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)

2018 ROCK & ROLL HALL OF FAME INDUCTEES

The latest roster of musicians inducted in to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame for 2018 was announced and there are five new members. Bon Jovi, those other rockers from New Jersey, new-wave rock group, The Cars, British rock band, Dire Straits, the English art-rock outfit, The Moody Blues and the late vocalist, Nina Simone. After announcing the seventeen nominees in October, these artists were voted on by the organization (consisting of critics, record executives and other music insiders) and by music fans who weighed in their votes with them getting one single vote to the overall total for the top-five finalists. Sister Rosetta Tharpe, the gospel artist who played the electric guitar, will be acknowledged as an Early Influences this year.

The induction dinner and ceremony will be held in April in Cleveland, Ohio, home of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and will be filmed by HBO and shown on the network at a later date.

BON JOVI

Formed in 1983 and named after lead singer, Jon Bon Jovi, this classic rock hair band found worldwide fame with their third album, "Slippery When Wet" in 1986 and features some of their best known songs, "Wanted Dead or Alive", "You Give Love a Bad Name" and "Livin' on a Prayer". Bon Jovi has sold over 130 million records and performed in over fifty countries during their career.



THE CARS

The Cars first came on the scene in the late 1970's merging punk and new-wave to create their own unique sound. Their self-titled debut in 1978 was an immediate hit with the singles, "Just What I Needed", "My Best Friend's Girl", "Good Times Roll" and "You're All I've Got Tonight" reaching the pop charts. Guitarist, Ric Ocasek wrote most of the band's material and shared vocal duties with bass guitar player, Benjamin Orr (who passed away in 2000) and the Cars would enjoy plenty of other hits throughout the '80's before disbanding in 1988. In 2011, the surviving members of the band reunited, recorded an album, "Move To This" and went on tour.



DIRE STRAITS

Brothers Mark and David Knopfler along with friends John Illsley and Pick Withers formed Dire Straits in London in 1977. Influenced by jazz, folk and blues, the band found success right away with the 1978 single, "Sultans of Swing" which reached the top-ten in the U.S. and Britain but had their biggest hit in 1985 with their fifth album, "Brothers In Arms".  This record reached number one internationally, winning two Grammy Awards and selling over thirty million copies thanks to the popular songs, "Walk of Life" and "Money For Nothing".



THE MOODY BLUES

Although this band from Birmingham, England first came to prominence as a r&b based outfit in the mid '60's,  the Moody Blues has become best known as an esoteric rock band. Adding a rich, symphonic sound to their high-concept rock albums, this influential group found worldwide success with their music and managed to hit the pop charts with the songs, "Go Now", "Your Wildest Dreams", "I'm Just a Singer (In a Rock and Roll Band)" and "Nights in White Satin". The Moody Blues have sold seventy million records throughout their fifty year career.



NINA SIMONE

This legendary vocalist first wanted to become a concert pianist but after being denied entry at a prestigious school due to her race, Eunice Waymon changed her name to "Nina Simone" (so to not to disgrace her family) and began her career as a singer. Using a mixture of the blues, jazz, soul, pop and classical music to express herself, Simone became a renowned live performer and recording artist. She wrote much of her music, particularly during the civil rights movement like "Mississippi Goddam", "Four Women" and "To Be Young, Gifted and Black". But Simone was also a unique interpreter of songs, reworking musical standards and making them all her own. Some of her most popular are "I Loves You, Porgy", "Wild Is The Wind", "My Baby Just Cares for Me" and "Feeling Good".



SISTER ROSETTA THARPE

It is said that Rosetta Nubin was only four years old when she began singing and playing guitar as part of her family's traveling evangelical troupe. By the time she was nineteen, she had ended her first marriage but took a variation of her former husband's surname to become professionally known as "Sister Rosetta Tharpe" and was a popular act throughout the 1930's and '40's performing for both spiritual and secular audiences. She is referred to as "The Godmother of rock and roll" as she was one of the first to use a distorted electric guitar in her pop-gospel music and inspired many future early rock musicians. Later in the '60's, Tharpe toured Europe and would help influence the British blues movement there.

WHAT HAPPENED MISS SIMONE

This year has put a long overdue spotlight on one of the most distinctive and influential musicians in pop music history. Nina Simone is the subject of a new Netflix documentary, "What Happened, Miss Simone?" which is directed by award-winning film maker, Liz Garbus with the singer's daughter, Lisa Simone serving as an executive producer. The film uses concert footage and interviews, some never seen or heard previously, to explore the passionate, difficult and complicated life of the North Carolina native. Simone was an extraordinary gifted but moody performer who actively defied musical categories. She mesmerized audiences with the sheer force of her talent, using her voice to not only entertain but inspire and stir protest.

In celebration of this film, a new album, "Nina Revisited: A Tribute To Nina Simone" features the songs made famous by Ms Simone recorded by several contemporary artists. Some of the musicians involved include Mary J. Blige, Usher, Common with Lalah Hathaway and Lisa Simone but the highlight is the very welcome return of Ms Lauryn Hill. She is on six of the thirteen tracks with Hill impressively breathing fresh new life in to some of Simone's signature tunes such as "Wild Is The Wind", "Ne Me Quitte Pas" and "Feeling Good". This collection perfectly honors the legacy of this quite special and unique performer.

Listen to rising jazz artist, Gregory Porter (who was heard early this year on a dance track for the upcoming Disclosure album) doing a radical but fascinating re-working of the Nina Simone classic, "Sinnerman":

"Sinnerman" - Gregory Porter (2015) mp3

Enjoy this electric performance of "Feeling Good" by Ms Lauryn Hill:

FOCUS ON: NINA SIMONE

I remember the first time I heard "My Baby Cares For Me" and I thought it was a man singing it.

I knew it didn't sound exactly like a male voice and I double checked the name of the artist and it said Nina Simone.

It made me love the song even more.

Afterwards, I sought out more music by this artist with the extraordinary and unusual voice. All you have to hear is just the first few notes, you know exactly who it is.

She is a fascinating artist who sings with such deep emotion that very few singers can compare to what she can do. Like Aretha Franklin, she is capable of taking well known and widely covered music and truly make it sound fresh like a brand new song.

Born Eunice Waymon in North Carolina, she changed her name to Nina Simone when she started her career to protect her mother from knowing that she was performing the "devil's music". "Nina" was a nickname that was given to her by a boyfriend and "Simone" was from the French film actress, Simone Signoret.

She began playing the piano at the age of three and she continued playing at her church. At seventeen, she applied for a scholarship at the Curtis Institute. While she gave a very good audition, she failed to get in to the school. An insider informed her that she was rejected because she was black. This infuriated her and helped fuel her future involvement in the civil rights movement.

She was known for her commanding stage presence and her live performances were once in a lifetime events. She was also well known for being "difficult" but it was disclosed much later in her life that she suffered from schizophrenia and was bipolar.

She was dubbed "The High Priestess of Soul" but she disliked being categorized. She recorded over forty albums during her career and they cover a wide range of musical styles including gospel, blues, classical, pop and jazz.

Ms Simone passed away in 2003 but her music still continues to inspire other musical artists and is heard in countless commercials, film and television programs.


I have heard that a film is being prepared, to begin hopefully sometime next year, on the life of Ms Simone which will star Mary J. Blige. Although I'm not crazy about the casting, I think it's wonderful that she will be getting some long overdue recognition and that it may expose her music to a younger generation.

Here are few of my favorite songs. I have also included "Feeling Good", thanks to Michael Buble, too many "American Idol" contestants have felt this is an easy song to sing and wind up sucking the life out of it. If they had first heard Ms Simone's version, they might have thought twice about doing it or at least, the way they performed it.