This is nice. Congratulations to my friend Bill Dees and his old songwriting partner Roy Orbison. According to Variety, Roy’s 1964 recording of “Oh, Pretty Woman” (Bill co-wrote the song and sang harmony on the record) has been added to the Library of Congress National Recording Registry.
Twenty-five selections were added to the National Recording Registry on Wednesday, part of the library’s attempt to save America’s aural history by archiving recordings deemed “culturally, historically or aesthetically significant.”
1. The first trans-Atlantic broadcast (March 14, 1925)
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 Lorraine,” Art Tatum (February 22, 1940)
6. Fibber’s Closet Opens for the First Time, “Fibber McGee and Molly” radio program (March 4, 1940)
7. Wings Over Jordan, Wings Over Jordan (1941)
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 North Carolina Folk Songs and Tunes,” Elizabeth Cotten (1959)
16. Marine Band Concert Album to Help Benefit the National Cultural Center (1963)
17. “Oh, Pretty Woman,” Roy Orbison (1964)
18. “Tracks of My Tears,” Smokey Robinson and the Miracles (1965)
19. “You’ll Sing a Song and I’ll Sing a Song,” Ella Jenkins (1966)
20. “Music from the Morning of the World,” various artists; recorded by David Lewiston (1966)
21. “For the Roses,” Joni Mitchell (1972)
22. “Headhunters,” Herbie Hancock (1973)
23. Ronald Reagan Radio Broadcasts (1976-1979)
24. “The Sounds of Earth,” disc prepared for the Voyager spacecraft (1977)
25. “Thriller,” Michael Jackson (1982)
Hey, if you want to check out some of the work that Bill and I have done, here are two discs that I played on and co-produced with Lou Whitney.
From 2002; “Saturday Night At The Movies” which has Bill’s version of “Oh, Pretty Woman”
From 2006; “Castin’ My Spell” which has a couple of songs Bill and I wrote together, “False Prophets” and “Welcome To My Heart”
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