Scavenging

Rare Sinatra Tape, Scavenged

An extremely rare recording of Frank Sinatra singing and chatting was bought for a song at a car-boot sale — which is an English scavenging venue rather like a rummage sale, but with the merchandise sold out of vans, trucks and car trunks in a field or parking lot. (A typical car-boot sale, the William Morris Car Boot Sale in Walthamstow, is depicted at left.)

A man bought the tape for £10 ten years ago, then recently played it for a music-history expert wondering whether it might be worth anything, according to Chronicle Live.

The expert, David Harper, calls it genuine and “an absolutely staggering find. It was recorded in secret many years ago. Frank Sinatra can be heard chatting and then singing a lovely song, ‘East of the Sun,’ in his own special way. There are some copyright problems with it, but I am certain that if it came up at a leading auction in London, it would sell for tens of thousands.”

On the tape, the person making the recording can be heard saying that he shouldn’t be doing it. Luckily, he overcame his conscience and clicked “record.” Great find!