Who gets to decide what a classic is?
We don’t often think of librarians as powerful people, but by choosing what to preserve, librarians can stitch history from a grab bag of remnants. Especially if those librarians work at the Library of Congress and they’ve been charged with carrying out the dictates of the National Recording Preservation Act.
Just what is the National Recording Preservation Act? Well, our old friend Alan Kennedy, former music industry insider and musical trivia nonpareil, is here to tell us.
The National Recording Registry
by Alan Kennedy
My son Devon, 16, has recently gotten interested in the music of the 1960’s. He’s spent the last few months immersing himself in the music of The Beatles, The Beach Boys, The Byrds, Bob Dylan, and the Grateful Dead, among others. I love this music too, so I enjoy talking about it with him and giving him my two cents. While looking around the web recently to learn more about the Grateful Dead album “American Beauty”, Devon found a mention on a website that the song “Truckin'” was designated a national treasure by the Library of Congress. He asked me if I had heard about that. I hadn’t, but I was curious to know more about these designations – like who was making them, what songs were being designated as such, and what the criteria were.
It turns out that our Library of Congress maintains an archive which preserves audio recordings considered important for future generations – not surprising – but which includes recent music recordings. The “National Recording Preservation Act of 2000” was established to “develop a national program to guard America’s sound recording heritage”. As part of this act, the National Recording Registry and a National Recording Preservation Board were formed. The registry’s job is to maintain and preserve sound recordings which are “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant.” Beginning in 2002, this board began selecting nominated recordings each year to be preserved. The recordings must be at least ten years old.
A lot of what they designate is stuff you’d expect – early Thomas Edison recordings, MLK’s “I Have a Dream” speech, etc. There are also comedy routines and folk, jazz, country, gospel, Broadway cast album, and classical music recordings. But fans of rock and pop music like me may be interested to know that songs and albums from the rock ‘n roll era (post-1955) make it in there too. Here is a list of rock, pop, and R&B music recordings deemed “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant” – so far:
| Elvis Presley | Sun Records Sessions | 1955 |
| Carl Perkins | “Blue Suede Shoes” (single) | 1955 |
| Little Richard | “Tutti Frutti” (single) | 1955 |
| Chuck Berry | “Roll Over Beethoven” (single) | 1956 |
| Fats Domino | “Blueberry Hill” (single) | 1956 |
| Howlin’ Wolf` | “Smokestack Lightning (single) | 1956 |
| Jerry Lee Lewis | “A Whole Lotta Shakin’ Goin On” (single) | 1957 |
| The Crickets | “That’ll Be The Day” (single) | 1957 |
| Link Wray | “Rumble” (single) | 1958 |
| Ray Charles | “What’d I Say” parts 1 & 2 (singles) | 1959 |
| Etta James | “At Last” (single) | 1961 |
| Bob Dylan | “The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan” (album) | 1963 |
| James Brown | “Live at the Apollo” (album) | 1963 |
| The Ronettes | “Be My Baby” (single) | 1963 |
| Martha and the Vandellas | “Dancing in the Street” (single) | 1964 |
| Roy Orbison | “Oh, Pretty Woman” (single) | 1964 |
| Otis Redding | “I’ve Been Loving You Too Long” (single) | 1965 |
| Smokey Robinson and the Miracles | “The Tracks of My Tears” (single) | 1965 |
| The Rolling Stones | “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction” (single) | 1965 |
| Sam Cooke | “A Change is Gonna Come” (single) | 1965 |
| B.B. King | “Live at the Regal” (album) | 1965 |
| The Beach Boys | “Pet Sounds” (album) | 1966 |
| The Who | “The Who Sings My Generation” (album) | 1966 |
| The Beatles | “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” (album) | 1967 |
| The Jimi Hendrix Experience | “Are You Experienced” (album) | 1967 |
| Frank Zappa & the Mothers of Invention | “We’re Only In It For The Money” (album) | 1967 |
| The Velvet Underground and Nico | “The Velvet Underground and Nico” (album) | 1967 |
| Johnny Cash | “At Folsom Prison” (album) | 1968 |
| The Band | “The Band” (album) | 1969 |
| Captain Beefheart | “Trout Mask Replica” (album) | 1969 |
| Marvin Gaye | “What’s Going On?” (album) | 1971 |
| The Allman Brothers Band | “At Fillmore East”(album) | 1971 |
| Carole King | “Tapestry” (album) | 1971 |
| Al Green | “Let’s Stay Together” (single) | 1971 |
| Nitty Gritty Dirt Band | “Will The Circle Be Unbroken?” (album) | 1972 |
| Joni Mitchell | “For the Roses” (album) | 1972 |
| Bruce Springsteen | “Born to Run” (album) | 1975 |
| Patti Smith | “Horses” (album) | 1975 |
| Steve Wonder | “Songs in the Key of Life” | 1976 |
| John Williams | “Star Wars” (soundtrack album) | 1977 |
| Steely Dan | “Aja” (album) | 1977 |
| R.E.M. | “Radio Free Europe” (single) | 1981 |
| Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five | “The Message” (single) | 1982 |
| Michael Jackson | “Thriller” (album) | 1982 |
| Paul Simon | “Graceland” (album) | 1986 |
| Sonic Youth | “Daydream Nation” (album) | 1988 |
| De La Soul | “3 Feet High and Rising” (album) | 1989 |
| Public Enemy | “Fear of a Black Planet” (album) | 1990 |
| Nirvana | “Nevermind” (album) | 1991 |
| Tupac Shakur | “Dear Mama” (single) | 1995 |
I’m surprised to see non-American artists on there like the British Invasion groups and Joni Mitchell, but I guess their influence on U.S. culture was deemed significant enough to justify their inclusion. Oddly, no Grateful Dead song is actually on the list!
The full list so far can be found at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Recording_Registry
Rambles Blog at Star Chamber 
Hi Alan. It’s hard to argue about the inclusion of most of those singles and albums. As you know, I’m not a rap/hip-hop fan, so I can’t say whether those items are worthy, but the remainder of that list includes nothing but classics. Of course, there are probably dozens or hundreds more that are equally deserving of this honor, but unlike the ridiculous Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame (which has excluded some huge names from even being nominated while inducting non-rock ‘n’ roll artists), the Library Of Congress seems to have the right idea.
Also, it’s always nice to hear when youngsters like Devon are interested in the music that inspired previous generations, even though I’m sure he also enjoys contemporary artists. One of the positive things about the rise of music on the internet and the decline of the music “industry” is that people (especially kids) are more open to all kinds of music, and not just what’s shoved down their throats by record companies & radio stations.
Thanks for sharing this information.
Best wishes,
Rich
Rich,
I can attest to the classic status of the hip-hop albums within their genre. The only thing that seems notable by its absence is The Wu-Tang Clan’s “Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers)” from 1993. Also, usually when Tupac is mentioned, The Notorious B.I.G.’s 1994 “Ready to Die” is paired with it.
The only other albums I can think of that would be particularly important don’t really show up until the late 90s.
Also notably absent from the list: The classic Gordon Lightfoot single “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald”, also known as the greatest make-out song of all time.
Several people who have read this have e-mailed me directly (rather than commented in this space here) with impressions about the list – I think people might be interested to hear some observations:
1. If Beatles/Stones/Who, why no Led Zeppelin?
(I’m inclined to agree).
2. If Martha Reeves and Smokey Robinson, why no
Diana Ross and the Supremes? (fair point)
3. Why “Radio Free Europe” rather than the album it came from, “Murmur”? (good question)
4. The Eagles “Greatest Hits” is the best selling album ever in the U.S. Wouldn’t that alone qualify it as “culturally significant” and suitable for this list?
(I see the point, but maybe their work fell short of the “influential” quality that most of the other records seem to have?)
5. Who are Sonic Youth and why are they so awesome that they’re deemed one of only 7 acts from the 1980’s to qualify so far? Couldn’t they have least chosen something by Madonna? (I know who Sonic Youth are, and this point is disputable, but interesting…)
6. Where are The Ramones? They INVENTED PUNK!
(where indeed!)
Keep the comments coming! Thanks!
– Alan
I was surprised to see an artist on the list that I’d never heard (Link Wray). Checked out “Rumble” and knew the song but had never heard of the artist. Consider me enlightened!
Why not, Madonna’s “Ray Of Light” album. Is an amazing work.