The hits from history: Records of the century, from Roosevelt to the Rolling Stones

 

Every year, the American Library of Congress chooses 25 of the most significant audio works to be preserved for posterity in a national archive. The latest selections are remarkable for their eclecticism.

 

By Jerome Taylor

 

Published: 08 March 2007 Independent

 

Uncle Josh and the Insurance Agent, by Cal Stewart (1904)

 

As a much-loved performer of vaudeville, the North American form of travelling theatre, Cal Stewart made a career out of his comedy monologues featuring Uncle Josh Weathersby, an imaginary New Englander. So popular were the escapades of Uncle Josh that Stewart was hired by Thomas Edison's studios to record them.

 

Il mio tesoro, by John McCormack, orchestra conducted by Walter Rogers (1916)

 

Known in the operatic world for his flawless diction and near perfect control, the Irish tenor John McCormack was one of the first opera stars to augment his fame by recording and distributing his arias. This rendition of "Il mio tesoro", an aria from the second act of Mozart's Don Giovanni, was recorded in 1916, one year before McCormack became an American citizen.

 

National Defence Test (12 September 1924)

 

The recording may be little more than a wailing siren but the decision by President Calvin Coolidge to hold a National Defence Day in 1924 caused a major political storm in the US. His idea was to create a day when the US Army and its auxiliaries initiated a dry run for going to war but pacifists and opponents claimed it was a dangerous form of militarism.

 

Black Bottom Stomp, by Jelly Roll Morton's Red Hot Peppers (1926)

 

Decades before the Red Hot Chilli Peppers had even laid down a funky jazz riff there was Jelly Roll Morton's Red Hot Peppers, one of the finest jazz bands of 1920s America. Morton, an ex-whorehouse pianist, is often referred to as the godfather of jazz. This version of "Black Bottom Stomp", from 1926, is considered one of the finest recordings in "hot style" jazz.

 

Wildwood Flower, by The Carter Family (1928)

 

One of the most prominent country music bands of the early 20th century, the Carter Family had a profound influence not only on country offshoots such as bluegrass and Southern gospel, but also on the folk revival of the 1960s that created global icons such as Bob Dylan. "Wildwood Flower" predates the Carter Family and was originally written in 1860.

 

Pony Blues, by Charley Patton (1929)

 

Virtually unheard of outside the world of blues aficionados, Charley Patton, a plantation worker from Mississippi, practically invented the Deep South's iconic form of blues music, the delta blues. A mentor of legendary blues musicians John Lee Hooker and Howlin' Wolf, Patton would entertain plantation workers with dazzling live shows, playing the guitar behind his head decades before Jimi Hendrix.

 

You're the Top, by Cole Porter (1934)

 

Taken from the hit Broadway musical Anything Goes, Cole Porter's song "You're the Top" is regarded as one of his finest thanks to a series of fast rhyming lyrics sung by a man and woman who take it in turns to compliment each other. Porter, whose work was characterised by wit and sophistication, remained one of America's most prolific composers until his wife died in 1954, after which he never wrote again.

 

The Osage Bank Robbery, Episode of The Lone Ranger (17 December 1937)

 

Before the Lone Ranger galloped on to the Silver Screen, the Texan cowboy, his white stallion Silver and his Native American sidekick Tonto were radio stars on a Michigan station. The first of the 2,956 episodes of The Lone Ranger was aired in 1933. This recording features the usual tale of the Lone Ranger foiling a bank robbery at the last minute.

 

Address to Congress, by Franklin Delano Roosevelt (8 December 1941)

 

Possibly one of the most famous presidential speeches of all time, Roosevelt's message to Congress after Pearl Harbour was broadcast live to what was at the time the largest radio audience ever. Calling the attack "a day that will live in infamy", Roosevelt's emotional speech is littered with a mixture of clearly audible shock and proud defiance.

 

Native Brazilian Music, Recorded under the supervision of Leopold Stokowski (1942)

 

A product of the maestro's 1940 tour of South America, "Native Brazilian Music" was recorded on a ship docked at Rio in the space of 24 hours, as bands of natives trooped on and off the boat. Columbia never released the recording in Brazil, and most of the artists died without ever hearing the record.

 

Peace in the Valley, by Red Foley and the Sunshine Boys (1951)

 

Originally written in 1939 by Tommy Dorsey for the gospel singer Mahalia Jackson, country singer Red Foley's version of "Peace in the Valley" was the first gospel record to sell a million copies when it was released in 1951. Foley's silky-voiced baritone and his band's tight vocal quartet kept them in the charts for two decades, with Foley going on to sell 25 million records between 1944 and 1965.

 

Chopin Polonaise Op 40, No 1, performed by Artur Rubinstein (1952)

 

Considered one of the greatest piano virtuosos of the 20th century, Rubinstein, above, was famous for his solo interpretations of Chopin, including the "Polonaise militaire". . One of Chopin's most popular piano solos, it is often known by its nickname, the "Heroic", Rubinstein went on to record Chopin's entire repertoire and has become inextricably linked with the Polish composer.

 

Blue Suede Shoes, by Carl Perkins (1955)

 

Written by the struggling and desperately poor Perkins on an old potato sack, "Blue Suede Shoes" rocketed to success in early 1956, becoming the artist's only No 1 hit. Rattled by a near-fatal car accident in the same year, his thunder was somewhat stolen as his friend Elvis Presley covered his hit, and came to dominate the rock and roll genre Perkins had helped to pioneer.

 

Interviews with Billy Bell, by Edward D Ives (1956)

 

Edward "Sandy" Ives was a professor of folklore in the Department of Anthropology at the University of Maine, where he had researched folklore and oral history since 1955. Ives' interviews with Billy Bell in 1956 shed light on the northwoods traditional narrative-singing style of second-generation Canadian-Irish lumber workers of Maine.

 

Howl, by Allen Ginsberg (1959)

 

First performed on 7 October 1955 at the Six Gallery in San Francisco, "Howl" is an emotionally driven poem about the history of the "Beat Generation" of Jack Kerouac, Ginsberg and contemporaries. Banned after its publication in 1956, the poem was notorious for its raw, explicit language.

 

The Button-down Mind of Bob Newhart Bob Newhart (1960)

 

Newhart's deadpan comedy release The Button-down Mind of Bob Newhart shot the artist to prominence in 1960, going straight to No 1 upon release. The recording won him the 1961 album of the year Grammy, also bagging him the award for best new artist. Several similarly titled albums followed, but none of them was quite as successful as his first.

 

Be My Baby, The Ronettes (1963)

 

The quintessential 1960s "girl group" pop song, Phil Spector's "Be My Baby" sung by Veronica (Ronnie) Bennett and her band the Ronettes, is in fact a remarkably complicated composition featuring castanets, a horn section, strings and the difficult vocals. The song has featured in numerous films, including Martin Scorsese's Mean Streets, and famously on the soundtrack to the 1987 film Dirty Dancing.

 

We Shall Overcome, Recorded at a Carnegie Hall concert by Pete Seeger (1963)

 

The American civil rights movement and South Africa's anti-apartheid activists are just two groups which adopted this most enduring of protest anthems to push their cause. Popularised by folk singer and political activist Pete Seeger, this recording in Carnegie Hall in June 1963 was the culmination of a tour specifically aimed at promoting civil rights.

 

(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction, by The Rolling Stones (1965)

 

Considered one of the greatest rock and roll songs of all time, "Satisfaction" gave the Stones their first No 1 in the United States, and their fourth in the UK. Stones guitarist Keith Richards reportedly awoke from a dream with the song's famous riff in his head and the song's overtly anti-commercial themes successfully tapped into the mentality of the Sixties generation.

 

A Change is Gonna Come, by Sam Cooke (1965)

 

One of soul's more overtly political songs, Sam Cooke wrote "A Change is Gonna Come" after speaking to civil rights protesters on a bus as he returned from a demo. Released after Cooke's untimely death, it expresses the singer's frustrations with the progress of the civil rights movement which was on the verge of becoming a fully national struggle at the time.

 

Velvet Underground and Nico, by the Velvet Underground (1967)

 

Every sub-variety of avant-garde rock, from 1970s art-rock to No Wave, New Wave and Punk, has been influenced by this album. In the words of the music critic Lester Bangs: "Modern music starts with the Velvets, and the implications and influence of what they did seem to go on forever." The German model and actress Nico appears on three of the album's songs.

 

The 86 Years of Eubie Blake, by Eubie Blake (1969)

 

The son of former slaves, the legendary jazz composer and pianist Eubie Blake is Baltimore's favourite musical son. The evergreen performer began playing the piano at the age of seven and was still going at the age of 86, when this double album was produced to celebrate his birthday. He died just days after his 100th birthday.

 

Burnin', by The Wailers (1973)

 

1973 saw the release of Burnin', the fourth album by the Wailers, and their last before becoming known as Bob Marley and the Wailers. A seminal work and reggae masterpiece, it is recognisably more militant and politically confrontational than earlier works, and includes classics such as "Get up, Stand up" and "I Shot the Sheriff".

 

Live in Japan, by Sarah Vaughan (1973)

 

Already a legend after 40 years of performing and recording, the American jazz singer Sarah Vaughan, known as "Sassy" or "The Divine One" to her fans, recorded Live in Japan when she appeared at the Sun Plaza Hall in Tokyo with her jazz trio. It includes versions of an array of famous songs, including "Round Midnight", "Misty", and "My Funny Valentine".

 

Graceland - Paul Simon (1986)

 

Written after a visit to the Memphis home of Elvis Presley, Paul Simon describes travelling to Graceland with his young son in the title track of his now acclaimed album. Featuring vocals by the Everly Brothers, Paul Simon has since described "Graceland" as perhaps the best song he ever wrote.

 

The sounds of the States

 

Other recordings chosen by the Library of Congress since the scheme began include:

 

* 2002

 

The audio library's inaugural year featured a trio of cylinders selected by Thomas Edison's contemporaries to represent the birth of commercial sound recording as an industry and the first ever recording of the "Stars and Stripes" in 1897. Later clips include Frank Sinatra's Songs for Young Lovers and Martin Luther King's landmark civil rights speech, "I have a dream". The most modern piece was "The Message" (1982) by the rap group Grandmaster Flash.

 

* 2003

 

The earliest clip was a double recording from 1888 of the "Lord's Prayer" and "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" by Emile Berliner, the inventor of the microphone. He went on to develop the first process for mass-production of disc recordings. An unusual entry was a series of conversations with New York taxi drivers recorded in 1959 by Tony Schwarz, who built up a vast audio archive of everyday American life. More modern entries included Bruce Springsteen's "Born to Run" and "What's Going On" by Marvin Gaye.

 

* 2004

 

An audio recording of President Woodrow Wilson's Armistice Day speech in 1923 is believed to be the earliest surviving sound recording of a regular radio broadcast. Classical entries included a 1929 recording of Rachmaninoff playing one of his own pieces. Significant speeches included Neil Armstrong's broadcast from the Moon. More modern entries included Public Enemy's Fear of a Black Planet and Nirvana's now iconic album Nevermind.

 

* 2005

 

Clips included the first recording ever issued of a black jazz band from New Orleans and Calvin Coolidge's 1925 presidential inauguration which was the first to be broadcast on radio. Recordings by Sonic Youth and Stevie Wonder represented the more modern entries while Jimi Hendrix and BB King represented iconic contributions from the 1960s

 

Now you have seen what goes on the American list. If we were to compile a list of the 25 most significant audio works in British history, what would go on the list?

 

the choice is yours!!!

some of that is too retro m8!...lol...

some of that is too retro m8!...lol...

 

c'mon man, you must know of some great iconic 60s tune to go on the britlist.

its about my time m8, its in short supply ....

its about my time m8, its in short supply ....

 

dont need to give 25, if you could think of the most important recordings from the 1960s (english only), might gives other some ideas