Fleetwood Mac' Rumours Among Works Entered Into National Recording Registry
Fleetwood Mac 's 1977 album Rumours is among the 25 entries in this year's selections for the Library of Congress' National Recording Registry.
Every year, The Library of Congress' National Recording Registry collates for preservation 25 recordings it deems “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant.”
This year's musical selections are a diverse assortment that includes rock 'n' roll pioneers Bill Haley and His Comets' influential 1954 single "(We're Gonna) Rock Around the Clock" (single), Kenny Loggins' chart-topping 1984 hit "Footloose," Arlo Guthrie's 1967 Thanksgiving classic "Alice's Restaurant Massacree," the soundtrack to the 1965 movie musical The Sound of Music , The Temptations ' 1964 smash "My Girl," Chic 's 1978 disco classic "Le Freak" and Run-DMC 's 1986 album Raising Hell, featuring the rap group's groundbreaking collaboration with Aerosmith on "Walk This Way."
Recordings, which are expected to reflect the American experience, must be at least 10 years old, though almost everything in the registry's collection of 500 recordings is older.
The selection process is open to the public in its early stages, though Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden makes the final decisions after recommendations from the board. This year, songs with the greatest public support included “If I Didn't Care,” the 1939 standard by vocal group the Ink Spots, Kenny Rogers's “The Gambler” and Kenny Loggins's “Footloose.”
Run-DMC was already a platinum-selling act when “Raising Hell” broke in 1986. A cover of Aerosmith's “Walk This Way” became the album's biggest hit and helped foment the coming rap-rock revolution. Initially, the group had rapped only over the opening bars, remembers founding member Joseph “Run” Simmons. “The only reason we listened was for the beginning of the beat, the DJ was in trouble if he let the singing come in,” he says. “We didn't know the name of the record.”
Producer Rick Rubin suggested that Run-DMC cover the whole track, telling them to study it first. The group found Aerosmith's original version, with its tongue-twisty vocals and heavy riffage, incomprehensible. “(We said), 'What are you talking about? How are we going to study this?' “says Simmons, who still sounds doubtful. When the song hit, “It spun us out of control huge,” he says. “It definitely pushed that album over the top to make us universal.”
Here are all 25 of this year's entries, in chronological order:
“Dream Melody Intermezzo: Naughty Marietta” (single), Victor Herbert and his Orchestra (1911)
Standing Rock Preservation Recordings, George Herzog and Members of the Yanktoni Tribe (1928)
“Lamento Borincano” (single), Canario y Su Grupo (1930)
“Sitting on Top of the World” (single), Mississippi Sheiks (1930)
The Complete Beethoven Piano Sonatas (album), Artur Schnabel (1932-1935)
“If I Didn’t Care” (single), The Ink Spots (1939)
Proceedings of the United Nations Conference on International Organization (4/25/45-6/26/45)
“Folk Songs of the Hills” (album), Merle Travis (1946)
“How I Got Over” (single), Clara Ward and the Ward Singers (1950)
“(We’re Gonna) Rock Around the Clock” (single), Bill Haley and His Comets (1954)
“Calypso” (album), Harry Belafonte (1956) album.
“I Left My Heart in San Francisco” (single), Tony Bennett (1962)
“King Biscuit Time” (radio), Sonny Boy Williamson II and others (1965)
“My Girl” (single), The Temptations (1964
“The Sound of Music” (soundtrack), Various (1965)
“Alice’s Restaurant Massacree” (single), Arlo Guthrie (1967)
“New Sounds in Electronic Music” (album), Steve Reich, Richard Maxfield, Pauline Oliveros (1967)
“An Evening with Groucho” (album), Groucho Marx (1972)
“Rumours,” (album), Fleetwood Mac (1977)
“The Gambler” (single), Kenny Rogers (1978)
“Le Freak” (single), Chic (1978)
“Footloose” (single), Kenny Loggins (1984) remake released in 2011.
“Raising Hell” (album), Run-DMC (1986)
“Rhythm Is Gonna Get You” (single), Gloria Estefan and the Miami Sound Machine (1987)
“Yo-Yo Ma Premieres Concertos for Violoncello and Orchestra” (album), Various (1996)
Comments