The Library of Congress announced the 25 recordings to be placed in the National Recording Registry for 2013.
Chubby Checker The Twist
Among this year’s selections are Chubby Checker’s The Twist, Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon, Simon and Garfunkel’s Sounds of Silence, the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack and the self-titled album of The Ramones.
The Library’s National Recording Preservation Board selects 25 records each year that are “culturally, historically or aesthetically significant” and are, at least ten years old.
The Librarian of Congress, James H. Billington, said “Congress created the National Recording Registry to celebrate the richness and variety of our audio heritage and to underscore our responsibility for long-term preservation, to assure that legacy can be appreciated and studied for generations. Our challenge, however, continues to be finding collaborative and innovative ways to protect and make available this unmatched legacy to the public.”
This year’s selections range from cabaret singer Marlon Harris’ After You’ve Gone from 1918 to The Audience with Betty Carter from 1980. Also included are significant radio broadcasts and speeches.
This year’s inductees:
- After You’ve Gone – Marion Harris (1918)
- Bacon, Beans and Limousines – Will Rogers (Oct. 18, 1931)
- Begin the Beguine – Artie Shaw (1938)
- You Are My Sunshine – Jimmie Davis (1940)
- D-Day Radio Broadcast – George Hicks (June 5-6, 1944)
- Just Because – Frank Yankovic & His Yanks (1947)
- South Pacific – Original Cast Album (1949)
- Descargas: Cuban Jam Session in Miniature – Cachao Y Su Ritmo Caliente (1957)
- Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No. 1 – Van Cliburn (April 11, 1958)
- President’s Message Relayed from Atlas Satellite, Dwight D. Eisenhower (Dec. 19, 1958)
- A Program of Song – Leontyne Price (1959)
- The Shape of Jazz to Come – Ornette Coleman (1959)
- Crossing Chilly Jordan – The Blackwood Brothers (1960)
- The Twist – Chubby Checker (1960)
- Old Time Music at Clarence Ashley’s – Clarence Ashley, Doc Watson, et al. (1960-1962)
- Hoodoo Man Blues – Junior Wells (1965)
- Sounds of Silence – Simon and Garfunkel (1966)
- Cheap Thrills – Big Brother and the Holding Company (1968)
- The Dark Side of the Moon – Pink Floyd (1973)
- Music Time in Africa – Leo Sarkisian, host (July 29, 1973)
- Wild Tchoupitoulas – The Wild Tchoupitoulas (1976)
- Ramones – The Ramones (1976)
- Saturday Night Fever – The Bee Gees, et al (1977)
- Einstein on the Beach – Philip Glass and Robert Wilson (1979)
- The Audience with Betty Carter – Betty Carter (1980)
