Sunday, March 24, 2013

National Recording Registry

From an article from the Post:

The library announced 25 fresh additions to its National Recording Registry on Thursday, a growing collection of audio recordings recognized for their “cultural, artistic and historic importance” to be preserved for the ages.

In a statement, 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.”

This is a really interesting list to look through. It’s not only music but spoken word recordings as well. One is an entire day of a local radio station (WJSV) here in DC. You can listen to an an audio montage of the new selections. It’s a file you can download.

To see the entire list of the registry follow this link.

The list in organized chronologically. The first entry is from 1853!

One of my favorite entries should come as no surprise:

“A Charlie Brown Christmas.” Vince Guaraldi Trio. (1965)

“A Charlie Brown Christmas” introduced jazz to millions of listeners. The television soundtrack album includes expanded themes from the animated “Peanuts” special of the same name as well as jazz versions of both traditional and popular Christmas music, performed primarily by the Vince Guaraldi Trio. The original music is credited to pianist Guaraldi and television producer Lee Mendelson. Best remembered is the “Linus and Lucy” theme, originally composed by Guaraldi for an earlier “Peanuts” project, which remains beloved by fans of the popular television specials, those devoted to the daily newspaper comic strip, and music lovers alike. Selected for the 2011 registry.


It’s worth taking a look at what’s been preserved for posterity to listen to.

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