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Inside The National Recording Registry

George Jones: He Stopped Loving Her Today

Arts, Culture & Media

One of this year’s selections is a song so sad that George Jones was initially reluctant to record it. Yet it became one of the most popular songs in country music. 

John Lee Hooker: Boogie Chillen

Arts, Culture & Media

The 2,000 Year Old Man

Arts, Culture & Media

Carmen Miranda: O Que è Que a Bahiana Tem

Arts, Culture & Media

Link Wray: Rumble

Arts, Culture & Media
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Sons of the Pioneers: Tumbling Tumbleweeds

Arts, Culture & Media

The Sons of the Pioneers’ 1934 song “Tumbling Tumbleweeds” was written by a Canadian by birth who fell in love with the American West when his family moved to Tucson.  

Celia & Johnny: They Invented Salsa

Arts, Culture & Media

As Latin music was fading from popular culture, a blend of Caribbean rhythms going by the name salsa got a new generation dancing.

Linda Ronstadt: “Heart Like a Wheel”

Arts, Culture & Media

Linda Ronstadt’s “Heart Like a Wheel” made her a household name. Now it’s in the National Recording Registry.

“Sorry, Wrong Number”

Arts, Culture & Media

“Sorry, Wrong Number” broke all the rules of radio drama by killing off its main character — a harmless, if unpleasant, bedridden woman.

“Mary, Don’t You Weep”: the Life of a Song

Arts, Culture & Media

In the 1950s, the Swan Silvertones turned the old spiritual “Mary, Don’t You Weep” into a recording that has inspired everyone from Paul Simon to Bone Thugs-n-Harmony.

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