Saving The Best, the 25 Additions to the National Recording Library

Chances are pretty high that if you were born before 1990, you were introduced to recorded music via a black vinyl 33 1/2 RPM album, or at least a 45RPM single. Everyone had a record collection back ‘in the day.’ Ours ran the gamut from Bach to Kiss, with a lot of stuff in between. Eventually, though, records were replaced by CDs, which theoretically were higher in sound quality. The size of home stereos went from taking up a whole wall to a small box on a shelf. For a while, the only place to find a turntable was at a garage sale or flea market.

Then along came hip-hop and with it the concept of “sampling,” using extremely short clips from old songs as the hook in a new one. The ‘scratch’ sound of forcing an album back and forth on the turntable also became a popular rhythm method. Suddenly, turntables and albums were back, but this time, for totally different reasons.

Through it all, the National Recording Library has been collecting some of the recorded sounds that, in their opinion, define the sound of America. Not all of the sounds, though. Just those that have been deemed important to the culture of their time. 25 new additions are made each year, which means millions of songs and albums are left out in the cold. Even as modern technology has enabled the remastering of records from long ago, the Library still only takes 25 songs or albums a year.

Here’s this year’s list:

“Aloha ‘Oe” — Hawaiian Quintette (1913)

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“Sweet Georgia Brown” — Brother Bones & His Shadows (1949)

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“Happy Trails” — Roy Rogers and Dale Evans (1952)

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Radio broadcast of Game 7 of the 1960 World Series — Chuck Thompson (1960)

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Harry Urata field recordings (1960-1980)

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“Hello Dummy!” — Don Rickles (1968)

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“Chicago Transit Authority” — Chicago (1969)

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“Bitches Brew” — Miles Davis (1970)

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“Kiss an Angel Good Mornin’” — Charley Pride (1971)

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“I Am Woman” — Helen Reddy (1972)

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“El Rey” — Vicente Fernández (1973)

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“Goodbye Yellow Brick Road” — Elton John (1973)

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“Before the Next Teardrop Falls” — Freddy Fender (1975)

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“I’ve Got the Music in Me” — Thelma Houston & Pressure Cooker (1975)

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“The Köln Concert” — Keith Jarrett (1975)

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“Fly Like an Eagle” — Steve Miller Band (1976)

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Nimrod Workman collection (1973-1994)

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“Tracy Chapman” — Tracy Chapman (1988)

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“My Life” — Mary J. Blige (1994)

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Microsoft Windows reboot chime — Brian Eno (1995)

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“My Heart Will Go On” — Celine Dion (1997)

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“Our American Journey” — Chanticleer (2002) (The entire album was not available)

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“Back to Black” — Amy Winehouse (2006)

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“Minecraft: Volume Alpha” — Daniel Rosenfeld (2011)

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“Hamilton” — original Broadway cast album (2015)

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Note: If you still have any of these original albums, ya’ might want to make sure they’re insured!