[78-L] Edward VIII Abdication Records

[Sammy Jones]

Hearing Mike Biel talk about the Edward VIII Abdication Speech during his 
YesterdayUSA broadcast on the Pearl Harbor speech reminds me that I have 
gotten a few more discs in.

I now have two copies of the Center Music Store version (discog. details in 
an earlier message below) with label variations.  One copy has a rather 
plain, white label with blue type and says:

Farewell Speech
of Former
King Edward VIII
December 11, 1936--5 P.M.
Center Music Store
R.C.A. Bldg. Rockefeller Center
New York, U.S.A.

The other Center version is on a grey label with a black ring with red type 
around the label:

AN ELECTRICAL RECORDING
Exclusively for
CENTER
MUSIC STORE
Rockefeller Center NY
THE FAREWELL SPEECH
OF FORMER
KING EDWARD VIII
Recorded from Radio Broadcast on
December 11, 1936, at 5 P.M.

Now, to the most interesting part, as I mentioned on Facebook last week: 
this Center Music Store record is the worst sounding copy of the speech I've 
heard.  It sounds like it's a mic placed in front of a speaker...which of 
course it is!  At the end of side one, someone says "stop!," and then a loud 
click is heard.  Fascinating.

Also in just last week, a copy of the speech from the Gramophone Shop.  It's 
a 10-incher with a plain, white pasteover label.  The label for side one has 
fallen off to leave only a blank, white label.  Here's the info from side 2:

THE
FAREWELL MESSAGE
--of--
KING EDWARD VIII
DEC. 11, 1936    PART TWO
THIS RECORD IS NOT TO BE USED
FOR
BROADCASTING OR PUBLIC PERFORMANCE
The Gramophone Shop
18 E. 48th ST. - New York

The matrix nos. are 1006 and 1007.

And a 12" British pressing that I've just gotten...It's a red label with 
gold print.  The matrix numbers are KS1-2 and KS2.

The label reads:

H.M. KING EDWARD VIII
Speaking to the World from Windsor Castle
as H.R.H. Prince Edward on the eve of his
departure from England, 11th December, 1936
PART 1
Issued by
Empire Recording Institute
Empire House
London, W. 1

The record begins with an introduction before the speech begins:

"His Majesty, King Edward VIII, speaking to the world from Windsor Castle as 
His Royal Highness Prince Edward on the eve of his departure from England 
after his abdication on Friday, December 11, 1936."

Reith's comments are not heard, and the recording ends abruptly after the 
words, "God save the King!"

Now (and if you've read this far down you're as big a fan of the Abdication 
Speech record as I am), here's the most interesting bit of trivia I've come 
up with doing all this collecting of and listening to Abdication records:

I've always assumed the RCA vinyls that I own (probably made for Hal B. 
Wallis, details in an earlier message below) were pretty complete.  They are 
not!  The infamous thump between John Reith's introduction and Edward's 
speech has been edited out on both records!  The edit is imperceptible, so I 
believe the master might have been made on film.  Mike Biel is there any way 
to tell from the matrix numbers?  The one-sided 33's numbers are VIS-6141-56 
and the two-sided 78's numbers are VIS 6145 and VIS 6146.

Sammy Jones

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Sammy Jones" <sjones69 at bellsouth.net>
To: <78-l at 78online.com>
Sent: Tuesday, November 19, 2013 10:50 PM
Subject: Re: Edward VIII Abdication Records


> Last week I got a 12" copy of the speech released by Center Music Store in 
> the RCA Building at 30 Rock in New York.  Here's the discog. info:
>
> Farewell Speech of Former King Edward VIII, Center Music Store (CM #1A/CM 
> 1B), 12"
>
> And just in tonight, a 10" copy with no maker listed.  Unfortunately, it 
> was poorly packed and arrived in a million pieces.  For the record, here's 
> the info:
>
> Farewell Address of King Edward VIII of England, no maker, white/cream 
> label (L-0369-A-3/L-0370-B-3), 10"
>
> There are a few more copies I've discovered and hope to have in-hand (and 
> unbroken) shortly.  Thanks to everyone who provided information on other 
> versions of the disc.
>
> Sammy Jones
>
>
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "Sammy Jones" <sjones69 at bellsouth.net>
> To: <78-l at 78online.com>
> Sent: Sunday, November 10, 2013 5:33 AM
> Subject: Edward VIII Abdication Records
>
>
>> Okay...how many of these things were there?  I thought I had a pretty 
>> nice collection of Edward VIII Abdication records on 78, but just came 
>> across three different variations on eBay that I don't have (I snapped 
>> two of them up).  Has anyone put together a list or discography?
>>
>> To get the ball rolling, here are the commercial 78 pressings I have of 
>> the speech:
>>
>> King's Farewell Speech, Brunswick 7810 (mx. 20404/20405), 10"
>> Farewell Address of King Edward VIII, no maker, gold foil label (mx. 6635 
>> #1 / 6735 P2 ((the 3 and P are reversed in the wax))), 12"
>> Abdication Speech of King Edward VIII, no maker, white label (MS-A 
>> 1523/MS-A 1524), 12"
>>
>> And a 10" shellac pressing with a white label bearing only PART 1 in 
>> large type (mx XX1/XX2).  Someone has written "A limited issue by the 
>> BBC. 1937." in pen on the label.  Nothing whatsoever on the reverse side 
>> white label.
>>
>> By the way, my favorite copies are two 12" vinyl pressings (one at 78 and 
>> one at 33 1/3) by Victor that were apparently made for Hal Wallis (the 
>> movie producer).  The 33 disc is one-sided and has that lovely RCA 
>> spiderweb pattern on the back.  The one-sided 33's matrix number is 
>> VIS-6141-56.  The two-sided 78's matrix numbers are VIS 6145 and VIS 
>> 6146.
>>
>> I'd love to know if anyone has ever encountered similar vinyl pressings 
>> of the Abdication Speech like these!
>>
>> I'll post details of the discs I'm getting from eBay once they arrive.
>>
>> Sammy Jones
>>
>