Also on the list this year: a part of VOA history.

From 1954 until his 1996 death, Willis Conover hosted VOA’s jazz programs, sending the music to countries where jazz was often not allowed. His 1956 interviews with musicians including Duke Ellington, Billie Holiday, Stan Getz and others are now a part of the Library of Congress National Recording Registry. According to Library of Congress officials, these interviews are important because they were a “first chance to hear the thoughts of great jazz artists who came of age with the music itself.”

The selections for the National Recording Registry this year cover the entire musical spectrum. They include a 1931 recording by The Boswell Sisters and the Dorsey Brothers Orchestra showcasing the Boswells’ great harmonies, the jazz-pop-rock of Steely Dan’s “Aja,” comedy from Mort Sahl, and a 1908 recording of the unofficial anthem of America’s national pastime.

The famous chorus of “Take Me Out To The Ballgame” is what’s most often heard, but the version added to the National Recording Registry also includes the verses, which tell the story of a baseball loving young woman, who would rather go to the ballpark than to the theater!

Also on the list this year: Al Green’s soul classic “Let’s Stay Together.”

You can find the complete list of additions to the National Recording Registry, and the reasons behind each selection by visiting the Library of Congress web site.