25 Timeless Recordings

Updated:

June 29, 2009 1:12 pm

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What makes a timeless song? The US Library of Congress has released an updated list of the top 25 most important songs and speeches. The following are to enter the National Recording Registry this week. And yes, Thriller made the cut.

1. The first trans-Atlantic broadcast (March 14, 1925)Lorraine,” Art Tatum (February 22, 1940)Jordan, Wings Over Jordan (1941)North Carolina Folk Songs and Tunes,
Elizabeth Cotten (1959)

2. “Allons a Lafayette,” Joseph Falcon (1928)

3. “Casta Diva,” from Bellini’s “Norma”; Rosa Ponselle, accompanied by
the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra and Chorus, conducted by Giulio Setti.(recorded December 31, 1928, and January 30, 1929)

4. “If I Could Hear My Mother Pray Again,” Thomas A. Dorsey (1934)

5. “Sweet

6. Fibber’s Closet Opens for the First Time, “Fibber McGee and Molly”
radio program (March 4, 1940)

7. Wings Over

8. Fiorello LaGuardia reading the comics (1945)

9. “Call it Stormy Monday but Tuesday is Just As Bad,” T-Bone Walker (1947)

10. Harry S. Truman speech at the 1948 Democratic National Convention (July 15, 1948)

11. The Jazz Scene, various artists (1949)

12. “It Wasn’t God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels,” Kitty Wells (May 30, 1952)

13. My Fair Lady, original cast recording (1956)

14. Navajo Shootingway Ceremony Field Recordings, recorded by David
McAllester (1957-1958)

15. “Freight Train,” and Other