Whitney Houston’s 1992 rendition of Dolly Parton’s hyper-romantic ballad “I Will Always Love You,” Dr. Dre’s groundbreaking rap album “The Chronic” from the same year, Glen Campbell’s 1968 heart-rending single “Wichita Lineman,” blues singer Memphis Minnie’s ribald 1941 hit “Me and My Chauffeur Blues” and the sportscast of the 1951 National League tiebreaker between the New York Giants and the Brooklyn Dodgers are among the latest inductees into the Library of Congress’ National Recording Registry.
The registry annually highlights 25 recordings spanning pop, rock, hip-hop, jazz, blues, folk, gospel, classical and world music as well as spoken word, comedy, news and sports recordings that reflect in some way the nation’s cultural, historical or aesthetic character.
The latest group spans nearly 90 years, from the Paul Whiteman Orchestra’s 1920 single “Whispering through Scottish percussionist Colin Currie’s 2008 recording composer Jennifer Higdon’s Percussion Concerto, and also includes the 1973 album “Mister Rogers Sings 21 Favorite Songs from ‘Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood.'”
“I’m very rarely without words, but I don’t really know how to react to it — it’s overpowering,” “Wichita Lineman” songwriter Jimmy Webb, 73, told The Times on Monday. “That’s history — real history.
“We all would like to think we have maybe some niche reserved in history, no matter how small, so people one day might look back and say, ‘I remember so-and-so,'” Webb said. “The Greeks believed that as long as your name was remembered that you never really die.”
This year’s class of inductees is a characteristically diverse group of recordings also including Tina Turner’s 1984 career-rejuvenating album “Private Dancer” and the 1964 Broadway cast album for the musical “Fiddler on the Roof.” It also includes Boston radio station WGBH’s broadcast of the Boston Symphony Orchestra’s performance on Nov. 22, 1963 that was interrupted by the announcement of President John F. Kennedy’s assassination in Dallas, and conjunto musicians Narciso Martinez and Santiago Almeida’s 1936 polka “La Chicharronera,” a record credited with introducing accordion and bajo sexto into Mexican popular music.
The selection committee also bestowed its singular imprimatur of cultural significance on the Village People’s 1978 disco rave-up single “Y.M.C.A.”
“I had no idea when we wrote ‘Y.M.C.A.’ that it would become one of the most iconic songs in the world, and a fixture at almost every wedding, birthday party, bar mitzvah and sporting event,” lead singer and “Y.M.C.A.” lyricist Victor Willis said in a statement.
Other choices include opera tenor Raoul Romito’s 1927 politically pointed recording “Protesto per Sacco e Vanzetti,” an episode of “Arch Oboler’s Plays,” a radio horror program from 1943, the 1953 recording of Puccini’s opera “Tosca” featuring Maria Callas and Giuseppe di Stefano and comedian Allan Sherman’s 1963 novelty hit “Hello Muddah, Hello Fadduh.”
The latest group brings the total number of recordings in the registry to 550, a small fraction of more than 3 million items in the library’s recorded-sound collection.
