National Recording Registry

Martin Luther King Jr.'s 1963 "I Have a Dream" speech was one of 50 recordings preserved in 2002, the first year of existence of the United States National Recording Registry.

The National Recording Registry is a list of sound recordings that "are culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant, and inform or reflect life in the United States." The registry was established by the National Recording Preservation Act of 2000, which created the National Recording Preservation Board, whose members are appointed by the Librarian of Congress. The recordings preserved in the United States National Recording Registry form a registry of recordings selected yearly by the National Recording Preservation Board for preservation in the Library of Congress.

The National Recording Preservation Act of 2000 established a national program to guard America's sound recording heritage. The Act created the National Recording Registry, The National Recording Preservation Board and a fund-raising foundation. The purpose of the Registry is to maintain and preserve sound recordings and collections of sound recordings that are culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant. Beginning in 2002, the National Recording Preservation Board has selected recordings nominated each year to be preserved. On January 27, 2003, the first 50 recordings were announced by James Billington, the Librarian of Congress.

The first four yearly lists each had 50 selections. Since 2006, 25 recordings have been selected annually. As of 2024, a total of 650 recordings have been preserved in the Registry. Each calendar year, public nominations are accepted for inclusion in that year's list of selections, which are announced the following spring.

Registry title works, original or copies, are housed at the Library of Congress' Packard Campus for Audio Video Conservation. Each yearly list typically includes a few recordings that have also been selected for inclusion in the holdings of the National Archives' audiovisual collection. Recordings on the National Recording Registry that are of a political nature tend to overlap with the audiovisual collection of the National Archives.

Selection criteria

The criteria for selection are:

• Recordings selected for the National Recording Registry are "culturally, historically or aesthetically significant", and inform or reflect culture in the United States.
• Recordings will not be considered for inclusion in the National Recording Registry if no copy of the recording exists.
• No recording is eligible for inclusion in the National Recording Registry until ten years after the recording's creation.

Inductees

The list shows overlapping items and whether the National Archives has an original or a copy of the recording.

Recording or collection	Performer or agent	Release year	Induction year	National Archives
Edison exhibition recordings (Group of three cylinders): "Around the World on the Phonograph" "The Pattison Waltz" "Fifth Regiment March"	Thomas Edison	1888–1889	2002
Passamaquoddy Indians field recordings	Recorded by Jesse Walter Fewkes	1890
"The Stars and Stripes Forever" Berliner Gramophone disc recording	Military Band	1897
Metropolitan Opera cylinder recordings (the Mapleson Cylinders)	Lionel Mapleson and the Metropolitan Opera	1900–1903
"Casey at the Bat"	DeWolf Hopper	1906
"Vesti la giubba" from Pagliacci	Enrico Caruso	1907
1895 Atlanta Exposition speech	Booker T. Washington	1908 recreation		copy
"Swing Low, Sweet Chariot"	Fisk Jubilee Singers	1909
Lovey's Trinidad String Band recordings for Columbia Records	Lovey's Trinidad String Band	1912
Ragtime compositions piano rolls	Scott Joplin	1916
"Tiger Rag"	Original Dixieland Jazz Band	1918
"Arkansas Traveler" and "Sallie Gooden"	Eck Robertson	1922
"Downhearted Blues"	Bessie Smith	1923
Rhapsody in Blue	George Gershwin, piano; Paul Whiteman Orchestra	1924
Louis Armstrong's Hot Five and Hot Seven recordings	Louis Armstrong's Hot Five and Hot Seven	1925–1928
Victor Talking Machine Company sessions in Bristol, Tennessee	Carter Family, Jimmie Rodgers, Ernest Stoneman, and others	1927
Highlander Center Field Recordings Collection	Rosa Parks, Esau Jenkins and others	1930s–1980s
Bell Laboratories experimental stereo recordings	Philadelphia Orchestra; Leopold Stokowski, conductor	1931–1932
"Fireside chats" radio broadcasts	Franklin D. Roosevelt	1933–1944		original
Harvard Vocarium record series	T. S. Eliot, W. H. Auden and others	1933–1956
"New Music Quarterly" recordings series	Henry Cowell, producer	1934–1949
Description of the crash of the Hindenburg	Herbert Morrison	May 16, 1937		original
The Cradle Will Rock	Marc Blitzstein and the original cast of The Cradle Will Rock	1938
"Who's on First?" Earliest existing radio broadcast version	Abbott and Costello	October 6, 1938
The War of the Worlds	Orson Welles and The Mercury Theatre on the Air	October 30, 1938		copy
"God Bless America" Radio broadcast premiere	Kate Smith	November 11, 1938
The John and Ruby Lomax Southern States Recording Trip	John and Ruby Lomax	1939
"Strange Fruit"	Billie Holiday	1939
Grand Ole Opry First network radio broadcast	Uncle Dave Macon, Roy Acuff, and others	October 14, 1939
Béla Bartók and Joseph Szigeti in Concert at the Library of Congress	Béla Bartók, piano; Joseph Szigeti, violin	April 13, 1940
The Rite of Spring	Igor Stravinsky conducting the New York Philharmonic	1940
Blanton-Webster era recordings	Duke Ellington Orchestra	1940–1942
"White Christmas" original 1942 single	Bing Crosby	1942
"This Land Is Your Land"	Woody Guthrie	1944
D-Day radio address to the Allied Nations (June 6, 1944, order of the day and People of Western Europe speech)	Dwight D. Eisenhower	June 6, 1944		original
"Ko Ko"	Charlie Parker, Miles Davis, Dizzy Gillespie, and others	1945
"Blue Moon of Kentucky"	Bill Monroe and the Blue Grass Boys	1947
"How High the Moon"	Les Paul and Mary Ford	1951
Songs for Young Lovers	Frank Sinatra	1954
Sun Records sessions	Elvis Presley	1954–1955
Dance Mania	Tito Puente	1958
Kind of Blue	Miles Davis	1959
"What'd I Say", Parts 1 and 2	Ray Charles	1959
The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan	Bob Dylan	1963
"I Have a Dream" speech	Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.	August 28, 1963		copy
"Respect"	Aretha Franklin	1967
Philomel: For Soprano (Milton Babbitt)	Bethany Beardslee, recorded soprano, and synthesized sound	1971
Precious Lord: New Recordings of the Great Gospel Songs of Thomas A. Dorsey	Thomas A. Dorsey, Marion Williams, and others	1973
Crescent City Living Legends Collection (New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Foundation Archive/WWOZ New Orleans)	Clifton Chenier, Professor Longhair, Queen Ida, and other performers	1973–1990
"The Message"	Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five	1982
"The Lord's Prayer" and "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star"	Emile Berliner	c. 1890	2003
"Honolulu Cake Walk"	Vess Ossman	1898
Victor Releases	Bert Williams and George Walker	1901
"You're a Grand Old Rag [Flag]"	Billy Murray	1906
Chippewa/Ojibwe Cylinder Collection	Frances Densmore	1907–1910
The Bubble Book (the first Bubble Book)		1917
Cylinder recordings of African-American music	Guy B. Johnson	1920s
"Cross of Gold" speech Speech re-enactment	William Jennings Bryan	1921
"The OKeh Laughing Record"	Lucie Bernardo and Otto Rathke	1922
"Adeste Fideles"	Associated Glee Clubs of America	1925
Cajun-Creole Columbia releases	Amédé Ardoin and Dennis McGee	1929
"Goodnight, Irene"	Lead Belly	1933
"Every Man a King" speech	Huey P. Long	February 23, 1934		copy
"He's Got the Whole World in His Hands"	Marian Anderson	1936
The Complete Recordings	Robert Johnson	1936–1937
Interviews conducted by Alan Lomax	Jelly Roll Morton, Alan Lomax	1938
Carnegie Hall Jazz Concert	Benny Goodman	January 16, 1938 (released 1998)
Complete day of radio broadcasting, WJSV (Washington, D.C.)	WJSV, Washington, D.C.	September 21, 1939		original
"New San Antonio Rose"	Bob Wills and His Texas Playboys	1940
Selections from George Gershwin's Folk Opera Porgy and Bess	George Gershwin and the original Broadway cast of Porgy and Bess	1940, 1942
Beethoven String Quartets	Budapest String Quartet	1940–1950
World Series – Game Four New York Yankees vs. Brooklyn Dodgers	Red Barber, Bob Elson and Bill Corum	October 5, 1941
Oklahoma! Original Broadway cast recording	The original Broadway cast of Oklahoma!	1943
Othello	Paul Robeson, Uta Hagen, José Ferrer, and others	1943
Bach B-Minor Mass	Robert Shaw Chorale	1947
The Four Seasons (Vivaldi)	Louis Kaufman and the Concert Hall String Orchestra	1947
Piano Sonata No. 2, "Concord" (Ives)	John Kirkpatrick	1948
Pictures at an Exhibition (Modest Mussorgsky)	Rafael Kubelík conducting the Chicago Symphony Orchestra	1951
"Problems of the American Home"	Billy Graham	1954
Goldberg Variations (Bach)	Glenn Gould	1955
Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Cole Porter Song Book	Ella Fitzgerald	1956
"Roll Over Beethoven"	Chuck Berry	1956
Brilliant Corners	Thelonious Monk	1956
Steam locomotive recordings, 6 vol.	O. Winston Link	1956–1960 (released 1957–1977)
Complete Ring Cycle (Richard Wagner)	Georg Solti and the Vienna Philharmonic	1958–1965
Winds in Hi-Fi	Eastman Wind Ensemble with Frederick Fennell	1958
Mingus Ah Um	Charles Mingus	1959
New York Taxi Driver	Tony Schwartz	1959
Ali Akbar College of Music, Archive Selections		1960s–1970s
"Crazy"	Patsy Cline	1961
Kennedy Inauguration Ceremony	John F. Kennedy, Robert Frost, and others	January 20, 1961		original
Judy at Carnegie Hall	Judy Garland	1961
"I've Been Loving You Too Long (To Stop Now)"	Otis Redding	1965
Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band	The Beatles	1967
At Folsom Prison	Johnny Cash	1968
What's Going On	Marvin Gaye	1971
Tapestry	Carole King	1971
A Prairie Home Companion First broadcast	Garrison Keillor	July 6, 1974
Born to Run	Bruce Springsteen	1975
Live at Yankee Stadium	Fania All-Stars	1975
"Gypsy Love Song"	Eugene Cowles	1898	2004
"Some of These Days"	Sophie Tucker	1911
"The Castles in Europe One-Step (Castle House Rag)"	Europe's Society Orchestra	1914
"Swanee"	Al Jolson	1920
Armistice Day radio broadcast	Woodrow Wilson	November 10, 1923		original
"See See Rider"	Gertrude "Ma" Rainey	1924
"Charleston" Representative of the Edison Disc Master Mold Collection at the Edison National Historic Site	Golden Gate Orchestra	1925
"Fascinating Rhythm"	Fred and Adele Astaire; George Gershwin, piano	1926
NBC radio coverage of Charles A. Lindbergh's arrival and reception in Washington, D.C.		June 11, 1927		copy
"Stardust"	Hoagy Carmichael	1927
"Blue Yodel No. 1 (T for Texas)"	Jimmie Rodgers	1927
"Ain't Misbehavin'"	Thomas "Fats" Waller	1929
"Gregorio Cortez" Representative of the Arhoolie Foundation's Strachwitz Frontera Collection, University of California	Trovadores Regionales	1929
Piano Concerto No. 2 in C minor	Sergei Rachmaninoff, piano; Leopold Stokowski conducting the Philadelphia Orchestra	1929
"The Suncook Town Tragedy"	Mabel Wilson Tatro	July 1930
Oral narrative from the Lorenzo D. Turner Collection	Rosina Cohen	1932
"Stormy Weather"	Ethel Waters	1933
"Body and Soul"	Coleman Hawkins	1939
Peter and the Wolf (Sergey Prokofiev)	Serge Koussevitzky, conductor; Richard Hale, narrator; Boston Symphony Orchestra	1939
"In the Mood"	Glenn Miller and His Orchestra	1939
Broadcast from London	Edward R. Murrow	September 21, 1940		copy
King James version of the Bible	Alexander Scourby	1940–1944, released 1966
We Hold These Truths	Norman Corwin	December 15, 1941		original
Piano Concerto No. 1, op. 23, B♭ minor (Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky)	Vladimir Horowitz, piano; Arturo Toscanini, conductor; NBC Symphony Orchestra	April 25, 1943
"Down by the Riverside"	Sister Rosetta Tharpe	1944
U.S. Highball (A Musical Account of a Transcontinental Hobo Trip)	Harry Partch, Gate 5 Ensemble	1946
Four Saints in Three Acts Broadway cast recording	Virgil Thomson and members of the original Broadway cast of Four Saints in Three Acts	1947
"Manteca"	Dizzy Gillespie Big Band with Chano Pozo	1947
The Jack Benny Program	Jack Benny	March 28, 1948
"Foggy Mountain Breakdown"	Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs	1949
"Lovesick Blues"	Hank Williams	1949
Guys and Dolls Original Broadway cast recording	The original Broadway cast of Guys and Dolls	1950
"Old Soldiers Never Die" (Farewell Address to the United States Congress)	General Douglas MacArthur	April 19, 1951		copy
Songs by Tom Lehrer	Tom Lehrer	1953
"Hoochie Coochie Man"	Muddy Waters	1954
"Earth Angel (Will You Be Mine)"	The Penguins	1954
Tuskegee Institute Choir Sings Spirituals	Tuskegee Institute Choir, directed by William L. Dawson	1955
Giant Steps	John Coltrane	1959
Messiah	Eugene Ormandy, conductor; Richard P. Condie, choir director; Mormon Tabernacle Choir; Philadelphia Orchestra	1959
Drums of Passion	Babatunde Olatunji	1960
Peace Be Still	James Cleveland	1962
"The Girl from Ipanema" (Garota de Ipanema)	Stan Getz, João Gilberto, Antônio Carlos Jobim, Astrud Gilberto	1963
Live at the Apollo	James Brown and The Famous Flames	1963
Pet Sounds	The Beach Boys	1966
Remarks broadcast from the Moon	Apollo 11 astronaut Neil Armstrong	July 21, 1969		original
At Fillmore East	The Allman Brothers Band	1971
Star Wars (soundtrack)	John Williams	1977
Recordings of Asian elephants	Katharine B. Payne	1984
Fear of a Black Planet	Public Enemy	1990
Nevermind	Nirvana	1991
"Canzone del Porter" from Martha by von Flotow Representative of the Columbia Grand Opera Series	Édouard de Reszke	1903	2005
"Listen to the Lambs" Representative of the Hampton Quartet Collection, Hampton University	Hampton Quartette; recorded by Natalie Curtis Burlin	1917
"Over There"	Nora Bayes	1917
"Crazy Blues"	Mamie Smith	1920
"My Man" and "Second Hand Rose"	Fanny Brice	1921
"Ory's Creole Trombone"	Kid Ory	June 1922
Second inauguration of Calvin Coolidge	Calvin Coolidge	March 4, 1925
"Tanec Pid Werbamy (Dance Under the Willows)"	Pawlo Humeniuk	1926
"Singin' the Blues"	Frankie Trumbauer and His Orchestra with Bix Beiderbecke	1927
First official transatlantic telephone conversation	W.S. Gifford and Sir Evelyn P. Murray	January 27, 1927		original
"El manisero (The Peanut Vendor)" (Two versions)	Rita Montaner, vocal with orchestra and Don Azpiazú and His Havana Casino Orchestra	1927 and 1930
Light's Golden Jubilee Celebration (Thomas Edison, honoree)	Graham McNamee, host; speeches by Herbert Hoover, Marie Curie, Henry Ford, Albert Einstein	October 21, 1929		copy
Beethoven's Egmont Overture, Op. 84	Modesto High School Band	1930
Show Boat	Helen Morgan, Paul Robeson, James Melton and others; Victor Young, conductor; Louis Alter, piano	1932
"Wabash Cannonball"	Roy Acuff	1936
"One O'Clock Jump"	Count Basie and His Orchestra	1937
Columbia Workshop Episode: The Fall of the City	Orson Welles, narrator; Burgess Meredith, Paul Stewart	April 11, 1937		copy
The Adventures of Robin Hood radio broadcast	Erich Wolfgang Korngold, composer; Basil Rathbone, narrator	May 11, 1938
Joe Louis-Max Schmeling fight	Clem McCarthy, announcer	June 22, 1938
"John the Revelator"	Golden Gate Quartet	1938
"Adagio for Strings" (Samuel Barber)	Arturo Toscanini conducting the NBC Symphony Orchestra	November 5, 1938
Command Performance Episode: No. 21	Bob Hope, master of ceremonies; Lena Horne; Ginny Simms; Les Baxter & His Orchestra; Rosalind Russell	July 7, 1942		copy
"Straighten Up and Fly Right"	Nat "King" Cole	1943
The Fred Allen Show debut of Senator Claghorn	Fred Allen, Kenny Delmar	October 7, 1945
"Jole Blon (Jolie Blonde)"	Harry Choates	1946
Tubby the Tuba	Victor Jory & Léon Barzin	1946
"Move On Up a Little Higher"	Mahalia Jackson	1948
Anthology of American Folk Music	Edited by Harry Smith	1952
Damnation of Faust (Hector Berlioz)	Boston Symphony Orchestra with the Harvard Glee Club and Radcliffe Choral Society	1954
"Blueberry Hill"	Fats Domino	1956
Variations for Orchestra by Elliott Carter Louisville Orchestra First Edition Recordings series	Louisville Orchestra conducted by Robert S. Whitney	1956
"Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On"	Jerry Lee Lewis	1957
"That'll Be the Day"	Buddy Holly and The Crickets	1957
Poème électronique	Edgard Varèse	1958
Time Out	The Dave Brubeck Quartet	1959
"Schooner Bradley" and/or "Clifton's Crew" Representative of the Ivan Walton Collection at Bentley Library, University of Michigan	Pat Bonner	June 1960
United States Military Academy address	William Faulkner	April 19–20, 1962
Studs Terkel interview with James Baldwin Representative of the Studs Terkel Collection at the Chicago History Museum (formerly the Chicago Historical Society)	Studs Terkel, James Baldwin	September 29, 1962
"Dancing in the Street"	Martha and the Vandellas	1964
Live at the Regal	B. B. King	1965
Are You Experienced	The Jimi Hendrix Experience	1967
We're Only in It for the Money	Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention	1968
Switched-On Bach	Wendy Carlos	1968
"Oh Happy Day"	Edwin Hawkins Singers	1969
Don't Crush That Dwarf, Hand Me the Pliers	The Firesign Theatre	1970
"The Revolution Will Not Be Televised"	Gil Scott-Heron	1971
Will the Circle Be Unbroken	Nitty Gritty Dirt Band	1972
The old foghorn, Kewaunee, Wisconsin	Recorded by James A. Lipsky	1972
Songs in the Key of Life	Stevie Wonder	1976
Daydream Nation	Sonic Youth	1988
"Uncle Josh and the Insurance Agent"	Cal Stewart	1904	2006
"Il Mio Tesoro"	John McCormack; orchestra conducted by Walter Rogers	1916
National Defense Test	General John J. Pershing	September 12, 1924		copy
"Black Bottom Stomp"	Jelly Roll Morton's Red Hot Peppers	1926
"Wildwood Flower"	Carter Family	1928
"Pony Blues"	Charley Patton	1929
"You're the Top"	Cole Porter	1934
The Lone Ranger Episode: "The Osage Bank Robbery"	Earle Graser, John Todd	December 17, 1937
Native Brazilian Music	Pixinguinha, Donga, Cartola, José Espinguela and others; recording supervised by Leopold Stokowski	1940 (released 1942)
"Day of Infamy" speech to Congress	Franklin D. Roosevelt	December 8, 1941		copy
"Peace in the Valley"	Red Foley and the Sunshine Boys	1951
"Polonaise in A Major" ("Polonaise militaire"), Op. 40, No. 1, by Frédéric Chopin	Arthur Rubinstein	1952
"Blue Suede Shoes"	Carl Perkins	1955
Interviews with William "Billy" Bell (Canadian-Irish northwoods work songs) Representative of the Edward D. Ives Collection at the Maine Folklife Center, University of Maine	Recorded by Edward D. "Sandy" Ives	1956
Howl	Allen Ginsberg	1959
The Button-Down Mind of Bob Newhart	Bob Newhart	1960
"Be My Baby"	The Ronettes	1963
We Shall Overcome	Pete Seeger	1963
"A Change Is Gonna Come"	Sam Cooke	1964
"(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction"	The Rolling Stones	1965
The Velvet Underground & Nico	The Velvet Underground and Nico	1967
The Eighty-Six Years of Eubie Blake	Eubie Blake	1969
Burnin'	The Wailers	1973
Live in Japan	Sarah Vaughan	1973
Graceland	Paul Simon	1986
The first transatlantic broadcast		March 14, 1925	2007
"Allons à Lafayette"	Joe Falcon	1928
"Casta Diva" from Bellini's Norma	Rosa Ponselle and the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra and Chorus, conducted by Giulio Setti	December 31, 1928, and January 30, 1929
"If I Could Hear My Mother Pray Again"	Thomas A. Dorsey	1934
"Sweet Lorraine"	Art Tatum	1940
Fibber McGee and Molly Fibber's closet opens for the first time	Jim Jordan, Marian Jordan	March 4, 1940
Wings Over Jordan		May 10, 1942
Fiorello H. La Guardia reading the comics	Fiorello H. La Guardia	1945
"Call It Stormy Monday (But Tuesday Is Just as Bad)"	T-Bone Walker	1947
Speech at the 1948 Democratic National Convention	Harry S. Truman	July 15, 1948
The Jazz Scene	Various artists, produced by Norman Granz	1949
"It Wasn't God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels"	Kitty Wells	1952
My Fair Lady Original Broadway cast recording	Rex Harrison, Julie Andrews, and the original Broadway cast of My Fair Lady	1956
Navajo Shootingway ceremony field recordings Representative of the David McAllester Collection at Wesleyan University	Recorded by David P. McAllester Ray Winnie and Diné Tsosi, singers	1957–1958
"Freight Train" and Other North Carolina Folk Songs and Tunes	Elizabeth Cotten	1959
United States Marine Band Recordings for the National Cultural Center		1963
"Oh, Pretty Woman"	Roy Orbison	1964
"The Tracks of My Tears"	Smokey Robinson and the Miracles	1965
You'll Sing a Song and I'll Sing a Song	Ella Jenkins	1966
Music from the Morning of the World	Various artists, recorded by David Lewiston	1966
For the Roses	Joni Mitchell	1972
Head Hunters	Herbie Hancock	1973
Ronald Reagan radio broadcasts	Ronald Reagan	1975–79
Murmurs of Earth Disc prepared for the Voyager spacecraft	compilation produced by Carl Sagan	1977
Thriller	Michael Jackson	1982
"No News, or What Killed the Dog"	Nat M. Wills	1908	2008
Acoustic recordings for Victor Talking Machine Company	Jascha Heifetz	1917–1924
"Night Life"	Mary Lou Williams	1930
Sounds of the ivory-billed woodpecker	Recorded by Arthur Allen and Peter Paul Kellogg	1935
Gang Busters First episode, broadcast under the title G-Men		July 20, 1935
"Bei Mir Bist Du Schoen"	The Andrews Sisters	1938
"O Que É Que A Baiana Tem?"	Carmen Miranda	1939
NBC Radio coverage of Marian Anderson's recital at the Lincoln Memorial	Marian Anderson	April 9, 1939
"Tom Dooley"	Frank Proffitt	1940
Mary Margaret McBride	Mary Margaret McBride and Zora Neale Hurston	January 25, 1943
"Uncle Sam Blues" (V-Disc)	Oran "Hot Lips" Page, accompanied by Eddie Condon's Jazz Band	1944
"Sinews of Peace" (Iron Curtain) Speech at Westminster College, Fulton, Missouri	Winston Churchill	March 5, 1946
The Churkendoose	Ray Bolger	1947
"Boogie Chillen'"	John Lee Hooker	1948
A Child's Christmas in Wales	Dylan Thomas	1952
A Festival of Lessons and Carols as Sung on Christmas Eve in King's College Chapel, Cambridge.	King's College Choir; Boris Ord, director	1954
West Side Story Original Broadway cast recording	The original Broadway cast of West Side Story and the New York Philharmonic conducted by Leonard Bernstein	1957
"Tom Dooley"	The Kingston Trio	1958
"Rumble"	Link Wray	1958
The Play of Daniel: A Twelfth-Century Drama	New York Pro Musica under the direction of Noah Greenberg	1958
"Rank Stranger"	The Stanley Brothers	1960
"At Last"	Etta James	1961
2000 Years with Carl Reiner and Mel Brooks	Carl Reiner and Mel Brooks	1961
The Who Sings My Generation	The Who	1966
"He Stopped Loving Her Today"	George Jones	1980
"Fon der Choope (From the Wedding)"	Abe Elenkrig's Yidishe Orchestra	April 4, 1913	2009
"Canal Street Blues"	King Oliver's Creole Jazz Band	April 5, 1923
Tristan und Isolde, NBC broadcast	Metropolitan Opera, featuring Kirsten Flagstad and Lauritz Melchior	March 9, 1935
"When You Wish Upon a Star"	Cliff Edwards	1938 (recorded) / 1940 (released)
America's Town Meeting of the Air: "Should Our Ships Convoy Materials to England?"	George V. Denny Jr. (host); Reinhold Niebuhr, John Flynn (guests)	May 8, 1941
The Library of Congress Marine Corps Combat Field Recording Collection, Second Battle of Guam	Alvin M. Josephy Jr., et al.	July 20 – August 11, 1944
"Evangeline Special" and "Love Bridge Waltz"	Iry LeJeune	1948
The Little Engine That Could	Paul Wing, narrator	1949
Leon Metcalf Collection of recordings of the First People of western Washington State	Leon Metcalf	1950–1954
"Tutti Frutti"	Little Richard	1955
"Smokestack Lightning"	Howlin' Wolf	1956
Gypsy Original Broadway cast recording	Ethel Merman and the original Broadway cast of Gypsy	1959
"Daisy Bell (Bicycle Built for Two)"	Max Mathews	1961
The Complete Village Vanguard Recordings	Bill Evans Trio	June 25, 1961
I Started Out as a Child	Bill Cosby	1964
Azucar Pa' Ti	Eddie Palmieri	1965
Today!	Mississippi John Hurt	1966
Silver Apples of the Moon	Morton Subotnick	1967
Soul Folk in Action	The Staple Singers	1968
The Band	The Band	1969
"Coal Miner's Daughter"	Loretta Lynn	1970
Red Headed Stranger	Willie Nelson	1975
Horses	Patti Smith	1975
"Radio Free Europe" original Hib-Tone single	R.E.M.	1981
"Dear Mama"	2Pac	1995
Phonautograms	Édouard-Léon Scott de Martinville	ca. 1853–1861	2010
"Take Me Out to the Ball Game"	Edward Meeker, accompanied by the Edison Orchestra	1908
Yahi language cylinder recordings	Ishi, last surviving member of the Yahi tribe	1911–1914
"Dark Was the Night, Cold Was the Ground"	Blind Willie Johnson	1927
"It's the Girl"	The Boswell Sisters with the Dorsey Brothers Orchestra	1931
"Mal Hombre"	Lydia Mendoza	1934
"Tumbling Tumbleweeds"	Sons of the Pioneers	1934
Talking Union	The Almanac Singers	1941
Jazz at the Philharmonic	Nat King Cole, Les Paul, Buddy Rich, others	July 2, 1944
Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina's "Pope Marcellus Mass"	Roger Wagner Chorale	1951
"The Eagle Stirreth Her Nest"	Reverend C. L. Franklin	1953
"Tipitina"	Professor Longhair	1953
At Sunset	Mort Sahl	1955
Interviews with jazz musicians for the Voice of America	Willis Conover	1955–56
The Music from Peter Gunn	Henry Mancini	1958
United Sacred Harp Musical Convention in Fyffe, Alabama	field recordings by Alan Lomax and Shirley Collins	1959
Blind Joe Death	John Fahey	1959, 1964, 1967
"Stand by Your Man"	Tammy Wynette	1968
Trout Mask Replica	Captain Beefheart and His Magic Band	1969
Songs of the Humpback Whale	Frank Watlington, Roger Payne, and others	1970
"Let's Stay Together"	Al Green	1971
Black Angels (Thirteen Images from the Dark Land) (George Crumb)	New York Strings Quartet	1972
Aja	Steely Dan	1977
GOPAC Strategy and Instructional Tapes	Newt Gingrich, others	1986–1994
3 Feet High and Rising	De La Soul	1989
Edison Talking Doll cylinder		1888	2011
"Come Down Ma Evenin' Star"	Lillian Russell	1912
"Ten Cents a Dance"	Ruth Etting	1930
Voices from the Days of Slavery	Various	1932–1975
"I Want to Be a Cowboy's Sweetheart"	Patsy Montana	1935
"Fascinating Rhythm"	Sol Hoʻopiʻi	1938
"Artistry in Rhythm"	Stan Kenton	1943
New York Philharmonic debut of Leonard Bernstein	Leonard Bernstein	November 14, 1943
Hottest Women's Band of the 1940s	International Sweethearts of Rhythm	1944–1946 (released 1984)
"Hula Medley"	Gabby Pahinui	1947
Indians for Indians (Hour)	Don Whistler	March 25, 1947
I Can Hear It Now: 1933–1945	Edward R. Murrow and Fred W. Friendly	1948
"Let's Go Out to the Programs"	The Dixie Hummingbirds	1953
Also Sprach Zarathustra	Fritz Reiner and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra	1954, 1958
"Bo Diddley"/ "I'm a Man"	Bo Diddley	1955
"Green Onions"	Booker T. & the M.G.'s	1962
A Charlie Brown Christmas	Vince Guaraldi Trio	1965
Forever Changes	Love	1967
The Continental Harmony: The Gregg Smith Singers Perform Music of William Billings	Gregg Smith Singers	1969
"Coat of Many Colors"	Dolly Parton	1971
Mothership Connection	Parliament	1975
Barton Hall Concert at Cornell University	Grateful Dead	May 8, 1977
"I Feel Love"	Donna Summer	1977
"Rapper's Delight"	The Sugarhill Gang	1979
Purple Rain	Prince and The Revolution	1984
"After You've Gone"	Marion Harris	1918	2012
"Bacon, Beans and Limousines"	Will Rogers	October 18, 1931
"Begin the Beguine"	Artie Shaw	1938
"You Are My Sunshine"	Jimmie Davis	1940
D-Day Radio Broadcast	George Hicks	June 5–6, 1944
"Just Because"	Frank Yankovic & His Yanks	1947
South Pacific Original Broadway cast recording	Mary Martin, Ezio Pinza, and the original Broadway cast of South Pacific	1949
Descargas: Cuban Jam Sessions in Miniature	Cachao	1957
Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto No. 1	Van Cliburn	April 11, 1958
President's Message Relayed from Atlas Satellite	Dwight D. Eisenhower	December 19, 1958
A Program of Song	Leontyne Price	1959
The Shape of Jazz to Come	Ornette Coleman	1959
"Crossing Chilly Jordan"	Blackwood Brothers	1960
"The Twist"	Chubby Checker	1960
Old Time Music at Clarence Ashley's	Clarence Ashley, Doc Watson, others	1960–1962
Hoodoo Man Blues	Junior Wells' Chicago Blues Band feat. Buddy Guy	1965
Sounds of Silence	Simon & Garfunkel	1966
Cheap Thrills	Big Brother and the Holding Company	1968
The Dark Side of the Moon	Pink Floyd	1973
Music Time In Africa Episode: "Mauritania" (premiere episode)	Leo Sarkisian	July 29, 1973
The Wild Tchoupitoulas	The Wild Tchoupitoulas	1976
Ramones	Ramones	1976
Saturday Night Fever Soundtrack	Bee Gees, et al.	1977
Einstein on the Beach	Philip Glass and Robert Wilson	1979
The Audience with Betty Carter	Betty Carter	1980
"The Laughing Song"	George W. Johnson	c. 1896	2013
"They Didn't Believe Me"	Harry Macdonough and Alice Green	1915
"Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?" (Two Versions)	Bing Crosby and Rudy Vallée	1932
Recordings of Kwakwaka'wakw Chief Dan Cranmer	Franz Boas and George Herzog	1938
"Were You There"	Roland Hayes	1940
The Goldbergs Episode: "Sammy Goes to the Army"	Gertrude Berg and cast	July 9, 1942
"Caldonia"	Louis Jordan and His Tympany Five	1945
"Dust My Broom"	Elmore James	1951
A Night at Birdland (Vols. 1 & 2)	Art Blakey	1954
"When I Stop Dreaming"	The Louvin Brothers	1955
"Cathy's Clown"	The Everly Brothers	1960
Texas Sharecropper and Songster	Mance Lipscomb	1960
The First Family	Vaughn Meader	1962
Lawrence Ritter's Interviews with Baseball Pioneers of the Late 19th and Early 20th Century	Lawrence Ritter	1962–1966
Presidential Recordings of Lyndon B. Johnson	Lyndon B. Johnson	1963–1969
Carnegie Hall Concert with Buck Owens and His Buckaroos	Buck Owens and His Buckaroos	1966
"Fortunate Son"	Creedence Clearwater Revival	1969
Shaft	Isaac Hayes	1971
Only Visiting This Planet	Larry Norman	1972
Celia & Johnny	Celia Cruz and Johnny Pacheco	1974
Copland Conducts Copland: Appalachian Spring	Aaron Copland	1974
Heart Like a Wheel	Linda Ronstadt	1974
Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street Original Broadway cast recording	The original Broadway cast of Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street	1979
The Joshua Tree	U2	1987
"Hallelujah"	Jeff Buckley	1994
The Vernacular Wax Cylinder Recordings at University of California, Santa Barbara Library	University of California, Santa Barbara	1890–1910	2014
The Benjamin Ives Gilman Collection, recorded at the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition at Chicago	Benjamin Ives Gilman	1893
"The Boys of the Lough"/"The Humours of Ennistymon"	Michael Coleman	1922
"That Black Snake Moan"/ "Matchbox Blues"	Blind Lemon Jefferson	1928
Suspense Episode: "Sorry, Wrong Number"	Agnes Moorehead	May 25, 1943
"Ac-Cent-Tchu-Ate the Positive"	Johnny Mercer	1944
Radio Coverage of President Franklin D. Roosevelt's Funeral	Arthur Godfrey, et al.	April 14, 1945
Kiss Me, Kate Original Broadway cast recording	Cole Porter, Alfred Drake, Patricia Morison, and the original Broadway cast of Kiss Me Kate	1949
John Brown's Body	Tyrone Power, Judith Anderson, and Raymond Massey; directed by Charles Laughton	1953
"My Funny Valentine" May 20, 1953, live recording	The Gerry Mulligan Quartet featuring Chet Baker	1953
"Sixteen Tons"	Tennessee Ernie Ford	1955
"Mary Don't You Weep"	Swan Silvertones	1959
Joan Baez	Joan Baez	1960
"Stand By Me"	Ben E. King	1961
New Orleans' Sweet Emma Barrett and her Preservation Hall Jazz Band	Sweet Emma Barrett and her Preservation Hall Jazz Band	1964
"You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'"	The Righteous Brothers	1964
The Doors	The Doors	1967
Lincoln Mayorga and Distinguished Colleagues (formerly known as Sheffield S9)	Lincoln Mayorga	1968
Stand!	Sly and the Family Stone	1969
A Wild and Crazy Guy	Steve Martin	1978
Sesame Street: Platinum All-Time Favorites	Various	1995
OK Computer	Radiohead	1997
Old Regular Baptists: Lined-Out Hymnody from Southeastern Kentucky	Indian Bottom Association	1997
The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill	Lauryn Hill	1998
Fanfare for the Uncommon Woman	Colorado Symphony, Marin Alsop, conductor; Joan Tower, composer	1999
"Let Me Call You Sweetheart"	Peerless Quartet	1911	2015
"Wild Cat Blues"	Clarence Williams' Blue Five	1923
"Statesboro Blues"	Blind Willie McTell	1928
"Bonaparte's Retreat" Representative of Alan and Elizabeth Lomax's 1937 Kentucky recordings	W.H. Stepp	1937
Vic and Sade Episode: "Decoration Day Parade"		May 28, 1937
Mahler: Symphony No. 9	Vienna Philharmonic; Bruno Walter, conductor	1938
Carousel of American Music	George M. Cohan, Irving Berlin, Johnny Mercer, Arthur Freed, Shelton Brooks, Hoagy Carmichael, others	September 24, 1940
The Marshall Plan Speech	George C. Marshall	June 5, 1947		copy
Destination Freedom Episodes: "A Garage in Gainesville" and "Execution Awaited"	Richard Durham	September 25 and October 2, 1949
A Streetcar Named Desire soundtrack	Alex North	1951
"Cry Me a River"	Julie London	1955
"Mack the Knife" (Two Versions)	Louis Armstrong and Bobby Darin	1956 and 1959
Fourth-quarter radio coverage of Wilt Chamberlain's 100-point game	Bill Campbell, announcer	March 2, 1962
A Love Supreme	John Coltrane	1964
It's My Way!	Buffy Sainte-Marie	1964
"Where Did Our Love Go"	The Supremes	1964
"People Get Ready"	The Impressions	1965
"Mama Tried"	Merle Haggard	1968
Abraxas	Santana	1970
Class Clown	George Carlin	1972
Robert and Clara Schumann Complete Piano Trios	Beaux Arts Trio	1972
"Piano Man"	Billy Joel	1973
Bogalusa Boogie	Clifton Chenier	1976
"I Will Survive"	Gloria Gaynor	1978
Master of Puppets	Metallica	1986
1888 London cylinder recordings of Col. George Gouraud	George Gouraud	1888	2016
"Lift Every Voice and Sing" (Two Versions)	Manhattan Harmony Four and Melba Moore & Friends	1923 and 1990
"Puttin' On the Ritz"	Harry Richman	1929
"Over the Rainbow"	Judy Garland	1939
"I'll Fly Away"	The Chuck Wagon Gang	1948
"Hound Dog"	Big Mama Thornton	1952
Saxophone Colossus	Sonny Rollins	1956
New York Giants vs. Brooklyn Dodgers final game commentary	Vin Scully	September 8, 1957
Gunfighter Ballads and Trail Songs	Marty Robbins	1959
The Incredible Jazz Guitar of Wes Montgomery	Wes Montgomery	1960
People	Barbra Streisand	1964
"In the Midnight Hour"	Wilson Pickett	1965
"Amazing Grace"	Judy Collins	1970
All Things Considered first broadcast	National Public Radio	May 3, 1971
"American Pie"	Don McLean	1971
The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars	David Bowie	1972
The Wiz Original Broadway cast recording	The original Broadway cast of The Wiz	1975
Their Greatest Hits (1971–1975)	Eagles	1976
Scott Joplin's Treemonisha	Gunther Schuller, arr.	1976
Wanted: Live in Concert	Richard Pryor	1978
"We Are Family"	Sister Sledge	1979
Remain in Light	Talking Heads	1980
Straight Outta Compton	N.W.A	1988
Rachmaninoff's Vespers (All-Night Vigil)	The Robert Shaw Festival Singers	1990
Signatures	Renée Fleming	1997
"Dream Melody Intermezzo: Naughty Marietta"	Victor Herbert and his Orchestra	1911	2017
Standing Rock Preservation Recordings	George Herzog and Members of the Yanktoni Tribe	1928
"Lamento Borincano"	written by Rafael Hernández Marín performed by Canario y Su Grupo (including Davilita on lead vocals)	1930
"Sitting on Top of the World"	Mississippi Sheiks	1930
The Complete Beethoven Piano Sonatas	Artur Schnabel	1932–1935
"If I Didn't Care"	The Ink Spots	1939
Proceedings of the United Nations Conference on International Organization		April 25 – June 26, 1945
Folk Songs of the Hills	Merle Travis	1946
"How I Got Over"	Clara Ward and the Ward Singers	1950
"(We're Gonna) Rock Around the Clock"	Bill Haley & His Comets	1954
Calypso	Harry Belafonte	1956
"I Left My Heart in San Francisco"	Tony Bennett	1962
"My Girl"	The Temptations	1964
King Biscuit Time	Sonny Boy Williamson II and others	1965
The Sound of Music soundtrack	Various	1965
"Alice's Restaurant Massacree"	Arlo Guthrie	1967
New Sounds in Electronic Music	Steve Reich, Richard Maxfield, Pauline Oliveros	1967
An Evening with Groucho	Groucho Marx	1972
Rumours	Fleetwood Mac	1977
"The Gambler"	Kenny Rogers	1978
"Le Freak"	Chic	1978
"Footloose"	Kenny Loggins	1984
Raising Hell	Run-DMC	1986
"Rhythm Is Gonna Get You"	Gloria Estefan and Miami Sound Machine	1987
Yo-Yo Ma Premieres: Concertos for Violoncello and Orchestra	Yo-Yo Ma & the Philadelphia Orchestra performing Christopher Rouse, Leon Kirchner, and Richard Danielpour	1996
Yiddish Cylinders from the Standard Phonograph Company of New York and the Thomas Lambert Company		c. 1901–1905	2018
"The Memphis Blues"	Victor Military Band	1914
Melville Jacobs Collection of Native Americans of the American Northwest	Melville Jacobs	1929–1939
"Minnie the Moocher"	Cab Calloway	1931
Bach Six Cello Suites	Pablo Casals	1936–1939
"They Look Like Men of War"	Deep River Boys	1941
Gunsmoke Episode: "The Cabin"	William Conrad and cast	December 27, 1952
Complete Recorded Monologues	Ruth Draper	1954–1956
"La Bamba"	Ritchie Valens	1958
"Long Black Veil"	Lefty Frizzell	1959
Stan Freberg Presents the United States of America Volume One: The Early Years	Stan Freberg	1961
Go	Dexter Gordon	1962
War Requiem	Benjamin Britten	1963
"Mississippi Goddam"	Nina Simone	1964
"Soul Man"	Sam & Dave	1967
Hair Original Broadway cast recording	The original Broadway cast of Hair	1968
Robert F. Kennedy's speech on the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr.	Robert F. Kennedy	April 4, 1968
"Sweet Caroline"	Neil Diamond	1969
Super Fly	Curtis Mayfield	1972
Ola Belle Reed	Ola Belle Reed	1973
"September"	Earth, Wind & Fire	1978
"You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real)"	Sylvester	1978
She's So Unusual	Cyndi Lauper	1983
Schoolhouse Rock!: The Box Set	Various	1996
The Blueprint	Jay-Z	2001
"Whispering"	Paul Whiteman and his Orchestra	1920	2019
"Protesta per Sacco e Vanzetti"/"Sacco e Vanzetti"	Compagnia Columbia; Raoul Romito	1927
"La Chicharronera"	Narciso Martínez and Santiago Almeida	1936
Arch Oboler's Plays Episode: "The Bathysphere"		November 18, 1939
"Me and My Chauffeur Blues"	Memphis Minnie	1941
The 1951 National League Tiebreaker: New York Giants vs. Brooklyn Dodgers	Russ Hodges, announcer	October 3, 1951
Tosca (Puccini)	Victor de Sabata, conductor, with Maria Callas, Giuseppe Di Stefano and others	1953
"Hello Muddah, Hello Faddah"	Allan Sherman	1963
WGBH broadcast of the Boston Symphony on the day of the John F. Kennedy assassination	Boston Symphony Orchestra	November 22, 1963
Fiddler on the Roof Original Broadway Cast recording	Zero Mostel and the original Broadway cast of Fiddler on the Roof	1964
"Make the World Go Away"	Eddy Arnold	1965
Hiromi Lorraine Sakata collection of Afghan traditional music	Recorded by Hiromi Lorraine Sakata	1966–67, 1971–73
"Wichita Lineman"	Glen Campbell	1968
Dusty in Memphis	Dusty Springfield	1969
Mister Rogers Sings 21 Favorite Songs from "Mister Rogers' Neighborhood"	Fred Rogers	1973
Cheap Trick at Budokan	Cheap Trick	1978
Suite No. 1 in E flat, Suite No. 2 in F (Holst) / Music for the Royal Fireworks (Handel) / Fantasia in G (Bach) Special edition audiophile pressing	Frederick Fennell and the Cleveland Symphonic Winds	1978
"Y.M.C.A."	Village People	1978
A Feather on the Breath of God	Gothic Voices; Christopher Page, conductor; Hildegard von Bingen, composer	1981/2 (released 1985)
Private Dancer	Tina Turner	1984
Ven Conmigo	Selena	1990
The Chronic	Dr. Dre	1992
"I Will Always Love You"	Whitney Houston	1992
Concert in the Garden	Maria Schneider Orchestra	2004
Percussion Concerto (Higdon)	Colin Currie	2008
"St. Louis tinfoil" recording	Thomas Edison	1878	2020
"Nikolina"	Hjalmar Peterson	1917
"Smyrneikos Balos"	Marika Papagika	1928
"When the Saints Go Marching In"	Louis Armstrong & His Orchestra	1938
Christmas Eve broadcast	Franklin D. Roosevelt and Winston Churchill	December 24, 1941
The Guiding Light Episode: November 22, 1945		November 22, 1945
Odetta Sings Ballads and Blues	Odetta	1957
"Lord, Keep Me Day by Day"	Albertina Walker and the Caravans	1959
Roger Maris hits his 61st home run	Phil Rizzuto	October 1, 1961
Aida	Leontyne Price, et al.	1962
"Once a Day"	Connie Smith	1964
Born Under a Bad Sign	Albert King	1967
Free to Be ... You & Me	Marlo Thomas and Friends	1972
The Harder They Come	Jimmy Cliff	1972
"Lady Marmalade"	Labelle	1974
Late for the Sky	Jackson Browne	1974
Bright Size Life	Pat Metheny	1976
"Rainbow Connection"	Kermit the Frog (Jim Henson)	1979
"Celebration"	Kool & the Gang	1980
Richard Strauss: Four Last Songs	Jessye Norman	1983
"Somewhere Over the Rainbow/What a Wonderful World"	Israel Kamakawiwo'ole	1988, released 1993
Rhythm Nation 1814	Janet Jackson	1989
Partners	Flaco Jiménez	1992
Illmatic	Nas	1994
This American Life: "The Giant Pool of Money"	Ira Glass, Adam Davidson & Alex Blumberg	May 9, 2008
"Harlem Strut"	James P. Johnson	1921	2022
Complete presidential speeches	Franklin D. Roosevelt	1933–1945
"Walking the Floor Over You"	Ernest Tubb	1941
On a Note of Triumph	Norman Corwin	May 8, 1945
"Jesus Gave Me Water"	The Soul Stirrers	1950
Ellington at Newport	Duke Ellington	1956
We Insist!	Max Roach	1960
"The Christmas Song" 1961 stereo recording	Nat "King" Cole	1961
Tonight's the Night	The Shirelles	1961
"Moon River"	Andy Williams	1962
"It's a Small World (After All)"	Disneyland Boys Choir	1964
"Reach Out I'll Be There"	Four Tops	1966
In C	Terry Riley	1968
Hank Aaron's 715th career home run	Milo Hamilton	April 8, 1974
"Bohemian Rhapsody"	Queen	1975
"Don't Stop Believin'"	Journey	1981
Canciones de Mi Padre	Linda Ronstadt	1987
Nick of Time	Bonnie Raitt	1989
The Low End Theory	A Tribe Called Quest	1991
Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers)	Wu-Tang Clan	1993
Buena Vista Social Club	Buena Vista Social Club	1997
"Livin' la Vida Loca"	Ricky Martin	1999
Songs in A Minor	Alicia Keys	2001
Broadcasts for the day of 9/11	WNYC	September 11, 2001
WTF with Marc Maron Episode 67: "Robin Williams"	Marc Maron and Robin Williams	April 26, 2010
The Very First Mariachi Recordings	Cuarteto Coculense	1907-1909 (reissued 1998)	2023
"St. Louis Blues"	Handy's Memphis Blues Band	1922
"Sugar Foot Stomp"	Fletcher Henderson	1925
Commentary and analysis of the European situation for NBC Radio	Dorothy Thompson	Aug. 23 – September 6, 1939
"Don't Let Nobody Turn You Around"	The Fairfield Four	1947
"Sherry"	The Four Seasons	1962
"What the World Needs Now is Love"	Jackie DeShannon	1965
"Wang Dang Doodle"	Koko Taylor	1966
"Ode to Billie Joe"	Bobbie Gentry	1967
Déjà Vu	Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young	1970
"Imagine"	John Lennon	1971
"Stairway to Heaven"	Led Zeppelin	1971
"Take Me Home, Country Roads"	John Denver	1971
"Margaritaville"	Jimmy Buffett	1977
"Flashdance…What a Feeling"	Irene Cara	1983
"Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)"	Eurythmics	1983
Synchronicity	The Police	1983
Like a Virgin	Madonna	1984; 1985 reissue
Black Codes (From the Underground)	Wynton Marsalis	1985
Super Mario Bros. theme	Koji Kondo	1985
All Hail the Queen	Queen Latifah	1989
"All I Want for Christmas is You"	Mariah Carey	1994
Pale Blue Dot Audiobook	Carl Sagan	1994
"Gasolina"	Daddy Yankee	2004
Concerto for Clarinet and Chamber Orchestra (Zwilich)	Chamber Music Northwest	2012
"Clarinet Marmalade"	Lt. James Reese Europe's 369th U.S. Infantry Band	1919	2024
"Kauhavan Polkka"	Viola Turpeinen and John Rosendahl	1928
Wisconsin Folksong Collection		1937–1946
"Rose Room"	Benny Goodman Sextet with Charlie Christian	1939
"Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer"	Gene Autry	1949
"Tennessee Waltz"	Patti Page	1950
"Rocket 88"	Jackie Brenston and his Delta Cats	1951
"Catch a Falling Star"/"Magic Moments"	Perry Como	1957
"Chances Are"	Johnny Mathis	1957
The Sidewinder	Lee Morgan	1964
Surrealistic Pillow	Jefferson Airplane	1967
"Ain't No Sunshine"	Bill Withers	1971
This Is a Recording	Lily Tomlin	1971
J. D. Crowe & The New South	J. D. Crowe and The New South	1975
Arrival	ABBA	1976
"El Cantante"	Héctor Lavoe	1978
The Cars	The Cars	1978
Parallel Lines	Blondie	1978
"La Di Da Di"	Doug E. Fresh and MC Ricky D	1985
"Don't Worry, Be Happy"	Bobby McFerrin	1988
"Amor eterno"	Juan Gabriel	1990
Pieces of Africa	Kronos Quartet	1992
Dookie	Green Day	1994
Ready to Die	The Notorious B.I.G.	1994
Wide Open Spaces	The Chicks	1998

Statistics

As of 2023, the oldest recording on the list is Edouard-Leon Scott de Martinville's Phonautograms which date back to the 1850s. The most recent is the Chamber Music Northwest's rendition of Ellen Taaffe Zwilich's Concerto for Clarinet and Chamber Ensemble from 2012.

Selections vary widely in duration. The early Edison recordings, the instrumental "Rumble" by Link Wray, "Rock Around the Clock" by Bill Haley and His Comets and the Super Mario Bros. theme by Koji Kondo each clock in at under three minutes. The Edison "Talking Doll" cylinder is only 17 seconds long and some of Scott de Martinville's Phonautographs are just as brief. Meanwhile, Georg Solti's recording of Wagner's complete Ring Cycle is approximately 15 hours in duration, Alexander Scourby's recitation of the King James Bible is over 80 hours, and Lyndon B. Johnson's recordings are nearly 850 hours in length.

Two significant podcast episodes are included: "The Giant Pool of Money" from This American Life (focusing on the subprime mortgage crisis causing the Great Recession) and the Robin Williams interview from WTF with Marc Maron (before his death from suicide in 2014).

The Super Mario Bros. theme is the first piece of video game music to be selected for the Registry.

Multiple entries

List of names

Roy Acuff: Grand Ole Opry debut and "Wabash Cannonball" Harold Arlen: "Over the Rainbow" (both Judy Garland and Israel Kamakawiwoʻole versions) and Judy at Carnegie Hall Marin Alsop: Fanfare for the Uncommon Woman (Joan Tower) and Percussion Concerto (Jennifer Higdon) Marian Anderson: 1939 recital at the Lincoln Memorial and "He's Got the Whole World in His Hands" Julie Andrews: The Sound of Music and My Fair Lady Louis Armstrong: Hot Five and Hot Seven recordings, Canal Street Blues (King Oliver's Creole Jazz Band), Murmurs of Earth ("Melancholy Blues"), "When the Saints Go Marching In" and "Mack The Knife" Clarence Ashley: Anthology of American Folk Music and Old Time Music at Clarence Ashley's Johann Sebastian Bach: Mass in B minor (Robert Shaw Chorale), Switched-On Bach (Wendy Carlos), Fantasia in G (Frederick Fennell and the Cleveland Symphonic Winds), Cello Suites (Pablo Casals), Murmurs of Earth (Bradenburg Concerto, The Well-Tempered Clavier & Partita for Violin Solo No. 3 in E Major) and Goldberg Variations (Glenn Gould) Ludwig van Beethoven: Kreutzer Sonata (Béla Bartók and Joseph Szigeti), Complete String Quartets (Budapest Quartet), Egmont Overture (Modesto High School Band), Complete Piano Sonatas (Artur Schnabel), Murmurs of Earth (a section of Symphony No.5 conducted by Otto Klemperer) and Marcia Funebre (Boston Symphony Orchestra) Harry Belafonte: Calypso and Free to Be... You and Me (with Marlo Thomas) Irving Berlin: "God Bless America", "Puttin' on the Ritz", and Carousel of American Music Leonard Bernstein: West Side Story and New York Philharmonic debut Chuck Berry: "Roll Over, Beethoven" and Murmurs of Earth (containing "Johnny B. Goode") Bertolt Brecht: "Mack the Knife" (both versions by Armstrong and Darin) and Saxophone Colossus (Rollins) Benjamin Britten: War Requiem and Signatures (Fleming) Jackson Browne: Their Greatest Hits (1971–1975) (Eagles) and Late for the Sky (solo) Hoagy Carmichael: "Stardust" and Carousel of American Music The Carter Family: "Wildwood Flower", Anthology of American Folk Music and Bristol sessions Mother Maybelle Carter: "Wildwood Flower", Anthology of American Folk Music, and Bristol sessions Clifton Chenier: Crescent City Living Legends Collection and Bogalusa Boogie Winston Churchill: "Sinews of Peace" and 1941 Christmas Eve broadcast Nat King Cole: "Straighten Up and Fly Right", "The Christmas Song" and Jazz at the Philharmonic John Coltrane: Kind of Blue (Miles Davis), Giant Steps, and A Love Supreme Norman Corwin: We Hold These Truths and On a Note of Triumph Bing Crosby: "Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?" and "White Christmas" Celia Cruz: Celia & Johnny and Fania All-Stars Live At Yankee Stadium (vocals) Miles Davis: "Ko-Ko" and Kind of Blue Fats Domino: "Blueberry Hill", Cheap Trick at Budokan (band's cover of "Ain't That a Shame") and J.D. Crowe & The New South (cover of "I'm Walkin") Thomas A. Dorsey: Precious Lord: New Recordings of the Great Gospel Songs of Thomas A. Dorsey and "If I Could Hear My Mother Pray Again" Dr. Dre: Straight Outta Compton (N.W.A) and The Chronic (solo) Thomas Edison: 1888–89 exhibition recordings ("Around the World on the Phonograph", "The Pattison Waltz" and "Fifth Regiment March") and 1878 "St. Louis tinfoil" recording Bernard Edwards: "Le Freak" (Chic), "We Are Family" (Sister Sledge), and Like a Virgin (Madonna) (bass guitar) Duke Ellington: At Newport and Blanton-Webster era recordings Brian Eno: Remain in Light (Talking Heads) and The Joshua Tree (U2) (each as producer) Bill Evans: Kind of Blue and The Complete Village Vanguard Recordings, 1961 The Everly Brothers: Graceland (additional vocals) and "Cathy's Clown" (performers) Joe Falcon: "Allons à Lafayette" and Anthology of American Folk Music Frederick Fennell: Winds in Hi-Fi and Suite No. 1 in E flat, Suite No. 2 in F (Gustav Holst) / Music for the Royal Fireworks (Handel) / Fantasia in G (Bach) Judy Garland: Judy at Carnegie Hall and "Over the Rainbow" Marvin Gaye: What's Going On and "Dancing in the Street" (Martha & the Vandellas) (songwriter) George Gershwin: "Rhapsody in Blue", Porgy and Bess, "Swanee", "Summertime" (Janis Joplin cover on Cheap Thrills) and "Fascinating Rhythm" Dizzy Gillespie: "Ko-Ko" and Manteca Benny Goodman: "Rose Room" (with Charlie Christian) and Carnegie Hall Jazz Concert Merle Haggard: "Mama Tried" and Barton Hall concert at Cornell University (Grateful Dead's cover of "Mama Tried") Herbie Hancock: Songs in the Key of Life and Head Hunters George Frideric Handel: Messiah (Eugene Ormandy), Concerto Grosso in B flat major (Erich Leinsdorf and the Boston Symphony Orchestra) and Music for the Royal Fireworks (Frederick Fennell and the Cleveland Symphonic Winds) Don Henley: Their Greatest Hits (1971–1975) (Eagles) and Late for the Sky (vocals) Jim Henson: "Rainbow Connection" and Sesame Street: Platinum All-Time Favorites ("Bein' Green") (both as Kermit the Frog); ("Rubber Duckie" and "I Don't Want to Live on the Moon", as Ernie) Mississippi John Hurt: Anthology of American Folk Music and Today! Blind Lemon Jefferson: "That Black Snake Moan/Matchbox Blues" and Anthology of American Folk Music Blind Willie Johnson: Anthology of American Folk Music, "Dark Was the Night, Cold Was the Ground" and Murmurs of Earth (also featuring "Dark Was the Night, Cold Was the Ground") James P. Johnson: "Charleston" (Golden Gate Orchestra) and "Harlem Strut" Scott Joplin: Ragtime piano rolls and Treemonisha Carol Kaye: Pet Sounds (Beach Boys), "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'" (The Righteous Brothers), and Forever Changes (Love) (each as part of The Wrecking Crew) Carole King: Tapestry and Tonight's the Night (The Shirelles) John Lennon: Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (The Beatles) and Imagine (solo) Alan Lomax: Jelly Roll Morton interviews and United Sacred Harp Musical Convention in Fyffe, Alabama Professor Longhair: "Tipatina" and Crescent City Living Legends Collection Teo Macero: Mingus Ah Um (Charles Mingus) and Time Out (Brubeck) (each as producer) Uncle Dave Macon: Anthology of American Folk Music and Grand Ole Opry debut Henry Mancini: The Music from Peter Gunn and "Moon River" (Andy Williams) Curtis Mayfield: "People Get Ready" (The Impressions) and Super Fly (solo) Paul McCartney: Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (The Beatles) and Thriller (Michael Jackson) Graham McNamee: Inauguration of Calvin Coolidge, Charles Lindbergh's arrival, and Light's Golden Jubilee (announcer) Giorgio Moroder: "I Feel Love" (Donna Summer) and "Flashdance... What a Feeling" (Irene Cara) Jelly Roll Morton: Alan Lomax interviews and Black Bottom Stomp Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Murmurs of Earth (The Magic Flute) and Signatures (Fleming) Edward R. Murrow: I Can Hear It Now: 1933–1945 and 1941 broadcasts from London Johnny Pacheco: Celia & Johnny and Fania All-Stars Live At Yankee Stadium (conductor) Cole Porter: "You're the Top" and Kiss Me, Kate Leontyne Price: A Program of Song and Aida (Verdi) Ismael Quintana: Azúcar Pa' Ti (Eddie Palmieri), Fania All-Stars Live At Yankee Stadium (vocals), and Celia & Johnny (maracas) Sergei Rachmaninoff: Piano Concerto No. 2 in C minor and All-Night Virgil Bonnie Raitt: Nick of Time and Wide Open Spaces (The Chicks) Paul Robeson: Show Boat and Othello Marty Robbins: Gunfighter Ballads and Trail Songs and Barton Hall concert at Cornell University (Grateful Dead's cover of "El Paso") Jimmie Rodgers: "Blue Yodel (T for Texas)" and Bristol sessions Nile Rogers: "Le Freak" (Chic), "We Are Family" (Sister Sledge), and Like a Virgin (Madonna) Rodgers and Hammerstein: South Pacific, Oklahoma! and The Sound of Music Sonny Rollins: Brilliant Corners (Thelonious Monk) and Saxophone Colossus (solo) Linda Ronstadt: Graceland (backup vocals), Partners (duet), Canciones de Mi Padre and Heart Like a Wheel (solo) Franklin D. Roosevelt: 1941 Christmas Eve broadcast, complete presidential speeches and "Fireside chats" Diana Ross: "Where Did Our Love Go" (The Supremes) and Free to Be... You and Me (solo) Carl Sagan: Voyager Record (producer) and Pale Blue Dot (narrator of the audiobook) Pete Seeger: We Shall Overcome and Talking Union (The Alamanac Singers) Robert Shaw: Mass in B minor (Robert Shaw Chorale) and All-Night Vigil (Robert Shaw Festival Singers) Paul Simon: Sounds of Silence (Simon & Garfunkel) and Graceland (solo) Stephen Sondheim: West Side Story, Gypsy and Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street Phil Spector: "Be My Baby" (The Ronettes) and "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin" (The Righteous Brothers) Leopold Stokowski: 1942 recording of Native Brazilian music and Piano Concerto No. 2 in C minor (Rachmaninoff) Richard Strauss: Also Sprach Zarathustra (Fritz Reiner), Winds in Hi-Fi (Frederick Fennell and the Cleveland Symphonic Winds), Four Last Songs (Jessye Norman), Leonard Bernstein debut (sections of Don Quixote), A Program of Song (Leontyne Price) and Signatures (Fleming) Igor Stravinsky: The Rite of Spring and Murmurs of Earth (also containing a section of the same piece) Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky: Piano Concerto No.1 (Van Cliburn) and Signatures (Renée Fleming) Big Mama Thorton: "Hound Dog" and Cheap Thrills (Janis Joplin cover of "Ball and Chain") Arturo Toscanini: Piano Concerto No. 1 and "Adagio for Strings" (Samuel Barber) Kurt Weill: "Mack the Knife" (both versions by Louis Armstrong and Bobby Darin) and Saxophone Colossus (Rollins) Orson Welles: War of the Worlds and The Fall of the City Paul Whiteman: Rhapsody in Blue and "Whispering" Stevie Wonder: "Lift Every Voice and Sing" (Melba Moore & Friends) and Songs in the Key of Life (solo) Frank Zappa: We're Only in It for the Money (Mothers of Invention) and Trout Mask Replica (producer)

See also

• Grammy Hall of Fame
• National Film Registry
• Sounds of Australia
• Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

External links

• National Recording Preservation Board
• Full National Recording Registry
• NPR All Things Considered – series spotlighting selections from the Registry
• Selection spotlights on WNYC
• 1A The Sounds of America – series spotlighting selections from the Registry