The Joe Smith Collection at the Library of Congress
 

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By James Sullivan
December 27, 2012 2:55 PM ET
A few years before he retired, record industry executive Joe Smith began recording interviews with the biggest pop, rock and jazz stars of his lifetime, many of whom he signed as the head of several labels, including Warner Bros., Elektra/Asylum and Capitol. He published a book in 1988 called Off the Record, featuring more than 200 interview excerpts with Paul McCartney, Bob Dylan, Little Richard, Elton John and many more. The unedited tapes themselves, however, sat in his garage for 25 years until earlier this year, when he donated them to the Library of Congress, which recently uploaded an initial round of 25 digitized interviews to its website. The library will make the next 25 tapes available in February.


The Joe Smith Collection (Recorded Sound Reference Center; Motion Picture, Broadcasting and Recorded Sound Division; Library of Congress)