Just as they do every year with movies, the Library of Congress also picks albums, songs, and other recorded audio to be deemed “culturally significant” and add them to the National Recording Registry. Among this year’s picks? Some very old historical recordings, classic tracks, and what can only be described as the soundtrack to many people’s college experience in the ’90s.

Radio coverage of President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s Funeral in 1945, The Vernacular Wax Cylinder Recordings at University of California, Santa Barbara Library from the late 1800’s/early 1900’s, and Benjamin Ives Gilman’s recordings from the 1893 Chicago’s World Fair are among some of the culturally significant historical recordings added to the collection. Meanwhile, The Doors’ and John Baez’s self-titled records, Sly and the Family Stone’s Stand!, and singles like The Righteous Brothers’ “You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feelin’” and Ben E. King’s “Stand by Me” were also added.

And then there’s more contemporary selections, like Radiohead’s OK Computer and Lauryn Hill’s The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill.

Here’s the full list of this year’s additions to the Recording Registry:

  • 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,” Michael Coleman (1922)
  • “Black Snake Moan”/ “Match Box Blues,” Blind Lemon Jefferson (1928)
  • “Sorry, Wrong Number,” from “Suspense” radio series (1943)
  • “Ac-Cent-Tchu-Ate the Positive,” Johnny Mercer (1944)
  • Radio Coverage of President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s Funeral, Arthur Godfrey, et al. (1945)
  • “Kiss Me, Kate,” original cast album (1949)
  • “John Brown’s Body,” Tyrone Power, Judith Anderson, and Raymond Massey; directed by Charles Laughton (1953)
  • “My Funny Valentine,” The Gerry Mulligan Quartet featuring Chet Baker (1953)
  • “Sixteen Tons,” Tennessee Ernie Ford (1955)
  • “Mary Don’t You Weep,” The Swan Silvertones (1959)
  • “Joan Baez,” Joan Baez (1960)
  • “Stand by Me,” Ben E. King (1961)
  • “New Orleans’ Sweet Emma Barrett and her Preservation Hall Jazz Band,” Sweet Emma and her Preservation Hall Jazz Band (1964)
  • “You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feelin,”’ The Righteous Brothers (1964)
  • “The Doors,” The Doors (1967)
  • “Stand!” Sly and the Family Stone (1969)
  • “Lincoln Mayorga and Distinguished Colleagues,” Lincoln Mayorga (1968)
  • “A Wild and Crazy Guy,” Steve Martin (1978)
  • “Sesame Street: All-Time Platinum Favorites,” Various (1995)
  • “OK Computer,” Radiohead (1997)
  • “Songs of the Old Regular Baptists,” various (1997)
  • “The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill,” Lauryn Hill (1998)
  • “Fanfares for the Uncommon Woman,” Colorado Symphony Orchestra, Marin Alsop, conductor; Joan Tower, composer (1999)
Filed Under: library of congress, national recording registry,