25 recordings selected for the 2022 National Recording Registry

ByKurt Wolff

Ricky Martin’s “Livin’ La Vida Loca,” Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believin’,” Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody,” Ernest Tubb’s country classic “Walking the Floor Over You,” and early jazz pianist James P. Johnson’s “Harlem Strut” are among the recordings named today as being added this year to the Library of Congress’s National Recording Registry.

The recordings also include entire albums by Alicia Keys (Songs in A Minor), Wu Tang Clan (Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers)), avant-garde composer Terry Riley (In C), and the Buena Vista Social Club.

 

Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden named a total of 25 recordings (including an FDR speech and a 9/11 radio broadcast) as audio treasures worthy of preservation for all time based on their cultural, historical, or aesthetic importance in the nation’s recorded sound heritage.

“The National Recording Registry reflects the diverse music and voices that have shaped our nation’s history and culture through recorded sound,” Hayden said. “The national library is proud to help preserve these recordings, and we welcome the public’s input. We received about 1,000 public nominations this year for recordings to add to the registry.”

With the additions, there are now 600 total recordings in the National Recording Registry. The library’s collection as a whole, however, is nearly 4 million.

Keys said a statement: “I’m so honored and grateful that ‘Songs in A Minor,’ the entire album, gets to be recognized as such a powerful body of work that is just going to be timeless.” 

As for “Livin’ La Vida Loca,” Martin said that it’s “an honor to be linked to this song that has an important page in the history of music, because it was part of the first album recorded digitally in its entirety, and it was also my very first production entirely done in English. I feel honored that it is getting this recognition.”

Journey lead singer Steve Perry said he was stunned. “That song, over the years, has become something that has a life of its own. It’s about the people who’ve embraced it and found the lyrics to be something they can relate to and hold onto and sing.”

 

See the full list of recordings below.

 

Recordings selected for the 2022 National Recording Registry (listed chronologically)

1. “Harlem Strut” — James P. Johnson (1921)

2. Franklin D. Roosevelt: Complete Presidential Speeches (1933-1945)

3. “Walking the Floor Over You” — Ernest Tubb (1941) (single)

4. “On a Note of Triumph” — (Norman Corwin broadcast) (May 8, 1945)

5. “Jesus Gave Me Water” — the Soul Stirrers (1950) (single)

6. “Ellington at Newport” — Duke Ellington (1956) (album)

7. “We Insist! Max Roach’s Freedom Now Suite” — Max Roach (1960) (album)

8. “The Christmas Song” — Nat King Cole (1961) (single)

9. “Tonight’s the Night” — the Shirelles (1961) (album)

10. “Moon River” — Andy Williams (1962) (single)

11. “In C” — Terry Riley (1968) (album)

12. “It’s a Small World” — the Disneyland Boys Choir (1964) (single)

13. “Reach Out, I’ll Be There” — the Four Tops (1966) (single)

14. Hank Aaron’s 715th Career Home Run (April 8, 1974)

15. “Bohemian Rhapsody” — Queen (1975) (single)

16. “Don’t Stop Believin’ ” — Journey (1981) (single)

17. “Canciones de Mi Padre” — Linda Ronstadt (1987) (album)

18. “Nick of Time” — Bonnie Raitt (1989) (album)

19. “The Low End Theory” — A Tribe Called Quest (1991) (album)

20. “Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers)” — Wu-Tang Clan (1993) (album)

21. “Buena Vista Social Club” (1997) (album)

22. “Livin’ La Vida Loca” — Ricky Martin (1999) (single)

23. “Songs in A Minor” — Alicia Keys (2001) (album)

24. WNYC broadcasts for the day of 9/11 (Sept. 11, 2001)

25. “WTF with Marc Maron” (Guest: Robin Williams) (April 26, 2010)