Songs by Jay-Z, Lauper being added to National Recording Registry

Associated Press
Wednesday, March 20, 2019 9:23 a.m. | Wednesday, March 20, 2019 9:23 a.m.

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This combination photo shows music mogul Jay-Z at the 2018 Pre-Grammy Gala And Salute To Industry Icons in New York on Jan. 27, 2018, from left, singer Cyndi Lauper at the Library of Congress Gershwin Prize tribute concert in Washington on March 13, 2019, and Sen. Robert F. Kennedy speaking to the delegates of the United Auto Workers in Atlantic City, N.J., on May 9, 1968. Songs performed by Jay-Z, Lauper and a Kennedy speech are among 25 recordings being inducted to the National Recording Registry.

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This April 20, 2013, file photo shows Neil Diamond singing “Sweet Caroline” during a baseball game in Boston between the Boston Red Sox and the Kansas City Royals, the first home game since the Boston Marathon explosions. Diamond’s “Sweet Caroline,” Earth, Wind & Fire’s “September” and Sam & Dave’s “Soul Man” are among 25 recordings being inducted to the National Recording Registry.

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Songs performed by Jay-Z, Cyndi Lauper and a Robert F. Kennedy speech are among 25 recordings being inducted to the National Recording Registry.

The Library of Congress announced Wednesday that “La Bamba,” ”Gunsmoke” and “Hair” are some of the titles tapped for preservation this year. The national library chose a few more memorable titles including Neil Diamond’s “Sweet Caroline,” Earth, Wind & Fire’s “September” and Sam & Dave’s “Soul Man.”

The registry is adding Kennedy’s recorded speech after Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.’s 1968 assassination — two months before Kennedy was killed.

Curtis Mayfield’s “Superfly,” Lauper’s “She’s So Unusual” and Jay-Z’s “Blueprint” album are being added.

Other songs being added include Nina Simon’s “Mississippi Goddam,” Sylvester’s “You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real)” and “Schoolhouse Rock!”

The library selects titles for preservation because of their cultural and historic importance to the American soundscape.