Ella Jenkins Now Immortalized With Nirvana, Public Enemy, and Sonic Youth
We know Ella Jenkins is a living legend, and now comes one more proof of that -- her 1966 recording of "You Sing a Song, I'll Sing a Song" is now immortalized in the Library of Congress' National Recording Registry, a list of "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant" recordings preserved for all time.
Other kids' artists are in there, though not for kid-specific songs -- Leadbelly's "Goodnight, Irene," Woody Guthrie's "This Land is Your Land," and Pete Seeger's "We Shall Overcome" all made the list in past years, and Elizabeth Cotten's 1959 recording of "Freight Train" was included this year along with Jenkins.
On the list you'll also find some recordings that, if you're like me, you've probably never heard of, like "Tubby the Tuba" by Paul Tripp and George Kleinsinger, an incredibly popular kids music recording from 1946. But you're more likely to have heard the three most recent recordings on the list -- Sonic Youth's Daydream Nation, Public Enemy's Fear of a Black Planet, and Nirvana's Nevermind.
That's fine company indeed.