Ritchie Valens’ “La Bamba,” and the 1968 original Broadway recording of “Hair,” among others.
The registry is also adding a speech on the death of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., given by Robert F. Kennedy two months prior to his own death.
According to the Library of Congress, recordings added to the collection are chosen for being “aural treasures worthy of preservation because of their cultural, historic and aesthetic importance to the nation’s recorded sound heritage.”
The full list of songs chosen for induction this year are:
“Minnie the Moocher” (single), Cab Calloway (1931)
Bach Six Cello Suites (album), Pablo Casals (c. 1939)
“They Look Like Men of War” (single), Deep River Boys (1941)
“Gunsmoke” — Episode: “The Cabin” (Dec. 27, 1952)
Ruth Draper: Complete recorded monologues, Ruth Draper (1954-1956)
“La Bamba” (single), Ritchie Valens (1958)
“Long Black Veil” (single), Lefty Frizzell (1959)
Stan Freberg Presents the United States of America, Vol. 1: The Early Years (album), Stan Freberg (1961)
GO (album), Dexter Gordon (1962)
War Requiem (album), Benjamin Britten (1963)
“Mississippi Goddam” (single), Nina Simone (1964)
“Soul Man” (single), Sam & Dave (1967)
“Hair” (original Broadway cast recording) (1968)
Speech on the Death of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Robert F. Kennedy (April 4, 1968)
“Sweet Caroline” (single), Neil Diamond (1969)
Superfly (album), Curtis Mayfield (1972)
Ola Belle Reed (album), Ola Belle Reed (1973)
“September” (single), Earth, Wind & Fire (1978)
“You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real)” (single), Sylvester (1978)
She’s So Unusual (album), Cyndi Lauper (1983)
“Schoolhouse Rock!: The Box Set” (1996)
The Blueprint (album), Jay-Z (2001)
