Top of page
Posted by: Cary O’Dell
IT’S NOT TOO LATE TO NOMINATE YOUR FAVORITE RECORDINGS FOR THE 2021 NATIONAL RECORDING REGISTRY The Library of Congress invites you to submit your recommendations for the 2021 National Recording Registry. Every year, the Librarian of Congress, with advice from the National Recording Preservation Board, annually selects 25 titles/works that are deemed “culturally, historically or …
Posted in: Uncategorized
Posted by: Cary O’Dell
Today, on the anniversary of Booker T. Washington’s historic Atlantic speech, we look back at the recording Washington made of it in 1908, so that his words would not be lost to history. Professor Jacqueline M. Moore does the honors for the recording added to the National Registry in 2002. Booker T. Washington’s 1895 Address …
Posted in: National Recording Registry, Recorded Sound, Uncategorized
Posted by: Cary O’Dell
As we celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month, author Joe Nick Patoski examines the legacy of Selena and her groundbreaking second studio album “Ven Conmigo.” This essay reflects not only her music, but Selena’s short-lived iconic status that often compared her to Gloria Estefan, Madonna, and other legendary female entertainers. By the age of 22, Selena was …
Posted in: Uncategorized
Posted by: Mike Mashon
One of our very earliest Now See Hear! posts was about our wonderful collection of the copyright descriptions that accompanied films submitted for registration starting in 1912. At the very end we noted “several years ago we digitized many hundreds of the microfilm reels onto which the descriptions were originally transferred, and we’re looking for …
Posted in: Copyright
Posted by: Cary O’Dell
Sixty-two years ago today, a group of talented singers gathered in Fyffe, Alabama, to recording a remarkable, one of a kind album utilizing “shape-note singing.” The Library’s own Matt Barton examines the resulting recording that was named to the Library’s National Registry in 2010. “If you don’t like it [Sacred Harp singing] you had better …
Posted in: National Recording Registry, Recorded Sound
Posted by: Stacie Seifrit-Griffin
NOMINATE YOUR FAVORITE FILMS FOR THE 2021 NATIONAL FILM REGISTRY DEADLINE FOR SUBMISSIONS IS SEPTEMBER 15, 2021 The Library of Congress invites you to submit your recommendations for the 2021 National Film Registry. Under the terms of the National Film Preservation Act of 1988, the Librarian of Congress, with advice from the National …
Posted in: Film/Video, Motion Pictures, National Film Registry
Posted by: Cary O’Dell
As the great Bob Newhart turns 91 today, the Library of Congress, with the assistance of Professor Wayne Federman, looks back at his seminal, star-making album “The Button-Down Mind of Bob Newhart,” released in 1960 and added to the Library’s National Recording Registry in 2006. “The Button-Down Mind of Bob Newhart” is one of the most …
Posted in: National Recording Registry, Spoken Word
Posted by: Matthew Barton
“Charlie Watts has always been the bed that I lie on musically.”–Keith Richards[i] The death of Charlie Watts of the Rolling Stones inspired many heartfelt tributes naming him as one of the all-time great drummer. No one was more aware than Watts himself of the giants on whose shoulders he stood. In 2006, when (I …
Posted in: Uncategorized
Posted by: Cary O’Dell
“Tiger Rag” by the Original Dixieland Jazz Band was added to the National Recording Registry of the Library of Congress in its inaugural year of 2002. In this essay, author Tim Gracyk explains why. Few tunes have been recorded as often as “Tiger Rag.” It is one of the earliest jazz tunes to evolve into …
Posted in: National Recording Registry, Recorded Sound