New additions to National Recording Registry

On May 23, 2012 the Library of Congress announced its annual addition of 25 audio recordings to its National Recording Registry, a compendium of sound recordings to be preserved as representative of America's cultural, artistic and historic treasures. The Registry contains commercial recordings of every music genre as well as spoken word, radio broadcasts, anthropological recordings and news.

This year's additions include recordings by musical artists as diverse as Leonard Bernstein, Bo Diddley and the Grateful Dead, as well as documentary recordings featuring Edward R. Murrow and the voices of former Civil War-era slaves. By clicking through this gallery you may also listen to audio samples of the latest additions.

Among those newly named to the Registry:

Donna Summer: "I Feel Love" (1977)

Summer had found early success in Europe, before becoming an international star with her 1977 electronic dance hit "I Feel Love" (co-written with producers Giorgio Moroder and Pete Belotte). Summer's voice glittered over the throbbing Moog synthesizers and bass line.

Excerpt: "I Feel Love"

Credit: Library of Congress

Edison Talking Doll cylinder (1888)

More than 120 years ago a company owned by Thomas Edison experimented with producing sounds of a human voice for a doll. The tin cylinder - five-eighths of an inch wide - captured the voice of a child singing "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star." Though the company failed, the recording survived, representing the earliest-known commercial sound recording in existence.

Found in 1967 in the desk of an Edison assistant, the cylinder was thought unplayable because of its poor condition. But in 2011 the cylinder's surface was scanned in three dimensions using digital mapping tools created at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory - and thus, the voice of the Edison Talking Doll lives on.

Excerpt: Edison talking doll

1888 Edison recording may be 1st talking doll

Credit: Library of Congress

Lillian Russell: "Come Down Ma Evenin' Star" (1912)

Lillian Russell (left, in 1896) was a leading light of American musical theater in the latter part of the 19th century. Noted for operetta, burlesque and vaudeville, she recorded her signature tune, "Come Down Ma Evenin' Star" in 1912. It is her only known surviving recording.

Excerpt: "Come Down Ma Evenin' Star"

Credit: Library of Congress/A. Dupont, N.Y

Ruth Etting: "Ten Cents a Dance" (1930)

Ruth Etting introduced the Rodgers and Hart standard "Ten Cents a Dance" in the 1930 stage revue "Simple Simon," and her later recording of it captures the singer's presentation of a soul by turns struggling and beaten down - but never broken - by the Depression.

Excerpt: "Ten Cents a Dance"

Credit: Library of Congress

"Voices from the Days of Slavery" (1932-1941 interviews)

Between 1932 and 1941 the WPA gathered oral histories by former slaves across nine Southern states as part of various field recording projects. These included the only known audio recordings of former slaves (including one who worked for Confederate President Jefferson Davis) recalling life before Emancipation in all its details

Credit: Library of Congress

Patsy Montana: "I Want to Be a Cowboy's Sweetheart" (1935)

Singing cowgirl Patsy Montana was the soloist with the Prairie Ramblers, and appeared on radio and in films (including the 1939 Gene Autry western "Colorado Sunset"). In 1996 she was named to the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1996.

Montana's "I Want to Be a Cowboy's Sweetheart" - marked by the singer's exuberant performance and a lively tempo - became her signature tune, and was one of the first hits by a female country-western singer.

Excerpt: "I Want to Be a Cowboy's Sweetheart"

Credit: Library of Congress

Sol Hoopii and his Novelty Five: "Fascinating Rhythm" (1938)

Sol Hoopii was a leading stylist of the Hawaiian steel guitar, which he used to perform not just traditional hula music but also ragtime, jazz and pop music - inspiring generations of blues and slide guitarists. Hoopii also played electric guitar in the 1930s. In this rendition of the Gershwin standard "Fascinating Rhythm," his improvisational skills are more than apparent.

Excerpt: "Fascinating Rhythm"

Credit: Library of Congress/Rounder Records

Stan Kenton and his Orchestra: "Artistry in Rhythm" (1943)

Composed and arranged by Stan Kenton, "Artistry in Rhythm" was innovative in its depth and orchestration.

Excerpt: "Artistry in Rhythm"

Credit: Library of Congress/Capitol Records

Leonard Bernstein: Debut performance with the New York Philharmonic (November 14, 1943)

Leonard Bernstein was a little-known, 25-year-old assistant conductor of the Philharmonic-Symphony Orchestra of New York when in 1943 he found himself the last-minute substitute for an ailing Bruno Walter, for a concert to be broadcast nationwide by CBS Radio. Without a rehearsal, Bernstein led the orchestra in a performance that moved its audience - and prompted bravos from The New York Times' front page.

Excerpt: Introduction to Bernstein concert

Credit: Library of Congress/Monaural

International Sweethearts of Rhythm (1944-1946)

Formed in the late 1930s at a Mississippi boarding school for African-American children, the International Sweethearts of Rhythm was an interracial all-women jazz band which toured extensively but made few recordings. An album released in 1984 by Rosetta Records featured both commercially recorded tracks and excerpts from an appearance on Armed Forces Radio Service.

Excerpt: Performance by International Sweethearts

Credit: Library of Congress/Rosetta Records

Don Whistler "The Indians for Indians Hour" (March 25, 1947)

Created by Don Whistler, a.k.a. Chief Kesh-Ke-Kosh (pictured left), "The Indians for Indians Hour" weekly radio show aired on WNAD in Norman, Okla., from 1941 until 1985. It was comprised of Native American music and cultural exchange from 18 tribes within the station's broadcast range. Its estimated audience reached more than 75,000 at the show's peak.

Whistler only allowed Indian music, and refused non-Indian guests (unless they worked for Indian Services). This 1947 broadcast (one of 320 known to survive) features songs praising Indian war veterans sung by a group of Kiowa war mothers. Whistler hosted the show until his death in 1951.

Excerpt: "The Indians for Indians Hour"

Credit: Courtesy Western History Collections, University of Oklahoma Library

Gabby Pahinui: "Hula Medley" (1947)

Gabby Pahinui, a proponent of slack-key guitar, is featured in this instrumental recording of "Hula Medley."

Excerpt: "Hula Medley"

Credit: Library of Congress

Fred W. Friendly and Edward R. Murrow: "I Can Hear It Now - 1933-1945" (1948)

This collection of speech excerpts and actuality recordings culled from the CBS News archives and edited by Fred Friendly (future president of CBS News) to narration by Edward R. Murrow was a creative and editorial challenge built from necessity: A musicians' strike had left Columbia Records with an empty release schedule to fill.

"I Can Hear It Now" was a hit, prompting two sequel recordings and, later, a long-running CBS Radio series, "Hear It Now."

Excerpt: "I Can Hear It Now: 1933-1945"

Credit: Library of Congress

The Dixie Hummingbirds: "Let's Go Out to the Programs" (1953)

This high-energy recording by Ira Tucker's Dixie Hummingbirds recreates a gospel program which typically featured multiple performing groups. Here, the Hummingbirds present their own renditions of other gospel performers - both compact and expansive.

Excerpt: "Let's Go Out to the Programs"

Credit: Library of Congress/Michael Ochs Archives and MCA Records

Fritz Reiner and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra: "Also Sprach Zarathustra" (1954, 1958)

This RCA Living Stereo high-fidelity recording of Richard Strauss' tone poem was monumental in both musicianship and technology, although the state of home stereo equipment at the time meant Reiner's recording was released first in mono, in 1954, before being issued in full stereo four years later.

Excerpt: "Also Sprach Zarathustra"

Credit: RCA Records

Bo Diddley: "Bo Diddley" and "I'm a Man" (1955)

Blues man Bo Diddley (1928-2008) proved to be an influence for such rockers as The Rolling Stones, the Velvet Underground and Eric Clapton. His first 45 rpm from Chess captures his insouciant vocals and gospel-inflected rhythms - and produced a #1 R&B hit.

Excerpt: "Bo Diddley"

Credit: Library of Congress/Chess Records

Booker T. & the M.G.'s : "Green Onions" (1962)

Formed as a house band for Stax Records, Booker T. & the M.G.'s was a rarity in the early '60s: a racially integrated R&B group, who performed with such Stax artists as Otis Redding, Bill Withers, Sam & Dave and Johnnie Taylor.

With guitarist Steve Cropper, drummer Al Jackson Jr., bassist Lewie Steinberg and Booker T. Jones on organ, the instrumental "Green Onions" was re-issued as a single after appearing on the B-side of "Behave Yourself," and later became title track of the group's first album. It's been heard in countless films and TV shows ever since.

Excerpt: "Green Onions"

Credit: Library of Congress/Stax Records

Love: "Forever Changes" (1967)

This third album by the Los Angeles psychedelic band Love was filled with dark themes but was less aggressive than their earlier work - a mix of rock, folk and blues. Arthur Lee, Bryan MacLean, David Angel and Johnny Echols here fuse the psychedelic with the mainstream - acoustic guitars, strings and horns. But the record was not initially a success, and the band broke up shortly after.

Excerpt: "Forever Changes"

Credit: courtesy William S. Harvet, Bob Pepper/Elektra Records.

Gregg Smith Singers: "The Continental Harmony: Music of William Billings" (1969) The Gregg Smith Singers, a choral ensemble devoted to performing American music, recorded sacred works by 18th century composer William Billings. Extraordinarily popular in his day for his a capella compositions, Billings had subsided into obscurity, until being rediscovered by mid-20th century music scholars.

Excerpt: "Continental Harmony"

Credit: Library of Congress

Vince Guaraldi Trio: "A Charlie Brown Christmas" (1970)

As heard on the CBS animated special "A Charlie Brown Christmas," the jazz score by pianist Vince Guaraldi and TV producer Lee Mendelson elucidated the vibrant youthfulness of the Peanuts gang in all their irreverence - and in the case of the show's holiday message, reverence.

The score includes the catchy "Linus and Lucy" tune that makes any listener, once again, a child.

Excerpt: "Linus and Lucy"

Credit: Library of Congress/Fantasy

Dolly Parton: "Coat of Many Colors" (1971)

Dolly Parton's voice has few equals, but her talents as a songwriter has proven even more astonishing, as in this early autobiographical song about her youth in the hills of Tennessee, in which her mother stitched a coat for her out of donated rags:

My coat of many colors that my momma made for me
Made only from rags but I wore it so proudly
Although we had no money oh I was rich as I could be
In my coat of many colors my momma made for me

Excerpt: "Coat of Many Colors"

Credit: Library of Congress

Parliament: "Mothership Connection" (1975)

"We want the funk" - well, they sure had the funk. George Clinton, along with saxophonist Maceo Parker, trombonist Fred Wesley, bass player Bootsy Collins, and Bernie Worrell on synthesizers produced a delectable dance album that blended irresistible beats with groovy, if somewhat impenetrable lyrics (what exactly is "Supergroovalisticprosifunkstication"?).

Excerpt: "Mothership Connection"

Credit: Library of Congress

The Grateful Dead: Barton Hall concert (May 8, 1977)

The Grateful Dead was that rare performance group which encouraged its devoted fan base to share in bootleg recordings of its live concerts. The band's improvisational style and eclectic music meant no two performances were ever alike, so devoted Deadheads could have a lot to chew over when joining in the underground Grateful Dead tape exchange (first organized c. 1971).

Many fans point to the Dead's 1977 performance at Cornell University's Barton Hall - featuring "Jack Straw," "Brown Eyed Women," and "Dancin' in the Streets" - as the pinnacle.

Excerpt: "The Grateful Dead at Barton Hall"

Credit: Library of Congress

Sugarhill Gang: "Rapper's Delight" (1979)

The album version of "Rapper's Delight" - 14 and a half minutes of inventive, irreverent wordplay - dates from the earliest days of hip-hop, and was inspirational to future rap artists. This recording also provides an early example of music sampling, and music litigation (a copyright infringement suit was settled out of court).

Excerpt: "Rapper's Delight"

Credit: Library of Congress/Sugarhill Records

Prince and the Revolution: "Purple Rain" (1984)

A provocative, flamboyant, and innovative performer who blended rock, soul and funk, Twin Cities musician Prince made his film debut in 1984's "Purple Rain," and the soundtrack - his sixth album - became an unparalleled success.

The music won Prince an Oscar for Best Original Song Score, with such unforgettable numbers as "When Doves Cry" and "Let's Go Crazy."

Excerpt: "When Doves Cry"

For more info:

National Recording Preservation Board (LOC)
National Recording Registry (Master list)
"Lost" recordings sought by Library of Congress
Library of Congress: Online audio collections

By CBSNews.com senior editor David Morgan

Credit: Library of Congress/Warner Records