Lamont Dozier, part of Motown’s fabled Holland-Dozier-Holland songwriting team, talks about writing “Reach Out I’ll Be There,” a hit for the Four Tops and part of the 2022 class of the National Recording Registry class.
We caught up with Alicia Keys recently, talking about her electrifying 2001 debut album, “Songs in A Minor,” and its induction into the 2022 class of the National Recording Registry.
Journey’s “Don’r Stop Believin’ ” became a pop-culture staple and a stadium anthem for several sports teams. This year it was inducted into the National Recording Registry. We caught up with lead singer Steve Perry about the record.
The 2022 Class of the National Recording Registry includes albums such as Alicia Keys’ “Songs in A Minor” and singles such as Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believin’ ” and Ricky Martin’s “Livin’ La Vida Loca,” along with with important inductions of hip-hop and Latin music, including recordings by Linda Ronstadt, A Tribe Called Quest, Wu-Tang Clan and the Buena Vista Social Club.
You know what I’ve been thinking about lately? Awards. Maybe that’s because we’re in the midst of awards season in the entertainment industry, the Oscars and Grammys having just recently taken place. And every year, during this time, I’m glued to the television, watching people get nominated for their talent. And every year, I watch […]
Jelly Roll Morton’s 1938 concerts at the Library’s Coolidge auditorium became a landmark jazz recording and the basis for his biography, “Mister Jelly Roll.”
The Library’s acclaimed Crime Classic series is launching a new edition of “The Conjure-Man Dies” this month, a staple of the Harlem Renaissance and the most important work of long-overlooked novelist Rudolph Fisher. First published in 1932, the book was the first full-length mystery novel to feature an all-Black cast of characters, including detectives, suspects and victims.
Ernest Shackleton, the famed polar explorer, was the first to print a book on the Antarctic continent. His “Aurora Australis,” an anthology of writings by the crew and scientists during a 1907-1909 expedition, was printed in such dire conditions that the book covers were made from packing crates from the ship’s pantry. Only 25 or so were made. The Library’s copy has covers marked for “turtle soup” and “honey.”
“Not an Ostrich: And Other Images from America’s Library,” an exhibit featuring more than 400 photographs from the Library’s collections, is now open in the Jefferson Building and can be viewed online. It debuted in 2018 at the Annenberg Space for Photography in Los Angeles. The show is a visual journey through American culture and history.
“Double Indemnity” is one of Hollywood’s classic films, the standard-bearer for noir cinema and a career highlight for stars Barbara Stanwyck and Fred MacMurray. The Library has a fascinating exchange of letters between the “Double” stars and novelist James M. Cain, whose book was the basis for the film. The letters give us a glimpse into Hollywood history, how scandalous the movie was at the time and at the manners of a bygone era. It’s almost impossible to imagine this exchange taking place today.