Long story short, Tony was a frequent guest on the TODAY show at NBC Studios inside 30 Rockefeller Plaza, and often a fixture for the annual Christmas at Rockefeller Center broadcast. I suspect both signatures were acquired during one of those appearances, and most likely a two-for-one opportunity… Given the pen type used, I suspect the records inner sleeve was the best sub-straight to avoid potential smudging and generic enough that Al would sign it as well.

As for that ultra-rare Joe Bari (aka Tony Bennett) 78 rpm, it was recorded in April 1949 at the New York Decca studios on Fifty-seventh Street for Leslie Records, a small independent label owned by Sy Leslie and produced by George Simon, writer for Metronome. The disc features a Gershwin standard “Fascinatin’ Rhythm” on the A-side, followed up with an original composition by George Simon, an Italian-style novelty called “Vieni Qui” performed with the Pat Easton Orchestra on the flip side. There was a vocal group back-up on this recording known as the Skyriders but had, by this time, changed their name to the Tattlers and previously worked with Bing Crosby on his recording of a Johnny Mercer song called “Jamboree-Jones.”

Here’s a link to a big-score where the first re-discovered copy was unearthed:

https://jazzdiscography.com/finding-tony-bennetts-first-recording/

*Two other copies have since surfaced, one of which was bought from the previous owner by Tony’s eldest son Danny as a 90th birthday present for his father, who noted in Chapter 5 of his biography ‘The Good Life’ that “the one copy he had literally crumbled in his hands in the 1960s.”

For all you treasure hunters out there, apparently, there is another record that was made a few months after the Leslie record that has also thought to have been completely lost. This was a “demonstration disc” of two old songs— “Crazy Rhythm,” and a “The Boulevard of Broken Dreams.” This recording was never released but would be great if it were found still in playable condition someday and released posthumously.

As for the first 78rpm: Tony Bennett, then known as Joe Bari, recorded “Fascinatin’ Rhythm” and the B-side “Vieni Qui” with Pat Easton and the Marty Manning Orchestra produced by critic George Simon in 1949 for Leslie Records. This was his first professional recording.

https://jazzdiscography.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/bari-goldmine.pdf

https://jazzdiscography.com/finding-tony-bennetts-first-recording/

*Tony’s son Danny bought a copy found by Scott Resti as a gift for Tony’s 90th birthday, and I have the copy Bil Bowman found.