2025 NATIONAL RECORDING REGISTRY

The National Recording Registry has just selected the latest twenty-five sound recordings inducted with the goal each year to highlight what it calls "the range and diversity of the American recorded sound heritage". Some of the recordings that have been honored include the debut albums of the pop-rock group, Chicago and the '80's folk musician, Tracy Chapman; the jazz legend, Miles Davis and his experimentation with electric instruments on "Bitches Brew" that became his very first gold album; "My Heart Will Go On", the love ballad from one of the biggest box-office movie hits of all-time, "Titanic" sung by Celine Dion; the recording of the jazz classic, "Sweet Georgia Brown" by Brother Bones and His Shadows which would later become the theme song of the Harlem Globetrotters basketball team; the original Broadway cast album of the hip-hop flavored biography of the first US Secretary of the Treasury, "Hamilton"; "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road", an album considered by many to be the masterpiece of Elton John's recording career; "Happy Trails", the popular theme song for "The Roy Rogers Show" on radio and television written and sung by Rogers and his wife, Dale Evans; Helen Reddy's enduring feminist anthem for the women's liberation movement, "I Am Woman"; and "Back To Black", the breakout hit album by the late British pop vocalist, Amy Winehouse.

The Registry is an extension of the passage by Congress in 2000 of the National Recording Preservation Act. Since 2002, the Library of Congress oversees the selection of 25 recordings, which must be at least 10 years old at the time of induction, and deemed "culturally, historically or aesthetically significant". This latest group brings the total number of recordings in the registry to 650.

Here is the complete list of the twenty-five selections entered into the 2025 National Recording Registry:

"Aloha ‘Oe" - Hawaiian Quintette (1913) (single)
"Sweet Georgia Brown" - Brother Bones & His Shadows (1949) (single)



"Happy Trails" - Roy Rogers and Dale Evans (1952) (single)



Radio Broadcast: "Game 7 of the 1960 World Series" - Chuck Thompson (1960)
Harry Urata Field Recordings (1960-1980)
"Hello Dummy" - Don Rickles (1968) (album)
"Chicago Transit Authority" - Chicago (1969) (album)



"Bitches Brew" - Miles Davis (1970) (album)



"Kiss An Angel Good Mornin" - Charley Pride (1971) (single)
"I Am Woman" - Helen Reddy (1972) (single)



"El Rey" - Vincente Fernandez (1973) (single)
"Goodbye Yellow Brick Road" - Elton John (1973) (album)
"Before the Next Teardrop Falls" - Freddy Fender (1975) (single)



"I’ve Got The Music In Me" - Thelma Houston & Pressure Cooker (1975) (album)
"The Kӧln Concert" - Keith Jarrett (1975) (album)
"Fly Like An Eagle" - Steve Miller Band (1976) (album)



Nimrod Workman Collection (1973-1994)
"Tracy Chapman" - Tracy Chapman (1988) (album)
"My Life" - Mary J. Blige (1994) (album)



"Microsoft Windows Reboot Chime" - Brian Eno (1995)
"My Heart Will Go On" - Celine Dion (1997) (single)
"Our American Journey" - Chanticleer (2002) (album)
"Back to Black" - Amy Winehouse (2006) (album)



"Minecraft: Volume Alpha" - Daniel Rosenfeld (2011) (album)
"Hamilton" - Original Broadway Cast Album (2015) (album)

HELEN REDDY (1941 - 2020)

Helen Reddy, who is best known for her pop anthem of female empowerment, "I Am Woman", has passed away on September 29th at the age of seventy-eight. The Australian singer (who retired from performing in 2002 but briefly reappeared in 2012) had been struggling with dementia over the last few years.

Born in Melbourne, Victoria, Reddy, at the age of four, was a part of a show-business family. She would sing on radio and television which lead to her winning a talent contest on a television program in 1966. The prize was a ticket to New York City and a chance to audition for a recording contract. Unfortunately, Reddy did not win over the label executives at the time but decided to stay in the States to pursue her dream of becoming a professional singer.

With the lack of a work permit and trying to care for her three-year old daughter, Traci from her brief marriage to musician, Kenneth Weate, Reddy struggled to get singing gigs. But she met and fell for Jeff Wald and they married three days later which solved her ability to perform legally. After the family moved to Los Angeles, Wald would become manager of several musical acts but neglected the career of his own wife, who still couldn't get signed to a label. Reddy gave him an ultimatum to help her or the marriage was over.

Wald went to work and eventually got Capitol Records to give her a one record opportunity in 1971. Reddy recorded two songs; "I Believe in Music" (written by Mac Davis) which was the A-side of the record and a cover of "I Don't Know How to Love Him" from the popular Broadway musical, "Jesus Christ Superstar" on the back. The single wasn't getting much attention until a DJ in Canada flipped over the record and played it on air. This would become Reddy's first hit song, reaching number thirteen on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. She quickly put together her debut album (also called "I Don't Know How to Love Him") and the follow-up single would make her a pop music sensation. 

"I Am Woman" (which Reddy co-wrote with fellow Australian musician, Ray Burton) originally appeared on Reddy's debut album but after it was used in the closing credits for the 1972 film, "Stand Up and Be Counted", it generated some attention. A new version was recorded and released as a single later that year. It took some time but "I Am Woman" eventually reached the top of the US pop chart and would help Reddy win a Grammy Award for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance (becoming the first Australian to win the prize). The timing of this song couldn't be more perfect as the Equal Rights Amendment was gaining traction in this country and "I Am Woman" would be embraced as a rallying cry for the movement.

More hits followed for Reddy including "Peaceful", "Angie Baby", "Delta Dawn", "Ain't No Way to Treat a Lady", "Keep on Singing" and "Leave Me Alone (Ruby Red Dress)". She would go on to sell over eighty million records worldwide over her career. 

Reddy also made many appearances on talk shows, television series and variety programs; became the semi-regular host of the late night music variety show, "The Midnight Special" from 1973 until 1975 and even had her own summer replacement series, "The Helen Reddy Show" in 1973. She also appeared in several films (including the 1977 Disney feature, "Pete's Dragon" and the disaster flick, "Airport '75") and theatrical productions ("Anything Goes", "Call Me Madam", "Blood Brothers" and "The Mystery of Edwin Drood") in the 1980's and 1990's.

Reddy wrote her memoir, "The Woman I Am" in 2006 and her life story was given the bio-pic treatment with a 2019 feature film, "I Am Woman" from filmmaker, Unjoo Moon. Reddy is survived by her daughter, Traci and son, Jordan from her marriage to Wald. She was married to Wald from 1968 until 1983 and then married Milton Ruth, a drummer in her band, that year before the couple divorced in 1995.

WHAT IN THE WORLD HAPPENED TO. . .

. . . Helen Reddy?

She was born in Melbourne, Australia in 1941 and at the age of four, Helen joined her family's act where they toured the country singing and dancing.

At seventeen, Helen entered a singing contest on the Australian TV show, "Bandstand" and won. The prize was a trip to New York City to record a single with Mercury Records. However, when she arrived, she discovered that the prize was actually just an opportunity to audition to record a single and her performance on the show was considered the audition and the label passed.

With only a return ticket back to Australia. Helen decided to stay with her three year old daughter, Traci  from a brief marriage, to try and pursue a music career in the US. She had difficulty finding work because she lacked the proper work visa but she would go to Canada for some jobs since it was a commonwealth but her luck would change when she met twenty-two year old, Jeff Wald at a party. They were married three days later which would take care of her immigration issues and he would later become her manager.

Helen struggled for years trying to get noticed and they moved from New York to Chicago before ending up in Los Angeles in 1969. Jeff got a job at Capital Records and he managed artists such as Deep Purple and Tiny Tim but Helen was getting impatient for her husband to secure her a record deal. Jeff finally managed to get the label to allow her to record a one-time single.

The song was "I Don't Know How To Love Him" from the musical, "Jesus Christ Superstar" and it went to number thirteen on the charts in 1971 and Helen was officially offered a recording contract with Capital. 

"I Am Woman", co-written by Reddy, would become the game-changer for this singer. The song would go to number one on the pop charts in 1972, sold over a million copies, and won her a Grammy Award for Best Female Pop Performance. The song also proved timely as it was released during the women's liberation movement and was embraced as an anthem.

Helen Reddy became one of the top female singers in the 1970's with fifteen songs in the top forty of the Billboard Hot 100 chart with three of those reaching number one. By the late seventies, Helen's career began to wane and by 1983, she released what would be her final album,  "Imagination" due to poor sales and a divorce from Jeff Wald who managed to have her effectively blacklisted from her music career. Helen decided to move foward by doing musical theater and performing in such shows as "Anything Goes" and  "Call Me Madam".

Helen published her autobiography in 2006 called, "The Woman I Am" but she has retired from performing due to her suffering from Addison's disease.

Here is a collection of some of Helen Reddy's hit songs:

"I Don't Know How To Love Him" - Helen Reddy (1971)

"I Am Woman" - Helen Reddy (1972)

"Delta Dawn" - Helen Reddy (1973)

"Peaceful" - Helen Reddy (1973)

"Angie Baby" - Helen Reddy (1974)

Here she is performing "You And Me Against The World" as a duet with Kermit the frog: