Mariah Carey Among 2024 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Induction Nominees

Posted on February 10, 2024 by Tom Castaneda

Mariah Carey has made a rockin’ list…

The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Foundation has revealed the nominees for the 2024 induction, with the 54-year-old half-Venezuelan American Grammy-winning singer making the list.

Referred to as the “Songbird Supreme” by Guinness World Records, she’s regarded as one of the greatest singers in the history of music. She’s noted for her songwriting, five-octave vocal range, melismatic singing style and signature use of the whistle register.

Carey is one of the best-selling music artists, with over 220 million records sold worldwide. She’s an inductee of the Songwriters Hall of Fame, the National Recording Registry at the Library of Congress and the Long Island Music and Entertainment Hall of Fame.

She holds the record for the most Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles by a solo artist (19), a female songwriter (18), and a female producer (15), spending a record 93 weeks atop the chart.

To be eligible for nomination, an individual artist or band must have released its first commercial recording at least 25 years prior to the year of nomination.

Ten out of 15 of the 2024 nominees are on the ballot for the first time, including Carey, Cher, Foreigner, Peter Frampton, Kool & the Gang, Lenny Kravitz, Oasis, Sinéad O’Connor, Ozzy Osbourne and Sade.

The rest are Mary J. Blige, Dave Matthews Band, Eric B. & Rakim, Jane’s Addiction (including guitarist Dave Navarro) and A Tribe Called Quest.

“This remarkable list of nominees reflects the diverse artists and music that the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame honors and celebrates,” said John Sykes, chairman of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Foundation. “Continuing in the true spirit of Rock & Roll, these artists have created their own sounds that have impacted generations and influenced countless others that have followed in their footsteps.”

The 2024 ceremony will once again stream live on Disney+ with a special airing on ABC at a later date and available on Hulu the next day. The 2023 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony streamed live on Disney+ for the first time ever; the special on ABC reached over 13 million viewers across linear and streaming, and ABC’s New Year’s Day telecast was the No. 1 entertainment choice among Adults 18-49.

Nominee ballots will be sent to an international voting body of more than 1,000 artists, historians and members of the music industry. An artist’s musical impact and influence on other artists, length and depth of career and body of work as well as innovation and superiority in style and technique are taken into consideration.

Inductees will be announced in late April. The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame 2024 Induction Ceremony will take place in Cleveland this fall.

Daddy Yankee to Executive Produce & Appear in Netflix’s Reggaeton-Themed Series “Neon”

Posted on May 1, 2023 by Tom Castaneda

It’s an electric time for Daddy Yankee…

The 46-year-old Puerto Rican reggaeton superstar is set to executive produce the upcoming Netflix series Neon.

Daddy Yankee, a pioneer of the reggaeton genre popularized in his native Puerto Rico, will also make a cameo appearance.

Across 8 episodes, Neon follows three friends who move from a small town in Florida to Miami, hoping to make it big in the world of reggaeton. The show chronicles their larger-than-life dreams and the harsh comic realities of attempting to make it in the music industry.

Tyler Dean Flores plays Santi, a budding reggaeton artist who, with the help of his friends, Ness (Emma Ferrerira) and Felix (Jordan Mendoza) and A&R rep, Mia (Courtney Taylor) hopes to become the biggest reggaeton star in the world—or at least make rent.

Shea Serrano created Neon and Max Searle is the showrunner. In addition to Serrano and Daddy Yankee, executive producers include Searle alongside Scooter Braun, James Shin and Scott Manson for SB Projects and Anne Clements. Kyle Vinuya and Demi Adejuyigbe co-executive produce. Jordan Mendoza serves as consulting producer.

Daddy Yankee, the multi-hyphenate born Ramón Luis Ayala Rodríguez, recently announced his retirement as a performer following a successful three-decades-long career with his final shows set from November 30 to December 3 in Puerto Rico. The 5-time Latin Grammy Award winner’s biggest hit Gasolina, recently became the first reggaeton song to be inducted into the National Recording Registry at the Library of Congress.

Daddy Yankee previously executive produced and starred in the film Talento de Barrio (2008) from director José Iván Santiago.

Although he has yet to announce his plans for the future, he remains dedicated to his non-profit Daddy’s House via his Corazon Guerrero Foundation.

Ricky Martin’s “Livin’ La Vida Loca” Among Recordings Being Preserved as Part of Library of Congress’ National Recording Registry

Posted on April 17, 2022 by Tom Castaneda

Ricky Martin’s breakthrough single will be livin’ for eternity…

The 50-year-old Puerto Rican superstar’s “Livin’ La Vida Loca” will be preserved as part of the Library of Congress’ National Recording Registry.

Martin’s hit single, released in 1999 as part of the former Menudo singer’s English-language debut album, is part of the 2022 list of additions to the registry.

“Livin’ La Vida Loca” reached No. 1 in more than 20 countries, and it’s considered one of Martin’s biggest hits and best-selling singles of all time.

In the United States, it topped the Billboard Hot 100 chart for five consecutive weeks, becoming Martin’s first number one single on the chart. Additionally, it broke several records on Billboard charts.

At the 1999 MTV Video Music Awards, it won a total of five awards and was nominated for several other categories, including Video of the Year, making Martin the first Latin artist in history to receive a nomination in this category.

Linda Ronstadt’s Spanish-language album Canciones de Mi Padre is also being preserved.

Released in 1987, it was the 75-year-old half-Mexican American Grammy-winning singer’s first album of Mexican traditional mariachi music. The canciones were a big part of Ronstadt’s family tradition and musical roots.

At 2.5 million copies sold in the US, the album stands as one of the biggest selling non-English language albums in American record history. It has been RIAA certified double-platinum (for over 2 million US copies sold) and also won Ronstadt the Grammy for Best Mexican/Mexican-American Album.

The Buena Vista Social Club’s self-titled album has also been earmarked for preservation.

The ensemble of Cuban musicians, established in 1996, recorded the album in March 1996 and released it in September 1997. It quickly became an international success, which prompted the ensemble to perform with a full line-up in Amsterdam and New York in 1998. German director Wim Wenders captured the performance on film for a documentary—also called Buena Vista Social Club—that included interviews with the musicians conducted in Havana. Wenders’ film was released in June 1999 to critical acclaim, receiving an Academy Award nomination for Best Documentary feature and winning numerous accolades including Best Documentary at the European Film Awards.

The Library of Congress said its National Recording Preservation Plan provides a blueprint to implement a comprehensive national sound recording preservation program. The National Recording Preservation Board and members of the public have nominated recordings to the National Recording Registry every year since 2002. The depth and breadth of nominations received highlights the richness of the nations” audio legacy and underscores the importance of assuring the long-term preservation of that legacy for future generations.

Here’s the list of 2022 additions to the National Recordings Registry, in chronological order:

“Harlem Strut”, James P. Johnson (1921)
Franklin D. Roosevelt: Complete Presidential Speeches (1933-45)
“Walking the Floor Over You”, Ernest Tubb (1941, single)
“On a Note of Triumph” (May 8, 1945)
“Jesus Gave Me Water”, The Soul Stirrers (1950, single)
“Ellington at Newport”, Duke Ellington (1956, album)
“We Insist! Max Roach’s Freedom Now Suite”, Max Roach (1960, album)
“The Christmas Song”, Nat King Cole (1961, single)
“Tonight’s the Night”, The Shirelles (1961, album)
“Moon River”, Andy Williams (1962, single)
“In C”, Terry Riley (1968, album)
“It’s a Small World”, The Disneyland Boys Choir (1964, single)
“Reach Out, I’ll Be There”, The Four Tops (1966, single)
Hank Aaron’s 715th Career Home Run (April 8, 1974)
“Bohemian Rhapsody”, Queen (1975, single)
“Don’t Stop Believin’”, Journey (1981, single)
“Canciones de Mi Padre”, Linda Ronstadt (1987, album)
“Nick of Time”, Bonnie Raitt (1989, album)
“The Low End Theory”, A Tribe Called Quest (1991, album)
“Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers)”, Wu-Tang Clan (1993, album)
“Buena Vista Social Club” (1997, album)
“Livin’ La Vida Loca”, Ricky Martin (1999, single)
“Songs in A Minor”, Alicia Keys (2001, album)
WNYC broadcasts for the day of 9/11 (Sept. 11, 2001)
“WTF with Marc Maron” (Guest: Robin Williams, 2010)

Flaco Jiménez’s “Partners” Album Among This Year’s National Recording Registry Selections

Posted on March 24, 2021 by Tom Castaneda

Flaco Jiménez is being added to the registry…

One of the 82-year-old Mexican American singer, songwriter and accordionist’s most popular albums Partners, released by Warner Bros. Records in 1992, is one of this year’s National Recording Registry selections.

Jiménez, a Tejano music legend, appears on the new list of classic recordings joining the registry that Janet Jackson‘s 1989 album Rhythm Nation 1814, Kool & the Gang‘s buoyant single “Celebration“; Nas‘ game-changing debut album Illmatic and timeless children’s titles Free To Be… You And Me and “The Rainbow Connection.”

“Partners” by Jiménez, a champion of traditional conjunto music and Tex-Mex culture who is also known for innovation and collaboration with a variety of artists. This bilingual album features collaborations with Linda Ronstadt, Ry Cooder, Emmylou Harris and Los Lobos, among others.

The addition of 25 recordings this year brings to 575 the total number of titles in the registry, which selects recordings worthy of preservation based on their cultural, historical and/or aesthetic importance in the nation’s recorded sound heritage.

Nearly 900 titles were submitted for recognition this year.

“The National Recording Registry will preserve our history through these vibrant recordings of music and voices that have reflected our humanity and shaped our culture from the past 143 years,” Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden said in a statement.

Here’s the complete list, in chronological order:
1. Edison’s “St. Louis tinfoil” recording (1878)
2. “Nikolina” — Hjalmar Peterson (1917 single)
3. “Smyrneikos Balos” — Marika Papagika (1928) (single)
4. “When the Saints Go Marching In” — Louis Armstrong & his Orchestra (1938) (single)
5. Christmas Eve Broadcast – Franklin D. Roosevelt and Winston Churchill (December 24, 1941)
6. “The Guiding Light” — November 22, 1945
7. Odetta Sings Ballads and Blues — Odetta (1957) (album)
8. “Lord, Keep Me Day by Day” — Albertina Walker and the Caravans (1959) (single)
9. Roger Maris hits his 61st homerun (October 1, 1961)
10. Aida — Leontyne Price, et.al. (1962) (album)
11. “Once a Day” — Connie Smith (1964) (single)
12. Born Under a Bad Sign — Albert King (1967) (album)
13. Free to Be…You & Me — Marlo Thomas and Friends (1972) (album)
14. The Harder They Come — Jimmy Cliff (1972) (album)
15. “Lady Marmalade” — LaBelle (1974) (single)
16. Late for the Sky — Jackson Browne (1974) (album)
17. Bright Size Life — Pat Metheny (1976) (album)
18. “The Rainbow Connection” — Kermit the Frog (1979) (single)
19. “Celebration” — Kool & the Gang (1980) (single)
20. Richard Strauss: Four Last Songs — Jessye Norman (1983) (album)
21. Janet Jackson’s Rhythm Nation 1814 — Janet Jackson (1989) (album)
22. Partners — Flaco Jiménez (1992) (album)
23. “Somewhere Over the Rainbow”/”What A Wonderful World” — Israel
Kamakawiwo’ole (1993) (single)
24. Illmatic — Nas (1994) (album)
25. “This American Life: The Giant Pool of Money” (May 9, 2008)

Ritchie Valens’ “La Bamba” Inducted into the Library of Congress’ National Recording Registry

Posted on March 23, 2019 by Tom Castaneda

Ritchie Valenshas earned a special place in U.S. recording history…

The late Mexican American singer/songwriter’s groundbreaking 1958 sensation “La Bamba”is one of the newest recordings inducted into the National Recording Registry of the Library of Congress.

Under the terms of the National Recording Preservation Act of 2000, the Librarian, with advice from the Library’s National Recording Preservation Board (NRPB), is tasked with annually selecting 25 titles that are “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant,” and are at least 10 years old.

Valens, who was born Richard Valenzuelain Los Angeles in 1941, spoke English as his first language. Though he never mastered Spanish, he learned Spanish songs from his Mexican-American family, including “La Bamba,” a song from the Mexican state of Veracruz that was a favorite dance piece at weddings.

Valens’ amplified guitar and power chords were a long way from the acoustic string band sounds of Mexico, but he successfully transposed the feeling and rhythm of the song to the back beat of early rock and roll. It was released as the b-side of his second single “Donna” in late 1958, and had become a hit on its own when he died at the age of 17 on February 3, 1959, in a plane crash that also took the lives of Buddy Hollyand J.P. Richardson, “The Big Bopper.” In spite of his brief life and a recording career that only lasted eight months, Valens’ success brought a new sound to the mainstream and inspired generations of Chicano musicians.

Los Lobos released its version of the song in 1987. “As a young boy growing up in East Los Angeles, I was curious and ultimately impressed by a rock song sung in Spanish — that song was ‘La Bamba’ by Ritchie Valens,” said Louie Pérez, one of the founding members and guitarist for Los Lobos. “It continues to be a hallmark in American music and an influence on all Latino music that followed.”

Spanish cellist, composer, and conductor Pablo Casals’ 1939 reimagining of the Bach cello suites was selected in the classical category. Raphaël Merlin, cellist of the acclaimed Ébène Quartet External, said: “There is a prophetic aspect to Pablo Casals’s work—he revealed his recording of the six Bach Cello Suites, and they instantly became our bible, and continue to offer revelations to cellists even to this day. At the same time, he also made a practical case for these works as an ideal way for a musician to exercise his or her mind, cultivate healthy playing technique, study counterpoint, and more. However you look at them, his recording of the suites still sounds like the opening of a new era.”

The new recordings to the National Recording Registry bring the total number of titles on the registry to 525, a small part of the Library’s vast recorded-sound collection of nearly 3 million items.

Here’s a look at the 25 recordings that were selected for inclusion in the registry in 2018:

2018 National Recording Registry

Yiddish Cylinders from the Standard Phonograph Company of New York and the Thomas Lambert Company (c. 1901-1905)
“Memphis Blues” (single), Victor Military Band (1914)
Melville Jacobs Collection of Native Americans of the American Northwest (1929-1939)
“Minnie the Moocher” (single), Cab Calloway (1931)
“Bach Six Cello Suites” (album), Pablo Casals (c. 1939)
“They Look Like Men of War” (single), Deep River Boys (1941)
“Gunsmoke” — Episode: “The Cabin” (Dec. 27, 1952)
Ruth Draper: Complete recorded monologues, Ruth Draper (1954-1956)
“La Bamba” (single), Ritchie Valens (1958)
“Long Black Veil” (single), Lefty Frizzell (1959)
“Stan Freberg Presents the United States of America, Vol. 1: The Early Years” (album), Stan Freberg (1961)
“GO” (album), Dexter Gordon (1962)
“War Requiem” (album), Benjamin Britten (1963)
“Mississippi Goddam” (single), Nina Simone (1964)
“Soul Man” (single), Sam & Dave (1967)
“Hair” (original Broadway cast recording) (1968)
Speech on the Death of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Robert F. Kennedy (April 4, 1968)
“Sweet Caroline” (single), Neil Diamond (1969)
“Superfly” (album), Curtis Mayfield (1972)
“Ola Belle Reed” (album), Ola Belle Reed (1973)
“September” (single), Earth, Wind & Fire (1978)
“You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real)” (single), Sylvester (1978)
“She’s So Unusual” (album), Cyndi Lauper (1983)
“Schoolhouse Rock!: The Box Set” (1996)
“The Blueprint” (album), Jay-Z (2001)

Ronstadt Receives the National Medal of Arts

Posted on July 29, 2014 by Tom Castaneda

It’s turning out to be an extra special year for Linda Ronstadt…

President Barack Obama awarded the 68-year-old Mexican American singer-songwriter the National Medal of Arts at a special ceremony on Monday at the White House.

During the ceremony, Obama, who hung the medal around Ronstadt’s neck, revealed, “I had a little crush on her back in the day.”

The honor was a particularly special moment for Ronstadt, who didn’t make it to her induction to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in April since Parkinson’s disease limits her ability to travel. The same month her album Heart Like a Wheel was inducted into the Library of Congress’ National Recording Registry.

A military aide brought her into the East Room by wheelchair, but she walked to the stage to receive her award as a citation was read honoring her “one-of-a-kind voice” that paved the way for generations of women artists.

Eleven other recipients were awarded the 2013 National Medal of Arts, as the nation’s highest award given to artists and their patrons, including DreamWorks Animation chief Jeffrey Katzenberg and Dominican-American writer Julia Alvarez, author of In the Time of the Butterflies.

Ten were awarded the National Humanities Medal, which honors those in fields including history, literature, languages and philosophy.

During her illustrious career, Ronstadt has earned 11 Grammy Awards, two Academy of Country Music awards, an Emmy Award, and an ALMA Award. She’s also earned nominations for a Tony Award and a Golden Globe award.

Ronstadt’s “Heart Like a Wheel” Added to the National Recording Registry

Posted on April 3, 2014 by Tom Castaneda

One of Linda Ronstadt’s most acclaimed recordings will live on in the archives of American history…

The 67-year-old Mexican American singer’s Grammy-winning fifth solo album Heart Like a Wheel has been inducted into the Library of Congress’ National Recording Registry.

The album, released in 1974, is considered to be Ronstadt’s masterpiece recording and a pioneering blueprint of country rock.

In the 1970s, a decade that saw the rise of singer-songwriters, Ronstadt – who will be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame this month – was a bit of an anomaly. Primarily an interpreter, she was blessed with excellent taste in song selection and the talent to put her own stamp on each of her covers.

Heart Like a Wheel continued her tradition of eclecticism and featured covers of songs by Hank Williams, Paul Anka and Little Feat’s Lowell George. It also shows a keen ear for new material, like the achingly beautiful title track by Anna McGarrigle.

What made this album different from Ronstadt’s previous efforts was the additions of producer Peter Asher, who had been crucial to the career of James Taylor, and Andrew Gold, who arranged the music and played several instruments on the album sessions.

Ronstadt told the Library of Congress that the title track on the album “became an iconic song for me. That was the first chance I got to record a little bit more complex, emotionally, pieces instead of just trying to sing rock ’n’ roll. I never thought of myself as a rock ’n’ roll singer. I sang rock ’n’ roll because I liked to eat.”

Heart Like a Wheel was the first of Ronstadt’s three No. 1 albums on the Billboard 200 chart, reaching the summit for the week ending February 15, 1975, alongside the No. 1 song on the Billboard Hot 100, “You’re No Good.”

But Ronstadt’s prized work isn’t the only Latin album among the latest batch of 25 “culturally, historically or aesthetically significant” recordings to be preserved this year.

Celia & Johnny, the album released in 1974 by the late Celia Cruz and Johnny Pacheco, is also being inducted into the National Recording Registry.

Cuba’s Cruz was a dominant artist in the Afro-Cuban scene of the 1950s, when she sang with the great Sonora Matancera band. She came to America in 1962 and did well initially, but by the early 1970s, her career entered a slump as Latin styles nurtured in the U.S. became dominant.

For this album, rather than re-create the large orchestras that Cruz usually fronted, Pacheco – a New York-based bandleader and co-founder of the Fania Records label — assembled a small group that included pianist Papo Lucca, tres player Charlie Martinez and several percussionists, including himself.

This proved to be the perfect setting for Cruz to reach a newer and younger audience while remaining true to her roots. And she responded with some of the most inspired singing of her career, especially in the album’s many improvised passages. The album’s opening rumba, “Quimbara,” was a huge dance-floor hit, and Cruz soon was acclaimed as the Queen of Salsa.

This year’s 25 selections raise the number of recordings in the registry to 400, a fraction of the Library’s vast recorded sound collection of more than 3.5 million items.

Every year, the Librarian of Congress, with advice from the Library’s National Recording Preservation Board, selects 25 recordings that are at least 10 years old; the best existing versions of each are housed in the Packard Campus for Audio Visual Conservation in Culpeper, Va.

“These recordings represent an important part of America’s culture and history,” Librarian of Congress James H. Billington said. “As technology continually changes and formats become obsolete, we must ensure that our nation’s aural legacy is protected. The National Recording Registry is at the core of this effort.”

Nominations were gathered through online submissions from the public and the NRPB.

López’s “Descargas: Cuban Jam Session in Miniature” Added to National Recording Registry

Posted on March 24, 2013 by Tom Castaneda

The late Cachao López has earned his place in U.S. history five years after his passing at the age of 89…

Descargas: Cuban Jam Session in Miniature, the 1957 work from the Cuba-born Grammy-winning singer who helped popularize mambo in the United States is one of the recordings chosen to be part of the National Recording Registry this year in recognition of their importance to the nation’s aural legacy.

Inspired by the all-star jam sessions that Norman Granz organized and recorded for his Jazz at the Philharmonic series, López — a titan of Afro-Cuban music — sought to accomplish something similar with his peers in Havana. He brought musicians into the studio for two early morning sessions, when they were still fully charged up from their evening’s work in nightclubs and ballrooms.

Rather than record Granz’s previous longform jams, the 12 musicians López recruited created 12 short, spontaneous “miniature” pieces, each of which highlighted key instruments and facets of Afro-Cuban music. The resulting fusion seamlessly blended African, European and American influences.

The album has had a lasting impact on Latin music, especially on the salsa style that emerged in the 1960s, and López organized many similar sessions for further albums both in Cuba and in America, where he settled after the Cuban Revolution.

Under the terms of the National Recording Preservation Act of 2000, the Librarian of Congress, with advice from the library’s National Recording Preservation Board and input from the public, each year selects 25 recordings that are least 10 years old and “culturally, historically or aesthetically significant.”

“Congress created the National Recording Registry to celebrate the richness and variety of our audio heritage and to underscore our responsibility for long-term preservation, to assure that legacy can be appreciated and studied for generations,” Librarian of Congress James H. Billington said in a statement.

The latest selections bring the number of recordings in this preservation hall of fame to 375.

Hispanically Yours

Celebrating the Latino Influence

Tag Archives: National Recording Registry