Fleetwood Mac, Run-D.M.C. Added to National Recording Registry
Fleetwood Mac‘s Rumours, Run-D.M.C.‘s Raising Hell and the Temptations’ “My Girl” were among the 25 recordings inducted into the Library of Congress’ National Recording Registry Wednesday.
Arlo Guthrie’s “Alice’s Restaurant Massacree,” The Sound of Music soundtrack, Tony Bennett’s “I Left My Heart in San Francisco,” Chic’s “Le Freak,” Kenny Rogers’ “The Gambler” and Kenny Loggins’ “Footloose” were also named as “culturally, historically or aesthetically significant” recordings.
“The thing that I remember most about Raising Hell is that it was so much great energy that it was made very easily,” Run-D.M.C.’s Joseph “Rev. Run” Simmons said of the honor in a statement. “To think that something that just came out of my mouth and out of my creativity is being put on this level of honor just blows my mind.”
This year’s inductees spanned from 1911 (Victor Herbert and His Orchestra’s “Dream Melody Intermezzo: Naughty Marietta”) to 1996 (Yo-Yo Ma Premieres: Concertos for Violoncello and Orchestra) and genres spanning from Harry Belafonte’s Calypso to blues recordings courtesy of the King Biscuit Time radio show.
Kenny Rogers – “The Gambler”
The National Recording Registry also welcomed an early rock n’ roll anthem (Bill Haley and His Comets’ “Rock Around the Clock”), field recordings (1928’s Standing Rock Preservation Recordings), the Ink Spots’ 1939 hit “If I Didn’t Care,” historical moments (Proceedings of the United Nations Conference on International Organization, 1945), comedy (Groucho Marx’s An Evening With Groucho) and pioneering electronic music (1967’s New Sounds in Electronic Music by Steve Reich, Richard Maxfield and Pauline Oliveros).
The Library of Congress also added Gloria Estefan’s “Rhythm Is Gonna Get You.” “When we wrote ‘Rhythm Is Gonna Get You,’ we set out to create a fusion of rhythms that reflected the musical cultures of our native Cuba and our adopted country, the United States,” Estefan said in a statement. “So it is an accolade of particular significance to us that it be honored as an important part of the creative legacy of this great country with its induction into the National Recording Registry.”
Gloria Estefan – “Rhythm Is Gonna Get You”