Before he was Chairman of the Board, Frank Sinatra was a radio star. In an exclusive offering, and in a partnership between Smithsonian Media and Sony Music’s Legacy Recordings, 26 recordings, 23 of which are released for the first time, highlight a Sinatra rarely heard before.

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Even though some of the album tracks later became Sinatra classics, the songs heard here are significantly different from their commercially recorded counterparts. Each and every Sinatra performance on this exclusive CD is special, and was specifically chosen for its rarity and importance.

As album producer Charles Granata writes in the liner notes:

When it comes to Frank Sinatra’s recorded legacy, there have been many such ‘archeological digs’ – and an equal number of miraculous finds through the years. The selections presented on this CD represent a handful of the very best Sinatra radio performances, curated from a vast pool of original master transcription discs that have been located, preserved and meticulously archived – thanks to the foresight of several noted collectors, historians and institutions, and the Sinatra family themselves. The fragility of the original glass and aluminum-based lacquer discs that hold these precious recordings (some more than seventy-five years old) is such that many are in peril of imminent disintegration. Once irreparable deterioration sets in, the music will be lost forever.

Listen to the tracks above and watch the video featuring legend Michael Feinstein speaking with Granata about the album.