By GAIL FINEBERG
Half of the nation's earliest wax cylinder recordings, including one of Mark Twain speaking about his personal experience with the phonograph, are lost, broken, or covered with mold.
American radio recordings from the 1930s, ‘40s, and ‘50s are at risk. Discs on which historical radio broadcasts were recorded have deteriorated; stations and networks discarded many old recordings years ago. Gone is much of the CBS radio network archive, including a Duke Ellington broadcast from the Cotton Club in the 1920s. NBC recordings of clarinetist Artie Shaw with singer Billie Holiday are lost.
Although some recordings are relatively stable, such as those on 78-rpm discs, modern-day archivists have difficulty locating and maintaining machines to play the recordings.
Even reel-to-reel analog tapes, once the archival standard for preserving master recordings, are deteriorating, and play-back machines and engineers to operate them are becoming obsolete.
Citing these examples of lost or endangered sound recordings during a Jan. 27 press briefing in the Mary Pickford Theater, Librarian of Congress James H. Billington argued that the nation's libraries and archives must act to preserve millions of sound recordings that still exist, but that are already, or soon will be, at risk.
"Our memory is perishing. … We must preserve the nation's cultural heritage," Billington said at the packed Monday morning briefing called to announce the first 50 sound recordings named to a new National Recording Registry.
The registry is a provision of the National Recording Preservation Act of 2000, which was modeled on the Library's successful national film preservation program. The law directs the Librarian each year to add "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant" sound recordings to the National Recording Registry.
Recordings named to the registry may not be in dire need of preservation themselves, but their significance draws attention to the importance of saving sound recordings in digital files that can be stored on servers, refreshed and saved periodically, and accessed easily once they enter the public domain upon expiration of their creators' copyrights.
"This morning marks a historic step in preserving more than a century of sound," Billington said.
"The variety of America's musical traditions form a unique soundscape that informs our culture and enriches our communities. Emile Berliner, who invented the gramophone disc, described recording as a ‘communion with immortality.' Today we are taking the first step toward ensuring that immortality," the Librarian said. "This announcement is about firsts in our technical, musical, and cultural achievements."
Drawing applause from the audience, Billington's 50 selections for the first registry represented more than 100 years of American inventors' recording technologies, beginning with Edison's wax cylinders (1888-1889), Jesse Walter Fewkes' first ethnographic field recordings on wax cylinders of Passamaquoddy Indians speaking their ancient language (1890); the first recording of "Stars and Stripes Forever," made for Berliner in 1897; and the first cylinder recordings of the Metropolitan Opera (1900-1903). The "soundscape" Billington selected included the recordings of Scott Joplin playing his ragtime compositions (piano rolls, 1900s) and Caruso singing an aria from "Pagliacci" (1907); George Gershwin playing his "Rhapsody in Blue" (first recording, 1924) and Bill Monroe and the Blue Grass Boys performing "Blue Moon of Kentucky" (1947); radio broadcasts of President Franklin D. Roosevelt's "Fireside Chats" (1933-1944) and Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower's D-Day address to the allied nations (1944); T.S. Eliot, W.H. Auden and others reciting their poems (1930-1940s); and American musicians performing through the decades, concluding with rappers Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five ("The Message," 1982).
The Librarian noted that he weighed selection recommendations from the public and the National Recording Preservation Board, which includes educators, archivists, copyright owners, and recording industry representatives.
"Why should the Library be in the business of preserving works that still sell hundreds of copies a year?" one reporter asked.
Emphasizing that the Library "is not in the commercial business at all," the Librarian explained that the primary purpose of the law and the registry is to capture the nation's historical and cultural record before it is lost to posterity. "We are a throw-away society," he said, "and the medium is perishable. Somebody has to preserve it. … Somebody has got to define preservation standards."
Preservation is not a new priority for the Library, Billington said, noting that Congress had commissioned the Library earlier to lead national efforts to preserve ephemeral born-digital items created on the World Wide Web, as well as to preserve films and television programs.
Sam Brylawski, head of the Recorded Sound Section in the Motion Picture, Broadcasting, and Recorded Sound Division, pointed out that pre-1972 recordings are protected by state and common law copyrights until 2067. In his introductory remarks, the Librarian explained provisions of the National Recording Preservation Act of 2000, which charges him with responsibility for the registry and creates the National Recording Preservation Board as well as a separate National Recording Preservation Foundation.
In the coming year, the board, with assistance from the Library, will begin to assess the status of sound preservation in the United States and report to Congress. The board will look at libraries and archives to assess a wide range of preservation activities, such as access to older recordings for educational purposes, techniques for saving recordings, and the influence of current laws on sound preservation.
The board's report to Congress will serve as the basis for a national recording preservation plan, which will establish national sound preservation standards.
The Librarian introduced three members of the preservation board: JosŽ Antonio Bowen of the American Musicological Society, Elizabeth Cohen (alternate) of the Audio Engineering Society, and David Sanjek (alternate) of Broadcast Music Inc.
Billington said the National Recording Preservation Act of 2000 established the National Recording Preservation Foundation as a charitable and nonprofit corporation that will raise funds and distribute grants to the Library of Congress and other public and nonprofit archives to promote and ensure audio preservation.
Billington announced and introduced the foundation's first chairman, Bill Ivey, past chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts. A musician trained as a folklorist, Ivey was director of the Country Music Foundation in Nashville for 27 years and is now director of the Center for Art, Enterprise, and Public Policy at Vanderbilt University.
Ivey said the law creating the National Recording Registry, the board, and the foundation is a "significant landmark in recognition of the nation's recorded cultural heritage." He said the board will create partnerships while working with "those who own and control archives to advance the interest of preserving our cultural heritage."
National Recording Registry 2002 (In Chronological Order)
- Edison Exhibition Recordings (group of three cylinders):
"Around the World on the Phonograph," "The Pattison Waltz," and
"Fifth Regiment March" (1888-1889)
A trio of cylinders selected by Edison contemporaries to represent the birth of commercial sound recording–as an industry, as a practical technology, and as a means to preserve music and spoken word. - The Jesse Walter Fewkes field recordings of the Passamaquoddy
Indians (1890)
Fewkes' cylinder recordings, made in Calais, Me., are considered to be the first ethnographic recordings made "in the field," as well as the first recordings of Native American music. - "Stars and Stripes Forever" Military Band. Berliner Gramophone
disc recording (1897)
The first recording of America's favorite march. "The Stars and Stripes Forever!," John Philip Sousa's most famous march, was recorded by the company of the inventor of the 78-rpm gramophone disc, Emile Berliner. - Lionel Mapleson cylinder recordings of the Metropolitan
Opera (1900-1903)
In the early 1900s, Lionel Mapleson set up a phonograph in the New York City Metropolitan Opera House to record excerpts of live performances there. These cylinders preserve the spontaneous artistry of this era and are the only known extant recordings of some performers, including Jean de Reszke. - Scott Joplin ragtime compositions on piano rolls. Scott
Joplin, piano (1900s)
Scott Joplin is regarded as the pre-eminent composer of ragtime compositions. Joplin himself performed some of these rags for piano roll sales. These rolls represent the way rags were originally listened to and enjoyed on home player pianos. They are outstanding examples of a less-familiar, nearly-obsolete, sound recording format. - Booker T. Washington's 1895 Atlanta Exposition Speech (1906
recreation)
In 1906, Booker T. Washington recreated his controversial 1895 Atlanta Exposition speech in which he promotes inter-racial cooperation, as well as African-American self-reliance. This address drew criticism from other black leaders who interpreted it as giving in to segregation. - "Vesti la giubba" from Pagliacci. Enrico Caruso (1907)
Tenor Enrico Caruso was probably the most popular recording artist of his time. His recording of this signature aria by Leoncavallo was a best-selling recording. - "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot." Fisk Jubilee Singers (1909)
The Fisk Jubilee Singers established the black spiritual in the history of American music. They were also the first to introduce these songs to white audiences through concert tours and recordings. "Swing Low" is their first commercial recording. - Lovey's Trinidad String Band recordings for Columbia Records
(1912)
These Trinidadian instrumental musicians were recorded in New York City during a tour in 1912. Lovey's String Band exemplifies a pre-jazz "hot" style common in the Caribbean at that time. - "Casey at the Bat." DeWolf Hopper, reciting (1915)
This extraordinarily popular comic baseball recitation (poem) is read by the vaudevillian, DeWolf Hopper. Hopper reportedly recited this poem more than 10,000 times in performance. - "Tiger Rag." Original Dixieland Jazz Band (1918)
The Original Dixieland Jazz Band was the first jazz band to make a commercial recording. This all-white New Orleans-style group from Chicago featured cornetist Nick LaRocca. While not the best ensemble of its day, the Original Dixieland Jazz Band's first recordings started a craze for the new art form, jazz. - "Arkansas Traveler" and "Sallie Gooden." Eck Robertson,
fiddle (1922)
Eck Robertson, master old-time fiddler, is recognized as the first performer to make country music recordings. This Victor disc features Robertson as a soloist on "Sallie Gooden," and in a duet with fiddler Henry Gilliland performing "Arkansas Traveler" on the flip side. - "Down-Hearted Blues." Bessie Smith (1923)
"Down-Hearted Blues" is the best-selling and enduring first release by the "Empress of the Blues." Bessie Smith first recorded it in 1923, launching a blues career that would have no parallel during the classic blues era. She recorded more than 150 songs over her 14-year recording career. - "Rhapsody in Blue." George Gershwin, piano; Paul Whiteman
Orchestra (1924)
The first recording made of this classic American composition featured the composer at the piano and Paul Whiteman conducting. The recording was made several months after the 1924 Aeolian Hall premiere of the work. - Louis Armstrong's Hot Five and Hot Seven recordings (1925-1928)
Louis Armstrong was jazz's first great soloist, and among American music's most important and influential figures. These sessions, and his solos in particular, set a standard musicians still strive to equal in their beauty and innovation. - Victor Talking Machine Company sessions in Bristol, Tenn.
Carter Family, Jimmie Rodgers, Ernest Stoneman, and others (1927)
Victor Records, searching for performers of "hillbilly" music, recorded performances by 19 local musicians in Bristol, Tenn., in 1927. The amazing display of talent yielded such future country music recording stars as the Carter Family, Jimmie Rodgers and Ernest Stoneman. The sessions are considered a watershed moment in the history of country music. - Harvard Vocarium record series. T.S. Eliot, W.H. Auden,
others, reciting (1930-1940s)
Harvard Vocarium was a record label produced by the Harvard University Poetry Room in the 1930s and 1940s, which featured authors reading their own works. Among the writers recorded were T.S. Eliot, W.H. Auden and Tennessee Williams. - Highlander Center Field Recording Collection. Rosa Parks,
Esau Jenkins, others (1930s-1980s)
The Highlander Center has played important roles in many political movements. These discs document Zilphia Horton, who introduced "We Will Overcome" to the Southern Labor Movement, and later, to Pete Seeger. The collection also includes recordings of activists Myles Horton, Rosa Parks, Esau Jenkins and Septima Clark. - Bell Laboratories experimental stereo recordings. Philadelphia
Orchestra, Leopold Stokowski, conductor (1931-1932)
Experimental recordings made by the Bell Laboratories in the early 1930s resulted in the first high-fidelity, stereo recordings. Among them were recordings that feature this great American orchestra under its renowned, and controversial, conductor, Leopold Stokowski. - President Franklin D. Roosevelt's radio "Fireside Chats"
(1933-1944)
The Fireside Chats were an influential series of radio broadcasts in which Roosevelt utilized the medium to present his programs directly to the public and thereby redefined the relationship between the president and the American people. - New Music Recordings series. Henry Cowell, producer (1934-1949)
This series of 30 discs was published by Henry Cowell as part of his ground-breaking efforts to promote avant-garde music in the United States. The discs were issued in conjunction with his scholarly journal, New Music, and include works by Walter Piston, Otto Luening, Edgar Varese, Henry Cowell and Charles Ives. - Description of the crash of the Hindenburg. Herbert Morrison,
reporting (1937)
An emotional, never-to-be-forgotten moment of news broadcasting in which a tragedy is witnessed and spontaneously reported. This actuality recording was the first exception to network radio's ban on the airing of recordings. - "Who's on First." Abbott and Costello's first radio broadcast
version (1938)
The first recorded radio performance of this famous Abbott and Costello routine comes from radio's Kate Smith Hour. - "War of the Worlds." Orson Welles and the Mercury Theater
(1938)
The Mercury Theater's finely-crafted radio drama about Martian invaders is one of the best-written and produced works in its genre. Its realistic format caused considerable alarm to many listeners across the United States. - "God Bless America." Kate Smith. Radio broadcast premiere
(1938)
This is the original version of Irving Berlin's classic performed by Kate Smith on her radio program. Her rendition still retains a potent sense of patriotism, as was witnessed in the aftermath of the September 11, 2001, tragedies. - "The Cradle Will Rock." Marc Blitzstein and the original
Broadway cast (1938)
The recording of this controversial musical about labor unions was the first complete recording of a Broadway show. The work was originally intended for production by the Federal Theater Project. - The John and Ruby Lomax Southern States Recording Trip
(1939)
John Lomax, honorary consultant and curator for the fledgling Archive of American Folk Song at the Library of Congress, recorded hundreds of performances of ballads, blues, cowboy songs, field hollers, spirituals and work songs in nine southern states. Many ethnomusicologists consider the recordings made on this field trip to be among the most important in this genre. - Grand Ole Opry. First network radio broadcast. Uncle Dave
Macon, Roy Acuff, and others (1939)
The first radio network broadcast of the Grand Ole Opry, the long-running and influential country music variety program, is captured on this recording. - "Strange Fruit." Billie Holiday (1939)
The searing song, "Strange Fruit," is arguably Billie Holiday's most influential recording, bringing the topic of lynching to the commercial record-buying public. - Duke Ellington Orchestra "Blanton-Webster Era" recordings
(1940-1942)
Duke Ellington is considered one of the greatest composers and band leaders of the 20th century. His band's recordings for RCA Victor, while bassist Jimmy Blanton and tenor sax player Ben Webster were among its personnel, are thought by many to represent a period of unparalleled creativity. Billy Strayhorn, arranger and composer, and Duke's son, Mercer, contributed much to these recordings. - Bela Bartók, piano, and Joseph Szigeti, violin, in concert
at the Library of Congress (1940)
Hailed by critics as a "landmark performance," this recorded performance at the Library of Congress Coolidge Auditorium captures the electric, live-performance chemistry between composer/pianist Bela Bart—k and his champion and fellow countryman, violinist Joseph Szigeti. They perform works by Bart—k, Beethoven, and Debussy. - "Rite of Spring." Igor Stravinsky conducting the New York
Philharmonic (1940)
The first U.S. recording of this 20th-century masterwork as conducted by the composer is considered by many to be the best recording of Stravinsky conducting the work. - "White Christmas." Bing Crosby (1942)
The first commercial recording of this Irving Berlin classic, which was made famous by Bing Crosby. Until very recently, this was the best-selling recording of all time. - "This Land is Your Land." Woody Guthrie (1944)
Woody Guthrie, a legendary folk poet, had a strong influence on the folksong revival of the 1950s. He wrote or adapted more than 1,000 songs, including the classic, "This Land." Guthrie intended the song to be a grassroots response to "God Bless America." - General Dwight D. Eisenhower's D-Day radio address to the
Allied Nations (1944)
Eisenhower's radio address to European citizens on the day of the Allied Normandy invasion announces the invasion, requests their support and promises liberation. - "Koko." Charlie Parker, Miles Davis, Dizzy Gillespie and
others (1945)
Charlie Parker (alto sax) was another of jazz's premier improvising soloists. "Koko" signaled the birth of a new era in jazz–bebop. This session for Savoy Records featured Charlie Parker with Miles Davis and Dizzy Gillespie. - "Blue Moon of Kentucky." Bill Monroe and the Blue Grass
Boys (1947)
This recording of the bluegrass standard by the composer and "Father of Bluegrass," mandolinist Bill Monroe, is the earliest recording of that standard. "Blue Moon of Kentucky" was recorded by many other musicians, including Elvis Presley on the Sun Records sessions. Presley's version was such a hit that Monroe later revised his performances to reflect Presley's influence. - "How High the Moon." Les Paul and Mary Ford (1951)
This exciting performance introduced over-dubbing recording techniques to the public and paved the way for studio production techniques still in use today. - Elvis Presley's Sun Records sessions (1954-1955)
The group of recordings made at Sun Studios launched the career of Elvis Presley and helped to create the rock ‘n' roll era. They were the singer's first recordings and remain his most widely respected. The recordings include his rendition of Bill Monroe's "Blue Moon of Kentucky." - "Songs for Young Lovers." Frank Sinatra (1955)
Frank Sinatra's Capital Records "concept" album is filled with American song standards and rich arrangements by Nelson Riddle. This album demonstrated a mature and confident Sinatra who transcended his earlier popularity as a favorite of bobbysoxers. - "Dance Mania." Tito Puente (1958)
Bandleader/instrumentalist Tito Puente is considered to be a Renaissance man of Latin music. The best of New York City's 1950s Latin jazz scene is heard on this landmark album of 1958. - "Kind of Blue." Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Cannonball
Adderley, Bill Evans and others (1959)
Many consider this recording to be one of the most important jazz recordings of any era. Miles Davis, trumpeter and composer, and a superb ensemble of musicians, including John Coltrane, Cannonball Adderley and Bill Evans, created a highly-influential modal jazz masterpiece which was a best-selling album. - "What'd I Say," parts 1 and 2. Ray Charles (1959)
This rhythm-and-blues hit combined the call-and-response structure of the church with the sexually charged message of the blues. A highly acclaimed singer, pianist, arranger, and songwriter, Charles' synthesis of soul, R&B, country and pop makes him one of the most influential musical figures of the 20th century. - "I Have a Dream." Speech by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
(1963)
King's address is considered a landmark event in the African-American struggle against discrimination and racism. - "Freewheelin'." Bob Dylan (1963)
This album is considered by some to be the most important collection of original songs issued in the 1960s. It includes "Blowin' in the Wind," the popular and powerful protest anthem of the 1960s. Dylan's lyrics music, and performing style made him a highly influential figure in the urban folk-music revival of the 1960s and 1970s, and his work remains significant. - "Respect!" Aretha Franklin (1967)
Like Ray Charles, Aretha Franklin successfully integrated elements of her gospel background with pop tunes to create numerous gold records, including the perennial hit, "Respect," composed by Otis Redding. - "Philomel": for soprano, recorded soprano, and synthesized
sound. Bethany Beardslee, soprano (1971)
Babbitt's "Philomel" was commissioned by the Ford Foundation for the noted soprano Bethany Beardslee. It is an outstanding example of an early synthesizer composition. - "Precious Lord": New Recordings of the Great Gospel Songs
of Thomas A. Dorsey. Thomas Dorsey, Marion Williams and others
(1973)
Composer of many enduring gospel classics, Thomas A. Dorsey is considered to be the Father of Gospel Music. The recording features Dorsey's account of his life, as well as contemporary performances of his greatest works. - Crescent City Living Legends Collection (New Orleans Jazz
and Heritage Foundation Archive/WWOZ New Orleans) (1973-1990)
This collection of tapes in the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Foundation Archive contains an outstanding array of interviews, live concert recordings, and radio broadcasts of New Orleans musicians including Clifton Chenier, Professor Longhair, Queen Ida, and others, from the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival. - "The Message." Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five (1982)
Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five was a pivotal group in the early days of rap, developing crucial aspects of the genre. Their 1982 hit, "The Message," is significant because of its focus on urban social issues–a course followed by many later rappers.
For more information, consult the National Recording Preservation Board Web site: www.loc.gov/rr/record/nrpb.
Gail Fineberg is editor of the Library newsletter, The Gazette.