If you ever find yourself thumbing through discographies of Victor records from the 1920s, one name shows up more than most. You’ll see him listed next to everyone from Fred Van Eps to Fats Waller. In fact, his name appears in the Victor ledgers well over 1500 times. He was an ever-present figure on recordings from the 1890s to as late as 1930, yet no confirmed photograph of him is known to exist. This ubiquitous (and to us, faceless) name that collectors of records ranging from Classical to Jazz all recognize is Eddie King.
Many collectors and scholars know his name, but similarly to the previous performers written about in this column, next to nothing had been done in terms of deeper research into his life and work. Mr. King was just as difficult to track down as Edward Issler, if not more so. This piece is just a brief sketch, but without a doubt, it should give readers an idea of this man’s significance.
When beginning my research on Mr. King, I started with a handful of humorous stories. Fans and scholars of Bix Beiderbecke records of the mid-1920s might be familiar with stories of band members pulling pranks on the old man Eddie King. King attempted to instruct the boys in the band to play their jazz rhythms, but the boys all snickered at the antiquated and overly dramatic manner that he approached the piano. He continued to raise hell for Bix and the boys into their d
