The Library of Congress has added 25 more recordings to its National Recording Registry, and they include Radiohead’s OK Computer, Lauryn Hill’s The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill, Sly and the Family Stone’s Stand! and debut albums from The Doors and Joan Baez, the federal institution announced today.
Radiohead’s 1997 LP, “OK Computer”
Those notable titles are among the latest batch of musical and nonmusical recordings now set to be preserved by the library, with at least some high-quality versions eventually headed to its Packard Campus for Audio Visual Conservation in Culpeper, Virginia.
The registry includes 400 other works deemed “culturally significant” by the Librarian of Congress and the library’s National Recording Preservation Board, according to a release. Among them are landmark recordings from Billie Holiday, Bill Monroe, the Duke Ellington Orchestra, Woody Guthrie, Tito Puente and Marian Anderson.
The National Recording Registry was established by the National Recording Preservation Act of 2000, and it’s been growing since its first inductees were announced on New Year’s Day of 2003. Now, 25 additions to the National Recording Registry are selected each year for preservation. The library culls nominations from the public and the NRPB, and only selects works that are at least 10 years old.
Below is the complete list of recordings added to the 2014 National Recording Registry, and here’s a list — by induction year — of every recording added to date.
The public can also submit nominations for the registry on the Library of Congress’ website.
2014 National Recording Registry Inductees
- Vernacular Wax Cylinder Recordings at University of California, Santa Barbara Library (c.1890-1910)
- The Benjamin Ives Gilman Collection, recorded at the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition at Chicago (1893)
- “The Boys of the Lough”/”The Humours of Ennistymon” (single)—Michael Coleman (1922)
- “Black Snake Moan”/ “Match Box Blues” (single)—Blind Lemon Jefferson (1928)
- “Sorry, Wrong Number” (episode of “Suspense” radio series, May 25, 1943)
- “Ac-Cent-Tchu-Ate the Positive” (single)—Johnny Mercer (1944)
- Radio Coverage of President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s Funeral—Arthur Godfrey, et al. (April 14, 1945)
- Kiss Me, Kate (original cast album) (1949)
- John Brown’s Body (album)—Tyrone Power, Judith Anderson, and Raymond Massey; directed by Charles Laughton (1953)
- “My Funny Valentine” (single)—The Gerry Mulligan Quartet featuring Chet Baker (1953)
- “Sixteen Tons” (single)—Tennessee Ernie Ford (1955)
- “Mary Don’t You Weep” (single)—The Swan Silvertones (1959)
- Joan Baez (album)—Joan Baez (1960)
- “Stand by Me” (single)—Ben E. King (1961)
- New Orleans’ Sweet Emma Barrett and her Preservation Hall Jazz Band (album)—Sweet Emma and her Preservation Hall Jazz Band (1964)
- “You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feelin’” (single)—The Righteous Brothers (1964)
- The Doors (album)—The Doors (1967)
- Stand! (album)—Sly and the Family Stone (1969)
- Lincoln Mayorga and Distinguished Colleagues (album)—Lincoln Mayorga (1968)
- A Wild and Crazy Guy (album)—Steve Martin (1978)
- Sesame Street: All-Time Platinum Favorites (album)—Various (1995)
- OK Computer (album)—Radiohead (1997)
- Songs of the Old Regular Baptists—Various (1997)
- The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill (album)—Lauryn Hill (1998)
- Fanfares for the Uncommon Woman (album)—Colorado Symphony Orchestra, Marin Alsop, conductor; Joan Tower, composer (1999)