Library of Congress
Collections in the Recorded Sound Section's SONIC
database:
(in addition to 78s, 45s and copyright cassettes, the database includes many
broadcast and archival recordings)
Copyright Cassettes -- approx. 46,800 records. Includes published and unpublished material. Data taken from copyright file records. [ongoing]
Recordable Compact Discs -- approx. 3700 records. Includes unpublished material. Data taken from copyright file records. Primarily "PA" copyright deposits. [ongoing]
45rpm Discs -- approx. 100,400 records. Inventory of 45rpm disc collection. Some data taken from copyright file records.
78rpm Discs (non-Rigler-Deutsch) -- approx. 82,000 records. Collection of 78rpm discs acquired by LC since the compilation of the RDI in 1982. Primarily American jazz and popular music. [ongoing]
NBC Radio Collection -- approx. 68,000 records. Contains all genres of NBC programs from the early 1930s through the late 1960s. [ongoing]
Office of War Information (OWI) -- 8242 records. Contains OWI news, information, entertainment, and propaganda broadcasts from 1942 through 1945. Primarily in English.
AFRTS Basic Musical Library, P series -- 7528 records. Popular music library discs from the Armed Forces Radio and Television Service. Popular music.
AFRTS radio series -- Various AFRTS series on 16" discs. From 1942 to 1959. [to be transferred from NPR database to RS1; ongoing]
Meet the Press Collection -- 2027 records. The radio program and audio from the television program. 1945-1984.
Raymond Gram Swing Collection -- 1298 records. News and commentary by radio commentator Raymond Swing. 1938-1947. Some of the records have brief summaries.
American Country Countdown -- 321 records. 1990-1996. Syndicated radio show featuring the top 40 country records in the U.S. for a given week.
Freedom Sings -- 161 records. Radio broadcasts from 1950s-1970s featuring the U.S. Marine Band.
UCLA Collection -- 115 records. Miscellaneous radio programs from instantaneous discs.
U.S. Marine Band Concerts -- 54 records. Radio broadcasts featuring the U.S. Marine Band.1959-1960.
RCA Victor Thesaurus Transcription Discs -- 54 records. Discs made for radio broadcast, includes music, auditions, other programs.
Elvis Presley Syndicated Radio Shows -- 48 records. Contains the following four shows: Christmas with Elvis, Memories of Elvis, Elvis Birthday Tribute and The Elvis Hour. These include music by Presley and others, interviews with Presley and others, trivia and special guests.
Larry King Show -- 21 records. A selection of King's radio talk show series from 1982 to 1985.
Andre Kostelanetz Collection -- 1136 records. Includes records for his radio shows Chesterfield Presents and Tune-up Time. Primarily from the 1930s. ILS collection level record no.: 99-385960.
Leonard Bernstein Audio Materials -- 632 records. Unpublished material from the Leonard Bernstein collection. Spans the 1930s to the 1990s.
Danny Kaye/Sylvia Fine Kaye Audio Materials -- 218 records. Unpublished materials from the Kaye/Fine collection. Spans 1944 through 1964.
Gerry Mulligan Collection -- 151 records. Unpublished recordings, includes rehearsals, jam sessions, commercial recordings, live performances. 1948-1952, 1953, 1956-1958, 1960-1979, 1981-1982, 1985. ILS collection level record no.: 98-701932
Bob Frank Collection (Kostelanetz) -- 108 records. Frank is a relative of Andre Kostelanetz's who collected a variety of recordings connected with A.K. Includes radio programs, special programs, commercial recordings etc. ILS collection level record no.: 90-740036
Robert Craft/Igor Stravinsky Audio Materials -- 44 records. Unpublished materials from the 1940s and 1950s featuring works composed and performed by Stravinsky, some with the New York Philharmonic.
Klemperer (Otto) Collection -- 14 records. Unpublished material covering 1960s-1970s.
Stephen Sondheim -- 14 records. Sondheim sings his own music. Includes songs from his musicals (including ones that were eventually cut), television and theater productions. Covers 50s-60s. Also includes sound from radio shows on Sondheim's life and work. STAR also contains about 15 records for instantaneous discs from Sondheim's music recording collection.
Irving R. Levine Collection -- 12 records. Levine is journalist, news commentator. Includes some radio/television broadcast material. Includes undated materials and some from 1950s.
George Gershwin -- 6 records. Rare Gershwin recordings and radio broadcasts. Lester Horton Collection -- 5 records. Primarily interviews with dancers. 1970s, 1990.
Boris Koutzen Audio Materials -- 2 records, one for a performance of his The Fatal Oath and one for the Primrose String Quartet performing his String quartet, no. 2 on an NBC program.
Duke Ellington test pressings from Valburn Collection -- 1 record (describes 5 test pressings). Test pressings of Duke Ellington and his orchestra from the 30s.
National Press Club -- 1955 records. Recordings of NPC luncheon speakers series plus some other events covering 1952 to1989. Primarily name and date access. ILS collection level record no.: 93-842085
Marine Corp Combat Recordings -- 1473 records. Field recordings made by World War II combat correspondents in the South Pacific. Includes briefings before invasions, battle sounds, and personal messages from servicemen and women to loved ones at home. [ongoing]
U.S. House of Representatives Sessions Collection -- 1032 records. House of Rep. floor proceedings. Covers 2/1979--12/1985.
Newport Jazz Festival -- 548 records. VOA recordings of the festival, 1955-1963, 1966-1967, 1970-1975. [ongoing]
American Liszt Society Collection -- 194 records. Covers American Liszt Society annual festivals for 1967-1995 (bulk 1967-1979). Includes lectures and music. ILS collection level record no.: 97-704419
Former Members of Congress -- 66 records. Interviews with former members of congress conducted 1974-1980. ILS collection level record no.: 95-770278
Test Pressings -- approx. 870 records. Test pressings from the Moss, Carolan, Altshuler, Spottswood, Carneal and Lincoln collections. Some information taken from discographies. Primarily jazz and popular music. [ongoing]
John Toland Collection -- 168 records. Interviews (conducted 1970-1975) with friends, relatives, and others who knew Adolf Hitler (for a biography of Hitler). ILS collection level record no.: 00-580491
Desert Storm Cassettes -- 107 records. Copyright cassettes of songs about the Persian Gulf War.
Lyn Smith Cuba Collection: Oral Histories of Cuban Women -- 54 records. Interviews with Cuban women from all walks of life conducted in 1988 and1990. ILS collection level record no.: 97-700587
Vivian Perlis Collection -- 40 records. Contains interviews, musical performances and other material used for television documentaries on John Cage, Aaron Copland, and Eubie Blake. ILS collection level record no.: 98-700725.
Recorded Sound Serials -- 37 records that allow for item-level check-in [ongoing]
William L. Ewell Collection -- 20 records. A collection of jazz music from 1960s-1970s including many live performances.
Bootleg recordings -- 14 records. Bootleg recordings of performances by The Beatles, Blind Faith, Frank Zappa, Paul McCartney, Eric Clapton, Yes and Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young.
Philip Gries, Collector's Choice Archival Television Audio, Inc. -- 10 records. Audio for various television programs from 1961 to 1963 (includes bulletin announcing JFK's assassination).
Gordon Milne Collection -- 6 records. Jazz music.
Timothy S. Goeglein -- 1 record. An interview with William F. Buckley Jr. conducted in 1996.
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