Jay-Z, School House Rock, Neil Diamond among recordings being archived in Library of Congress

The Library of Congress announced on Wednesday that Jay-Z’s “The Blueprint,” Neil Diamond’s “Sweet Caroline” and a “Schoolhouse Rock!” boxed set are among the 25 “audio treasures” that librarians are adding to the National Recording Registry.

Under the National Recording Preservation Act of 2000, the librarian of Congress, currently Carla Hayden, is tasked with selecting 25 titles that are “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant” and are at least 10 years old to add to the registry.

With the new recordings added, the registry now includes 525 recordings, which the Library of Congress notes is just a “small part” of the body’s recorded-sound collection of almost 3 million items. 

{mosads}“The National Recording Registry honors the music that enriches our souls, the voices that tell our stories and the sounds that mirror our lives,” Hayden said in a statement on Wednesday. 

“The influence of recorded sound over its nearly 160-year history has been profound and technology has increased its reach and significance exponentially,” she continued. “The Library of Congress and its many collaborators are working to preserve these sounds and moments in time, which reflect our past, present and future.”

Among the sound recordings recently added to the registry are Jay-Z’s 2001 album “The Blueprint,” which the Library said “solidified his reputation as one of the greatest rappers in music” and Nina Simone’s 1964 single “Mississippi Goddam.”

Below is the full chronological list of recordings that will now be archived by the registry.

1. Yiddish Cylinders from the Standard Phonograph Company of New York and the Thomas Lambert Company (c. 1901-1905)
2. “Memphis Blues” (single), Victor Military Band (1914)
3. Melville Jacobs Collection of Native Americans of the American Northwest (1929-1939)
4. “Minnie the Moocher” (single), Cab Calloway (1931)
5. “Bach Six Cello Suites” (album), Pablo Casals (c. 1939)
6. “They Look Like Men of War” (single), Deep River Boys (1941)
7. “Gunsmoke” — Episode: “The Cabin” (Dec. 27, 1952)
8. Ruth Draper: Complete recorded monologues, Ruth Draper (1954-1956)
9. “La Bamba” (single), Ritchie Valens (1958)
10. “Long Black Veil” (single), Lefty Frizzell (1959)
11. “Stan Freberg Presents the United States of America, Vol. 1: The Early Years” (album), Stan Freberg (1961)
12. “GO” (album), Dexter Gordon (1962)
13. “War Requiem” (album), Benjamin Britten (1963)
14. “Mississippi Goddam” (single), Nina Simone (1964)
15. “Soul Man” (single), Sam & Dave (1967)
16. “Hair” (original Broadway cast recording) (1968)
17. Speech on the Death of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Robert F. Kennedy (April 4, 1968)
18. “Sweet Caroline” (single), Neil Diamond (1969)
19. “Superfly” (album), Curtis Mayfield (1972)
20. “Ola Belle Reed” (album), Ola Belle Reed (1973)
21. “September” (single), Earth, Wind & Fire (1978)
22. “You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real)” (single), Sylvester (1978)
23. “She’s So Unusual” (album), Cyndi Lauper (1983)
24. “Schoolhouse Rock!: The Box Set” (1996)
25. “The Blueprint” (album), Jay-Z (2001)