Pink Floyd’s ‘The Dark Side of the Moon’, Simon and Garfunkel’s ‘Sounds of Silence’ among 25 recordings to be preserved
The Library of Congress is tasked with annually selecting 25 recordings that are “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant” and are at least 10 years old to be marked for preservation.
They announced the 2012 National Recording Registry inductees yesterday, which represent of variety of musical styles and spoken word recordings.
Pink Floyd
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Among this year’s selections are Simon and Garfunkel’s 1966 album, “Sounds of Silence”; “The Dark Side of the Moon” by Pink Floyd, which received the highest number of public nominations among this year’s picks; the soundtrack to the popular movie “Saturday Night Fever”; the 1918 trendsetting “After You’ve Gone” by Marion Harris; “Cheap Thrills,” Janis Joplin’s second release with Big Brother and the Holding Company; the radio broadcast featuring Will Rogers’ 1931 folksy insights in support of Herbert Hoover’s unemployment-relief campaign during the Great Depression; and Artie Shaw’s breakthrough hit, “Begin the Beguine.”
Additions to the registry feature notable performances by Leontyne Price, Ornette Coleman, The Ramones, The Bee Gees, Clarence Ashley, Doc Watson, Philip Glass, Betty Carter, Junior Wells, Jimmie Davis, Frank Yankovic, The Blackwood Brothers and The Neville Brothers.
The National Recording Registry grew out of passage of the National Recording Preservation Act of 2000 under which the Library of Congress was charged with preserving culturally significant recordings. Each year, the registry has added 25 more honorees; this year’s class brings the total to 375.
Nominations were gathered through online submissions from the public and from the NRPB, which comprises leaders in the fields of music, recorded sound and preservation.
