Eddie South and His Alabamians"That's What I Call Keen"

[edisonplayer]

I have a copy of Victor black Scroll label 21604 by Eddie South and His Alabamians playing "That's What I Call Keen".The other side is "I'm More Than Satisfied",played by the All Star Orchestra.I got this in a record auction a few years ago.There's something strange about this record.The "All Star"side plays fine at 78rpm.However,as for the Eddie South side the seller put a sticker on the run-out with the note,"Play at 69rpm".I thought that was odd.I thought recording speeds were standardized with the coming of electric recording.I wonder if Victor discovered what happened and had the South band redo the selection?edisonplayer

[OrthoSean]

I thought recording speeds were standardized with the coming of electric recording.

Simply put, no, they were not. What you really need is a pitch-pipe. Most Victor Scrolls before 1930 usually play best at 76.60 RPM, with exceptions, of course. ALL of Emilio DeGogorza's electric Victors play at 75, for example. Even if period literature / catalogs / sleeves etc suggest 78 or 80 or whatever the case is, speeds were not generally standard until about 1932-3 and even then, there are still exceptions. Your Eddie South side should play fine around 75-76.60 RPM, I don't recall it being any slower than that, but I haven't played the actual record in at least 5 years.

Sean