Listen to the classic and groundbreaking recordings that made this year’s National Registry list

Recordings reflecting America’s diverse soundscape, from New York’s Polo Grounds, all the way to Compton, California, are included in this year’s inductions into the National Recording Registry.

Vin Scully’s 1957 Brooklyn Dodgers vs. the New York Giants broadcast and N.W.A’s “Straight Outta Compton” are two of the 25 recordings deemed as “aural treasures worthy of preservation,” Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden said in a statement.

“These sounds of the past enrich our understanding of the nation’s cultural history and our history in general.” Hayden said.

The registry chooses 25 recordings — each at least 10 years old — to preserve each year. The newest selections bring the total to 475.

The eclectic group includes a song recorded on an original Thomas Edison phonograph by a Civil War veteran in 1888, the classic ballad “Over the Rainbow” sung by Judy Garland and the 1972 debut episode of NPR’s All Things Considered. More recent songs reflect transformations in popular music, Hayden said; songs like Sister Sledge’s “We Are Family” proves disco stands the “test of time.”

Albums like the Talking Heads’ 1980 genre-bending “Remain In Light” and David Bowie’s 1972 revolutionary “The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars” are also among this year’s inductees.

Here is the full list:

• The 1888 London cylinder recordings of Col. George Gouraud (1888)
• “Lift Every Voice and Sing,” by Manhattan Harmony Four (1923) and Melba Moore and Friends (1990)
• “Puttin’ on the Ritz,” by Harry Richman (1929)
• “Over the Rainbow,” Judy Garland (1939)
• “I’ll Fly Away,” The Chuck Wagon Gang (1948)
• “Hound Dog,” Big Mama Thornton (1953)
• “Saxophone Colossus,” Sonny Rollins (1956)
• The Brooklyn Dodgers and the New York Giants at the Polo Grounds, announced by Vin Scully (September 8, 1957)
• Gunfighter Ballads and Trail Songs, Marty Robbins (1959)
• The Incredible Jazz Guitar of Wes Montgomery, Wes Montgomery (1960)
• “People,” Barbra Streisand (1964)
• “In the Midnight Hour,” Wilson Pickett (1965)
• “Amazing Grace,” Judy Collins (1970)
• “American Pie,” Don McLean (1971)
• All Things Considered, first broadcast (May 3, 1971)
• The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars, David Bowie (1972)
• The Wiz, original cast album (1975)
• Their Greatest Hits (1971–1975), Eagles (1976)
• Scott Joplin’s Treemonisha, Gunter Schuller, arr. (1976)
• Wanted: Live in Concert, Richard Pryor (1978)
• “We Are Family,” Sister Sledge (1979)
• Remain in Light, Talking Heads (1980)
• Straight Outta Compton, N.W.A (1988)
• Rachmaninoff’s Vespers (All-Night Vigil), Robert Shaw Festival Singers (1990)
• Signatures, Renée Fleming (1997)

 

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