James Beaty: OPINION: RAMBLIN: From Ernest Tubb to Queen: Worthy selections for the National Recording Registry

Apr. 17—Each spring I look forward to more than warming temperatures greening grass and more hours of daylight.

I also look forward each spring to Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden's announcement of sound recordings set for inclusion in the National Recorded Registry of the Library of Congress.

It's for "audio treasures deemed worth of preservation for all time based on their cultural, historical or aesthetic importance in the nation's recorded sound heritage."

"The National Recording Registry reflects the diverse music and voices that have shaped our nation's history and culture through recorded sound," Hayden said in announcing the new selections

While noting the national library is proud to help record those selections, Hayden said the Library of Congress welcomes public input during the selection process, receiving approximately 1,000 nominations from the public before the national library selected this year's 25 selections.

They date from 1921 to 2010, and represent a range of music and other sound recordings, such the speeches of President Franklin D. Roosevelt and the radio announcement of when Hank Aaron hit his 715th career home run to break the record long held by Babe Ruth.

Most of this year's inductions are for sound recordings. Selections cover a range of styles, from rock and country, from rhythm and blues to Latin, jazz and Motown.

I remember my thrill when looking through the Library of Congress a few years ago and finding that one of my favorite albums dating back to when I was a kid, "Gunfighter Ballads and Trail Songs" by the great Marty Robbins among that year's selections.

I also have a fondness for some of the selections among the 25 deemed worthy for the 2022 selections for the National Recorded Registry, including:

—"Walking the Floor Over You" — Ernest Tubb single, 1941. I've heard this song so much that I really had no idea it dated back to the summer of 1941, before the nation became embroiled in World War II. It seems it's never really gone away since.

A prototype honky-tonk song, it captures Tubb's performance as a guy who's been done wrong. It even includes one of the first electric guitar solos in a honky-tonk song by a smaller country group, such as Tubbs' band, the Texas Troubadours. Sure, Bob Wills and other proponents of Western swing music had already been using electric guitars for years by 1941, but they'd been utilized in a big band context.

I don't often think of Tubb as a songwriter, but he wrote this gem. While most of the song is about his sad state, he does include some advice for the lass who left him: "Now, someday you may be lonesome too; walking the floor is good for you."

Interestingly, Tubb recorded the original version of the country music classic not in Nashville, but down the road in Dallas.

I once got to see Tubb sing the song live when he performed at the then-Dew Drop Inn in McAlester. By that time he'd logged thousands if not millions of miles on the road and had performed the song countless times. Still, he gave it his all when he sang it that night, no doubt bolstered by the exuberance of the crowd upon hearing the intro to "Walking the Floor Over You" sounding around the Dew Drop.

—"Jesus Gave Me Water" — The Soul Stirrers, 1950, single. Non-gospel music aficionados may not be familiar with The Soul Stirrers, but many more music fans will be familiar with the group's lead singer, a 19-year-old named Sam Cook, who, a few years later, would and "e" to his last name and become known as Sam Cooke, the singer / songwriter responsible for hit songs such as "You Send Me," "Bring It On Home To Me," "Cupid," "Wonderful World" and "A Change Is Gonna Come."

At the time The Soul Stirrers recorded "Jesus Gave Me Water," young Sam had just come on board, replacing the group's previous much-admired lead singer R.H. Harris. Cook, on lead vocals, and the rest of the group deliver a resplendent performance relating in song the time Jesus met a woman at a well in Samaria, asked her for a drink of water and then told her how about how she could experience living water.

The first time I heard this years ago on a gospel music collection I checked out from the McAlester Public Library, I thought the lead singer's voice sounded familiar. As soon as I read the liner notes, I knew why.

—"Canciones De Mi Padre" — Linda Ronstadt, 1987, album. I don't claim to be fluent in Spanish, picking up "un poquito" during two weeks I once spent in Monterrey, Mexico. I learned enough that I could tell that "Canciones De Mi Padre" translated into English as "Songs of My Father." I bought the album when it came out, delighting in the exuberance Ronstadt delivered on the more upbeat songs and passion in the slower ones.

Ronstadt recorded the album as a tribute to her father and their Mexican heritage. I didn't mind that "Canciones De Mi Padre" is a Spanish language album and I wasn't fluent enough to figure out most of the lyrics. It wasn't even the first time I'd bought such an album. I already owned an entirely-Spanish language album recorded by Joan Baez years before, titled "Gracias a la Vida" or "Thanks to Life."

—"The Christmas Song" — Nat King Cole, 1961, single. How was this timeless classic about "chestnuts roasting in an open fire" not already in the National Recording Registry?

I'm familiar with the story about how it was written in the middle of sweltering summer in California, when songwriter Robert Wells had written down the lines "Jack Frost nipping at your nose" as a mental exercise to try and cool off — although, looking at the alliteration in the line, I think he must have had a song lyric in mind all the time.

When his songwriting partner, the magnificent Mel Tormé happened by and spotted the lines, they decided they were a key to a song that deserved to be finished. Once they did, Tormé pitched it to Nat King Cole, who recorded it four different times in formats ranging from his trio to a full orchestra. It's final version recorded in 1961 that's most heard today.

—"Moon River" — Andy Williams, 1962, single. What! How could "Moon River" not already be included in the National Recording Registry? Not only has it been recorded numerous times by other artists in addition to Williams' definitive version, it served as the centerpiece of the movie "Breakfast at Tiffany's" when actress Audrey Hepburn picked up an acoustic guitar and played an entrancing, low-key version.

Two of our greatest songwriters ever collaborated on the piece, Henry Mancini and lyricist Johnny Mercer, who added some southernisms to the song. I once looked over comments on a website where Europeans were debating over the meaning of the phrase "my huckleberry friend." Yep, I know huckleberries are indeed a type of berry, but since the song is about a river, I'll forever tie the meaning as a play on words involving Mark Twain's creation, Huckleberry Finn."

—"Tonight's the Night" — The Shirelles, 1961, album. Nope, this isn't the Rod Stewart hit, but the title of an album by The Shirelles. And yes, it does include two of their biggest hits, "Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow" and "Dedicated to the One I Love," as well as "Boys," the song sang by Ringo Starr when The Beatles recorded it early in their career — and a song Ringo still frequently performs in-concert.

—"Reach Out, I'll Be There" — The Four Tops, 1966 single — I always considered The Four Tops as a little grittier than most Motown acts, a little closer to the street than say, Smokey Robinson and the Miracles. That's probably because of Levi Stubbs, the band's lead vocalist, who always seemed as if he could swing a swift left hook if the need arose, all the while never missing a note. Their recording of this Holland-Dozier-Holland song is a fitting representation for the group — although I've always preferred "I Can't Help Myself."

—"Bohemian Rhapsody" — Queen, 1975, single — Mama mia! It's about time Queen's operatic ode was included in the National Recording Registry. Queen's opus not only garnered a hit single, it's also the title of the Freddie Mercury biopic. And yes, the use of the song as a key part of the "Wayne's World" soundtrack was deemed worthy of mention by the Recording Registry.

—"Don't Stop Believin' — Journey, 1981, single — For all those Journey fans who, well, never stopped believing, the Steve Perry version of Journey is finally in the National Recording Registry.

—"Livin La Vida Loca" — Ricky Martin, 1991, single — I retained enough of my Monterrey-learned Spanish that I could translate the title of Ricky Martin's super hit record as "Livin' the Crazy Life."

That's some of the inclusions for this years National Recording Registry. Now, I'm already wondering who will be inincluded in the next round.

Contact James Beaty at [email protected].