ASCAP Recordings Selected for the National Recording Registry Class of 2023
“St. Louis Blues” — Handy’s Memphis Blues Band (1922) (single)
Even during his lifetime, ASCAP composer WC Handy was often called the “Father of the Blues.” And while he might not be responsible for an entire genre of music, there is little question that it was largely Handy’s creative output that enabled the blues to cross America’s race and cultural lines. One of the songs he did it with was “St. Louis Blues,” which Handy both wrote and played. It was one of the first blues songs to enjoy success as a pop song. Later, the tune would be incorporated into the repertoire of numerous other legends including Bessie Smith, Bing Crosby, Glenn Miller, Count Basie and Benny Goodman. Meanwhile, Handy, beyond his own composition and performing prowess, created detailed, written exegeses of blues music (including his own compositions) which have long served to educate others about the artistry of blues and aid in their appreciation for this American artform.
“Sugar Foot Stomp” — Fletcher Henderson (1926)
“Sugar Foot Stomp” was a milestone recording that incorporated jazz into a dance band setting. ASCAP member Henderson was one of the most successful African American bandleaders of his time. From its inception in 1921, his band played rather polite dance music, laced with a well-intended yet ponderous style of jazz, typically found in New York during the early 1920s. This changed suddenly upon the October 1924 arrival of New Orleans cornetist (and ASCAP legend) Louis Armstrong into the Henderson ensemble. Based on Armstrong’s collaboration with Joe Oliver’s “Dipper Mouth Blues,” “Sugar Foot Stomp” — in a smart, forward-looking arrangement by Don Redman — becomes streamlined and timelessly hip. Its most salient feature was the 36-bar solo by Armstrong, based on Oliver’s own “Dipper Mouth Blues” solo.
“What the World Needs Now is Love” — Jackie DeShannon (1965) (single)
Even among the galaxy of beautiful, timeless songs co-written by the great songwriting team of Burt Bacharach and Hal David (both longtime ASCAP members), this lovely 1965 creation sparkles. But its lightness belies its very serious and (still) timely message. Bacharach — recipient of the Library of Congress’ Gershwin Prize for Popular Song in 2012 — had the then raging Vietnam War in his mind during the song’s composition. Originally offered to the team’s frequent collaborator Dionne Warwick (who turned it down) they later made it available to ASCAP singer/songwriter Jackie DeShannon who used it to kick off her fourth album. For that recording, Bacharach arranged the song, conducted the orchestra and produced the session. Released as a single in March 1965, it became one of DeShannon’s signature hits. DeShannon would win the Grammy that year for Female Vocal Performance, and the song evolved into a standard, not only for her treatment of it but for later cover versions by the likes of Barbra Streisand, Sergio Mendes, Barry Manilow and, eventually, even Dionne Warwick.
“Ode to Billie Joe” — Bobbie Gentry (1967) (single)
Imagery, as vivid as any Southern Gothic novel, meets superlative storytelling and musicianship in this 1967 country classic. It was not, necessarily, a local death that ASCAP singer/songwriter Bobbie Gentry wanted to explore with the writing of this song but, rather, the banality with which many of us greet and process news regarding the tragedy of others: “Well, Billy Joe never had a lick of sense; pass the biscuits, please.” Spare and arresting, and written and recorded when Gentry was only 25 years old, its release in July 1967 was a distinctive break from most country music of the era, and it resonated strongly with country, pop and R&B audiences. In 1976, “Ode” would inspire a big screen film adaptation and return to the charts, powered once more by its fable-like quality and its central mystery that we are still debating over 50 years since it was proffered to us.
“Déjà Vu” — Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young (1970) (album)
The trio of David Crosby, Steven Stills and Graham Nash re-defined folk-rock and brought a new musical and lyrical maturity to the pop music scene with their eponymous 1969 debut album, and expectations were high for the first release by the expanded “supergroup” of four created by ASCAP legend Neil Young’s arrival. Once again, the combination proved far more than the sum of its parts, even though the four found it hard to work together in the studio and the album was largely recorded in individual sessions. Stephen Stills estimates that the album took 800 hours of studio time. While that may be exaggerated, the band’s meticulous attention to detail coupled with the patience and skill of engineer Bill Halvorson, made “Déjà Vu” one of the most iconic albums of the last 50 years. “Déjà Vu” found its audience immediately, and remains the highest-selling album of each member’s career to date, with over 8 million copies sold. The three singles released from it: “Woodstock,” “Teach Your Children,” and “Our House” were AM and FM hits at the time and have each proved to be enduring, defining songs of early 1970s rock.
“Stairway to Heaven” — Led Zeppelin (1971) (single)
The familiarity of “Stairway to Heaven” can obscure the fact that it is a carefully crafted song. ASCAP rocker Jimmy Page, Led Zeppelin’s resident guitar god and producer, was responsible for much of the song’s structure and feel. Early in his career as a studio musician, Page had learned that one of the cardinal rules of studio work was to keep an even tempo and resist the urge to speed up at all costs. Ironically, “Stairway to Heaven” violates this rule to masterful effect, as it gradually increases speed, while adding instruments one at a time. First, we hear a lone acoustic guitar, soon a recorder enters, and, as the sound broadens, we hear vocals, a 12-string guitar and bass. Remarkably, the drums don’t enter until half way through the eight-minute song. As it gains momentum, the acoustic instruments fall away and we find ourselves listening to a fully electric hard-rock band. Bassist John Paul Jones contributed the recorder melody, lending a medieval feel to the song’s early measures. He and drummer John Bonham’s rhythm activities build to their usual huge and thunderous level. Few can imitate ASCAP member Robert Plant’s singing, and his lyrics, most of which were written during the band’s rehearsals, have appealed to a wide range of fans, while proving open to a bewildering number of interpretations. Finally, Page recorded one of the most tasteful solos in rock music.
“Take Me Home, Country Roads” — John Denver (1971) (single)
Though the song clearly celebrates West Virginia, its inspiration actually occurred on the winding highways of another East Coast state, rural Maryland, with a little nostalgic influence from the New England states. It was there, on one of those byways, that two of the song’s co-writers, ASCAP members Bill Danoff and Taffy Nivert (later to become two-thirds of the Starland Vocal Band), struck upon the feelings and imagery for the song that would become “Take Me Home….” Later, in December 1970, the duo met up with fellow ASCAP singer/songwriter John Denver at a New York City gig they were both playing. After they shared the song with him, Denver added the song’s bridge and later recorded it for his fourth album. It became that album’s first single and his breakout, career-making hit. “Take Me Home…” went on to define much of Denver’s career while also becoming a family and sing-along favorite, hitting a common ground simultaneously shared by the genres of country, folk and pop.
“Flashdance…What a Feeling” — Irene Cara (1983) (single)
A film about a determined young woman who dreams of living her life in the spotlight doing what she loves to do — dance — needed a song that fully embodied and echoed that very sentiment. In 1983, that movie was “Flashdance,” and to fashion that all-important title track, the filmmakers turned to some experts in the field of music for movies: ASCAP members Giorgio Moroder, Irene Cara and Keith Forsey. Their result not only worked perfectly for the final, climatic moment of the film but sprung out from it to become a major radio hit that lasted 25 weeks on the pop chart, 14 of them in the top 10. While Moroder — as he had done for previous soundtrack songs like Blondie’s “Call Me” — created the pulsating melody, Forsey and Cara, the latter already an icon for her “Fame” success, produced the lyrics, which Cara sang with her characteristic fervor and, indeed, passion. Since its ride on the charts, “Flashdance,” the song, has emerged as an enduring anthem for anyone working to prove the doubters wrong.
“Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)” — Eurythmics (1983) (single)
David Stewart and Annie Lennox, popularly known as Eurythmics, had enjoyed some chart success prior to the release of “Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This),” but this synth-pop song with its propulsive drum and synth line proved their breakthrough hit. Stewart remembers the track coming together very quickly using a prototype drum machine and two synthesizers. Lennox was depressed and laying on the floor when suddenly this pounding rhythm came out of the speakers. British ASCAP affiliate Lennox leapt to her feet, asking, “What’s that?” She quickly seized one synthesizer already preset to a string ensemble sound. That, along with Stewart’s addition of one more monophonic synth line, and the track was complete. Lennox then wrote the bulk of the lyrics on the spot and sang the lead vocal in one take. With the addition of one more section, they had created one of the most recognizable tracks in pop.
Like a Virgin — Madonna (1984) (album)
Madonna began her cultural ascent with her self-named debut album in 1983. But, even then, few could have predicted the worldwide domination she would achieve, starting on the dance floor, with her follow-up collection, Like a Virgin. The ASCAP pop goddess was taking greater control of her musical output and skillfully integrating her image with the world mood of the moment. The album did much to solidify the early iconography of the soon-to-be legend — from the bridal dress to the “Boy Toy” belt buckle — but it is the music that endures. Collaborating with the equally legendary Nile Rodgers, Madonna proved no one could craft pop quite like her. Of the nine songs originally included on the album, four became top 10 hits, and a fifth, “Into the Groove,” which was added to a later pressing, also was a smash. With 21 million copies of this album sold, the influence of Madonna and this album especially — catchy, controversial, coy — has yet to abate, and the beats have yet to stop.
Black Codes (From the Underground) — Wynton Marsalis (1985) (album)
“Black Codes (From the Underground)” is regarded as one of ASCAP jazz great Wynton Marsalis’s most beloved and artistically successful recordings. In contrast with the electronic and funk-infused jazz of the 1970s, these recordings hearken back to the acoustic jazz of the 1950s and ’60s, but with a distinctly 1980s flair and virtuosity. Retaining all but one member of his original quintet, the brilliant playing by everyone defined the era, and launched the group that came to be known as the “Young Lions.” Drummer Jeff “Tain” Watts, ASCAP bassist Charnett Moffett and pianist Kenny Kirkland play with muscular assurance, and a guest appearance by bassist Ron Carter, an alumnus of the second Miles Davis quintet, gives a seal of approval on this new take on 1960’s post-bop jazz. Recorded when he was only 23 years old, Black Codes won two Grammy awards that year, including Best Jazz Instrumental Performance-Group. Two years later, in 1987, Wynton Marsalis would help start the Classical Jazz summer concert series at Lincoln Center in New York City and the Jazz at Lincoln Center department, which continues today.
All Hail the Queen — Queen Latifah (1989) (album)
The release of ASCAP rapper Queen Latifah’s debut album All Hail the Queen in 1989 solidified the success of her past singles while also announcing that rap could be female, Afrocentric, and incorporate a fusion of musical genres. Those genres include reggae, as well as hip-hop, house and jazz as she raps in the song, “Come Into My House.” Moreover, Queen Latifah sang as well as rapped on the album. Lyrically, the album addresses race, gender, political and social issues that were contemporary and yet remain universal. The album was released when Queen Latifah was 19 years old. Born Dana Elaine Owens in New Jersey, Queen Latifah was not the first female rapper, but her work with other female rappers, like Monie Love, on both the single and the video for “Ladies First,” opened a new door for discussion about gender in rap. The success of All Hail the Queen was both a product of, and led to, Queen Latifah’s success in other areas of media.
“All I Want for Christmas Is You” — Mariah Carey (1994) (single)
For the past 40 years, the lower rungs of the pop chart have been littered with attempts to launch a new Christmas standard, a song for the season to modernize the feelings that Bing Crosby and Mel Torme had so resoundingly put onto disc decades before. None of them had ever endured, however, nor taken their place with those previous hits and all the classic Christmas hymns and carols. That was until 1994 when, for her fourth collection, ASCAP diva Mariah Carey went into the studio to make the now almost obligatory holiday album. For it, she laid down 10 songs, most of them holiday favorites like “Silent Night” and “Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town.” But, in the mix, she and ASCAP collaborator/producer Walter Afanasieff (a.k.a. Baby Love) also contributed this original tune. The song was first released in October 1994, but, now, almost like Christmas itself, the song comes back again and again; it continues to chart every year. In fact, each year since 2000, the song has even charted higher than the year before! “All I Want…” has now gone 12 times platinum and is the best-selling holiday song ever recorded by a female artist.
“Pale Blue Dot” — Carl Sagan (1994)
Few people understood astronomy, planetary science and astrophysics like ASCAP member Carl Sagan, and even fewer could communicate it in a way that makes us think and feel a deeper connection with the universe. In 1990, as the space probe Voyager 1 was finishing its final mission, Sagan asked NASA to take a photo of Earth in a wide shot across the great span of space. The photo and concept resulted in Sagan’s 1994 book, “Pale Blue Dot,” and reminds us of the humility of being the only known species in the solar system and beyond. Reading the words is one thing, but hearing the recording, in Sagan’s own voice, really paints the perspective on how vast the universe is and the responsibility of our existence. As Sagan so eloquently speaks, “It has been said that astronomy is a humbling and character-building experience. There is perhaps no better demonstration of the folly of human conceits than this distant image of our tiny world. To me, it underscores our responsibility to deal more kindly with one another, and to preserve and cherish the pale blue dot, the only home we've ever known.”
“Gasolina” — Daddy Yankee (2004) (single)
Its roots source back to Panama, Puerto Rico and other Latin American countries in the 1980s. The genre now called “reggaeton” was originally described as Reggae, Reggae en Español, dancehall, hip-hop and dembow. But despite its genesis 30 years prior, reggaeton was only truly ignited with the debut of ASCAP legend Daddy Yankee’s massive, seismic-shifting 2004 hit “Gasolina.” A song by a Latin artist first released to Latin radio, “Gasolina’s” unparalleled success quickly poured over every border, musically and geographically, hitting big with a wide swath of audiences. “Gasolina’s” aural dominance was so great that it ushered in a full reggaeton explosion and even saw various radio stations switching their formats — some even switching from English language to Spanish — to be part of the reggaeton revolution. Barrio Fino, the album which includes “Gasolina,” debuted at No. 1 on the Top Latin Albums chart, and “Gasolina” was the first reggaeton nominee for a Latin Grammy Award for Record of the Year. Not surprisingly, “Gasolina” is the first reggaeton recording to be added to the National Registry.
