Set of (6) Dual-Sided 78 Vinyl Records Owned by Frank Sinatra

This recording in 12 parts from NBC, dated June 14, 1950, was pressed from a live cast performance of the first comic-strip operetta, Dick Tracy in B-Flat, originally recorded February 15, 1945, for the Armed Forces Radio Service (AFRS).  

This was not just any cast recording. 

The performances featured Bing Crosby as Tracy, Bob Hope as Flattop, Cass Daley as Gravel Gertie, ‘teen heartthrob’ Frank Sinatra as Shakey, Dinah Shore as Tess Trueheart, Judy Garland as Snowflake Falls, the Andrews Sisters as the Summer Sisters, Frank Morgan as Vitamin Flintheart, Jerry Colonna as Chief Brandon, Harry Von Zell as Judge Hooper, and Jimmy Durante as the Mole.  The cast appeared with a full chorus before the AFRS Orchestra, conducted by Meredith Willson, who later gained fame as the composer and lyricists of the Music Man.

The program was originally broadcast on the Armed Forces Radio Network (AFRS) with a direct shortwave transmission to the troops overseas. It was not broadcast over domestic U.S. radio stations. The subsequent recordings of the broadcast were never distributed to the public or sold for profit.  

These records are the real deal.  They were left at Villa Maggio by Frank Sinatra, who had owned them for over 30 years. Full disclosure -- while seemingly in very good condition, these records have not been played to verify sound quality.

Photographs are from the Chester Gould Dick Tracy Museum.

• Name : Melinda Ritz