[78-L] Edward VIII Abdication on records

[Sammy Jones]

Mike, thanks for responding so quickly.

I've never seen the blue shellac version.  Both of my 12" commercial 
pressings are black shellac, but I'll definitely keep a lookout for it.

So, VIS isn't a Victor prefix.  Has anybody ever seen VIS before?  The 
pressings (at least the 33 1/3 one) is definitely by Victor (it has a 
beautiful RCA spiderweb pattern on the reverse).  Is there a way to tell 
which plant pressed it?  I'm assuming based on the Hal Wallis/movie studio 
connection it was pressed on the west coast, but I suppose anything is 
possible.

About those arrows...I took a closer look, and they do point to the place 
cutting begins, the beginning of the groove.  It's similiar to center start 
1930s radio ET pressings I have in front of me rigth now: Air Adventures of 
Jimmie Allen and Judy and Jane, which were both recorded by World.  I wonder 
if that was a device indicate to the cutting engineer where to place the 
cutting head to ensure there was enough space on the disc before the cutter 
ran off the outer edge.

Sammy Jones

Mike Biel wrote:
This is a sore subject with me right now because Thurs evening at the
Jazz Bash, a friend of mine swooped in on me and grabbed a 12-inch blue
shellac (probably west coast Allied) of it that the dealer, another
friend, had thought I would want.  One of your 12-inch versions is
probably like that.  It's not rare but I wanted it.  I think it was
offered by newspaper ad.

As for these Victor pressings for Hal Wallis, those are not Victor
prefixes.  They are probably masters cut by one of the movie studios,
especially considering the arrow.  That is what you find on soundtrack
discs so that they can be cued up without backspinning them.  It doesn't
point to the beginning of the groove, but to the point in the disc where
the sound begins.  That is less common for broadcasters to do, and I
don't think that Victor themselves did it broadcast masters.

Mike Biel  mbiel at mbiel.com

-------- Original Message --------
Subject: [78-L] Edward VIII Abdication on records
From: "Sammy Jones" <sjones69 at bellsouth.net>
Date: Mon, July 02, 2012 6:29 pm
To: <78-l at klickitat.78online.com>

It seems like my Edward VIII Abdicaton speech record collection keeps
growing! Discussion of the commercial records of the speech comes up
from time to time on this list. The last time was in March of last year.
I've got the 10" Brunswick version as well as two different 12"
versions. All shellac and probably available for sale in stores shortly
after the broadcast.

I've just gotten a couple of new copies that are very interesting;
perhaps unique. Both are 12" vinyl pressings by RCA . One is
single-sided and recorded at
33 1/3. The reverse of the disc has the RCA Victor spiderweb pattern.
The other is a double-sided 78. The content of both is identical, and
includes an American announcer at the end that is familiar from some of
the commercial recordings of the speech. These discs, however, include a
bit more of the announcer at
the end, and he mentions the speech was a presentation of NBC through
cooperation with the BBC. Nice to know the source of the aircheck! The
handwritten label on the 33 1/3 indicates the pressing was made for Hal
Wallis (presumably the Hal Wallis who produced Casablanca). Both discs
have white, handwritten labels.

The matrix number for the 33 1/3 is VIS-6141-56. The dead wax also says
#533. The matrix numbers for the 78 sides are VIS 6145 and VIS 6146; no
other numbers in the wax. Both discs are center start with arrows drawn
into the wax pointing to the beginning of the groove (like is often seen
on 1930s radio transcriptions).

I'm wondering if it's possible to tell what Victor's purpose was in
making these discs. Purely for paying clients who contracted for copies
of the broadcast? Do ledgers exist that cover these matrix numbers?
Where were the masters cut? Calling Mike Biel!

I'm also very curious to know if anyone else has seen custom-pressed
copies of the Abdication like this.

Thanks,
Sammy "Abdication" Jones