2019 NATIONAL RECORDING REGISTRY

What in the world would Neil Diamond and Jay-Z have in common? They have both had their music inducted into the National Recording Registry for 2019 with Diamond's first major hit single, "Sweet Caroline" and the hip-hop artist's landmark album, "The Blueprint" receiving this prestigious honor. There were a total of twenty-five recordings selected that have been added to the Library of Congress for their cultural and aesthetic significance. These works range from early phonographs of Yiddish songs from the beginning of the 20th Century to the classic Cab Calloway call and response jazz song, "Minnie The Moocher" to Nina Simone's angry protest to the senseless murders during the Civil Rights era with "Mississippi Goddam"; the original soundtracks to the Broadway musical, "Hair" and the blaxploitation crime drama, "Superfly" and to the glittering disco of "You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real)" by Sylvester.

To be selected, the recordings must be at least ten years old and deemed "culturally, historically and aesthetically significant". The number selected for preservation has now reached 525 since 2002.

Here is the complete list of the twenty-five recordings being inducted in the 2019 National Recording Registry:

Yiddish Cylinders from the Standard Phonograph Company of New York and the Thomas Lambert Company (c. 1901-1905)
"Memphis Blues" (single) - Victor Military Band (1914)
Melville Jacobs Collection of Native Americans of the American Northwest (1929-1939)
"Minnie the Moocher" (single) - Cab Calloway (1931)



"Bach Six Cello Suites" (album) - Pablo Casals (c. 1939)
"They Look Like Men of War" (single) - Deep River Boys (1941)
"Gunsmoke" — Episode: "The Cabin" (Dec. 27, 1952)
"Ruth Draper: Complete recorded monologues" - Ruth Draper (1954-1956)
"La Bamba" (single) - Ritchie Valens (1958)



"Long Black Veil" (single) - Lefty Frizzell (1959)



"Stan Freberg Presents the United States of America, Vol. 1: The Early Years" (album) - Stan Freberg (1961)
"GO" (album) - Dexter Gordon (1962)
"War Requiem" (album) - Benjamin Britten (1963)
"Mississippi Goddam" (single) - Nina Simone (1964)



"Soul Man" (single) - Sam & Dave (1967)
"Hair" (original Broadway cast recording) (1968)



Speech on the Death of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. by Robert F. Kennedy (April 4, 1968)
"Sweet Caroline" (single) - Neil Diamond (1969)



"Superfly" (album) - Curtis Mayfield (1972)



"Ola Belle Reed" (album) - Ola Belle Reed (1973)
"September" (single) - Earth, Wind & Fire (1978)
"You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real)" (single) - Sylvester (1978)



"She’s So Unusual" (album) - Cyndi Lauper (1983)
"Schoolhouse Rock!: The Box Set" (1996)
"The Blueprint" (album) - Jay-Z (2001)

NUMBER ONE FLASHBACK

"I'm a Believer" by the Monkees was the number one song during this week in 1967. This popular song, written by a then relatively unknown singer-songwriter, Neil Diamond, remained in this position for seven weeks, became the best-selling record of that year and was one of the few singles to ever sell over ten million copies. This was the band's second number one, following "Last Train To Clarksville", and they would make it to the top of the U.S. pop chart one more time with "Daydream Believer" later that year.

The story behind the Monkees' creation is certainly unusual. Due to the intense popularity of the Beatles, producers, Bob Rafelson and Bert Schneider thought the idea of a television program about a rock group might work. After a talent search, British singer, Davy Jones who had performed on Broadway in "Olivier" was the first cast with American actors, Michael Nesmith, Peter Tork and Micky Dolenz, who all also had experience as musicians, soon followed.

This fab foursome became "The Monkees" and the comedy series about a struggling L.A. rock & roll band and their wild adventures while seeking fame hit the air in 1966 and ran until 1968. The ironic part was that this fictional band became a very successful real-life musical act. During the height of their fame, the Monkees' records outsold the music of the Beatles and the Rolling Stones combined. After the show's end run, the group continued to record and tour together before disbanding in 1971.

However, the show enjoyed an incredible afterlife through syndication and overseas broadcasts. This created a demand for the Monkees particularly after MTV ran a marathon of the show in 1986. Dolenz, Jones and Tork went out on the 20th Anniversary Tour, the first of many reunion concerts, that year with Nesmith sitting out due to prior commitments with his own band. The trio recorded a new album "Pool It!" the following year and hit the road on a global tour.

Nesmith would reunite with the group rarely throughout the tours but for the Monkees' 30th anniversary, the original four came together in 1996 and recorded "Justus" their first album of original material since 1968. After Davy Jones' death in 2012, the surviving members would embark on a U.S. tour later that year and honored the late singer during the concerts. A 50th Anniversary World Tour just began in December with Dolenz and Tork but Nesmith will join the group on dates when time allows.

THE WRECKING CREW

Most people would be surprised to learn that a little-known group of session musicians played a very large part in creating many of the memorable pop songs in music history. A fascinating new documentary out right now called, "The Wrecking Crew", which is named after this band, sheds some light on how these jazz-trained musicians are actually who you hear playing on those popular hits heard throughout the 1960's and early 1970's. They worked with everyone; from Elvis to Sinatra to The Beach Boys to Simon and Garfunkel not to mention performing on many of those iconic television theme songs ("Hawaii 5-0", "Mission: Impossible", "Batman", "Bonanza").



It's been said that these musicians played on over 150 top-ten hits and worked on at least 35,000 pieces of music during their time. Listen to this very tiny selection of classic songs that the Wrecking Crew played on to get an idea of how they helped shape and influence pop music:

"The Pink Panther Theme" - Henry Mancini (1963)mp3

"A Taste of Honey" - Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass (1965)mp3

"Good Vibrations" - The Beach Boys (1966)mp3

"Strangers In The Night" - Frank Sinatra (1966)mp3

"These Boots Are Made for Walkin'" - Nancy Sinatra (1966)mp3

"Something Stupid" - Frank & Nancy Sinatra (1967)mp3

"Windy" - The Association (1967) mp3

"Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In" - The 5th Dimension (1969) mp3

"Song Sung Blue" - Neil Diamond (1972) mp3

"Annie's Song" - John Denver (1974) mp3