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Charles Adams Prince

Charles Adams Prince (1869 – October 10, 1937) was an American conductor, bandleader, pianist and organist known for conducting the Columbia Orchestra and, later, Prince's Band and Orchestra. He made his first recordings, as a pianist, in 1891 for the New York Phonograph Company. Later in the 1890s he worked as a musical director for Columbia Records. He also conducted the Columbia Orchestra and Columbia Band starting in 1904 as the successor of the cornetist Tom Clark.

In 1905, Prince assembled the ensembles Prince's Band, Prince's Orchestra, and the Banda Espanola. They principally recorded for Columbia's disc releases and performed much of the same music as the Columbia Band, which was given over for cylinder recording to the veteran flutist and conductor George Schweinfest. Prince's own composition, "The Barbary Rag", was recorded by the band in 1913.

Prince's Band was the first to record many compositions that became jazz standards. Their version of W. C. Handy's "Saint Louis Blues" in 1915 is the first known recording of the song. It took the band two sessions to record a successful take, which was considered unusual considering the talent of the band and its leader. Another song by Handy, "The Memphis Blues", was recorded by Prince's Band in 1914, a week after its first recording by the Victor Military Band. Other standards introduced by the band are Porter Steele's "High Society" (1911) and Lew Pollack and Ray Gilbert's "That's a Plenty" (1914). His band also played the popular instrumental "Too Much Mustard" released by Columbia and Sears's Oxford Records.

Prince recorded as a solo celeste player under the name Charles Adams. As such, his recording of "Silver Threads Among the Gold" was popular.

At Columbia, Prince also showed initiative in expanding the company's "classical" orchestral catalogue and in experimenting with the size of ensembles that acoustic recording equipment could capture. In October 1910 he conducted an abbreviated version of Franz Schubert's Symphony No. 8 in B Minor, popularly known as the Unfinished Symphony, on two sides of a 12-inch disc (released as Columbia A 5267), which was the first orchestral recording of any part of a symphony. He assembled a 90-piece orchestra to record the overture to Richard Wagner's opera Rienzi in February 1917 (released as Columbia A 6006), which was the largest ensemble commercially recorded to that date. Prince's last recording for Columbia was in 1922. He then changed labels to Puritan Records and later to Victor Records, where he worked as associate musical director.

Prince was related to the U.S. presidents John Adams and John Quincy Adams.

Birth and Death Data: Born 1869, Died October 10, 1937

Date Range of DAHR Recordings: 1903 - 1927

Roles Represented in DAHR: conductor, director, piano, arranger, composer, celeste, lyricist, xylophone, organ

= Recordings are available for online listening.
= Recordings were issued from this master. No recordings issued from other masters.

Recordings (Results 226-250 of 556 records)

Company Matrix No. Size First Recording Date Title Primary Performer Description Role Audio
Victor B-31355 10-in. 11/26/1924 Must it be goodbye? Henry Burr Male vocal solo, with orchestra conductor  
Victor B-31356 10-in. 11/26/1924 Old pal Henry Burr Male vocal solo, with orchestra conductor  
Victor B-31362 10-in. 12/3/1924 Nem mich zu fun der machine Morris Goldstein Male vocal solo, with orchestra conductor  
Victor B-31367 10-in. 12/4/1924 When you and I were seventeen Helen Clark ; Lewis James Female-male vocal duet, with orchestra conductor  
Victor B-31372 10-in. 12/15/1924 On the road to home, sweet home Elliott Shaw Male vocal solo, with orchestra conductor  
Victor B-31377 10-in. 12/17/1924 Appontate 'a giacchetta Frank Fanizza Male vocal solo, with cello and orchestra conductor  
Victor B-31378 10-in. 12/17/1924 Sia benedetta mammeta Frank Fanizza Male vocal solo, with orchestra conductor  
Victor B-31615 10-in. 12/26/1924 Little by little Billy Murray ; Ed Smalle Male vocal duet, with orchestra conductor  
Victor B-31616 10-in. 12/26/1924 That old flannel shirt (My father wore) Billy Murray ; Ed Smalle Male vocal duet, with orchestra conductor  
Victor B-31618 10-in. 12/29/1924 Dixie sandman Sterling Trio Male vocal trio, with violin and orchestra conductor  
Victor B-31619 10-in. 12/29/1924 On the banks of the Brandywine Peerless Quartet Male vocal quartet, with orchestra conductor  
Victor B-31637 10-in. 1/8/1925 I'm gonna tramp, tramp, tramp Billy Murray ; Ed Smalle Male vocal duet, with orchestra conductor  
Victor B-31646 10-in. 1/9/1925 Please be good to my old girl Peerless Quartet Male vocal quartet, with orchestra conductor  
Victor B-31647 10-in. 1/9/1925 Sweet Genevieve Henry Burr ; Peerless Quartet Male vocal quartet and soloist, with orchestra conductor  
Victor B-31648 10-in. 1/9/1925 Put on your old grey bonnet Peerless Quartet Male vocal quartet, with orchestra conductor  
Victor B-31659 10-in. 1/19/1925 Zmartwychwstanie Orkiestra Witkowskiego Orchestra conductor  
Victor B-31660 10-in. 1/19/1925 Zmartwychwstanie Orkiestra Witkowskiego Orchestra conductor  
Victor B-31677 10-in. 1/13/1925 I'm gonna tramp, tramp, tramp Billy Murray Male vocal solo, with orchestra conductor  
Victor B-31685 10-in. 1/16/1925 No gonna re no mo Giuseppe De Laurentiis Male vocal solo, with orchestra conductor  
Victor B-31686 10-in. 1/16/1925 Lisa, 'Ngnese e Rosa Giuseppe De Laurentiis Male vocal solo, with orchestra conductor  
Victor BVE-31805 10-in. 6/18/1925 Uzdah Mario Segvich Male vocal solo, with orchestra director  
Victor B-31805 10-in. 1/26/1925 Uzdah Mario Segvich Male vocal solo, with orchestra conductor  
Victor BVE-31806 10-in. 6/18/1925 Na gondoli Mario Segvich Male vocal solo, with orchestra director  
Victor B-31806 10-in. 1/26/1925 Na gondoli Mario Segvich Male vocal solo, with harp and orchestra conductor  
Victor B-31807 10-in. 1/27/1925 I'll see you in my dreams Lewis James Male vocal solo, with orchestra conductor  
(Results 226-250 of 556 records)

Citation

Discography of American Historical Recordings, s.v. "Prince, Charles Adams," accessed October 4, 2024, https://adpprod2.library.ucsb.edu/names/111328.

Prince, Charles Adams. (2024). In Discography of American Historical Recordings. Retrieved October 4, 2024, from https://adpprod2.library.ucsb.edu/names/111328.

"Prince, Charles Adams." Discography of American Historical Recordings. UC Santa Barbara Library, 2024. Web. 4 October 2024.

DAHR Persistent Identifier

URI: https://adpprod2.library.ucsb.edu/names/111328

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