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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 76-100 of 556 records)

Company Matrix No. Size First Recording Date Title Primary Performer Description Role Audio
Victor B-30246 10-in. 6/5/1924 Hinky dinky parlay voo Billy Murray ; Ed Smalle Male vocal duet, with orchestra conductor  
Victor B-30247 10-in. 6/5/1924 It had to be you Billy Murray ; Aileen Stanley Female-male vocal duet, with orchestra conductor  
Victor B-30248 10-in. 6/5/1924 Nobody's sweetheart Billy Murray ; Aileen Stanley Female-male vocal duet, with orchestra conductor  
Victor A-30251 7-in. 6/6/1924 Three blind mice Henry Burr Male vocal solo, with vocal chorus and orchestra conductor  
Victor A-30252 7-in. 6/6/1924 Simple Simon Henry Burr Male vocal solo, with vocal imitations and orchestra conductor  
Victor A-30268 7-in. 6/12/1924 Miss Jennie Jones Henry Burr Male vocal solo, with orchestra conductor  
Victor A-30269 7-in. 6/12/1924 Lazy Mary Henry Burr Male vocal solo, with orchestra conductor  
Victor A-30273 7-in. 6/13/1924 Little Jack Horner Henry Burr Male vocal solo, with orchestra conductor  
Victor A-30274 7-in. 6/13/1924 Good King Arthur Henry Burr Male vocal solo, with orchestra conductor  
Victor B-30404 10-in. 6/19/1924 The grass is always greener Billy Murray Male vocal solo, with orchestra conductor  
Victor B-30406 10-in. 6/19/1924 All through the night Shannon Quartet Male vocal quartet, with orchestra conductor  
Victor B-30407 10-in. 6/19/1924 Oft in the stilly night Shannon Quartet Male vocal quartet, with orchestra conductor  
Victor B-30408 10-in. 6/19/1924 Come back to Erin Shannon Quartet Male vocal quartet, with orchestra conductor  
Victor A-30409 7-in. 6/20/1924 I had a little doggy Henry Burr Male vocal solo, with vocal imitations, xylophone, and orchestra conductor  
Victor A-30410 7-in. 6/20/1924 Cock-a-doodle doo! Henry Burr Male vocal solo, with vocal imitations and orchestra conductor  
Victor B-30416 10-in. 6/26/1924 In the candle light Peerless Quartet Male vocal quartet, with orchestra conductor  
Victor B-30417 10-in. 6/26/1924 Smile again, Kathleen Mavourneen Sterling Trio Male vocal trio, with harp and orchestra conductor  
Victor A-30420 7-in. 6/26/1924 There was a little girl Henry Burr Male vocal solo, with orchestra conductor  
Victor A-30421 7-in. 6/26/1924 Oh dear, what can the matter be Henry Burr Male vocal solo, with orchestra conductor  
Victor A-30422 7-in. 6/26/1924 The mulberry bush Henry Burr Male vocal solo, with orchestra conductor  
Victor A-30424 7-in. 6/27/1924 A frog he would a-wooing go Henry Burr Male vocal solo, with vocal imitations and orchestra conductor  
Victor A-30425 7-in. 6/27/1924 The carrion crow Henry Burr Male vocal solo, with vocal imitations and orchestra conductor  
Victor A-30426 7-in. 6/27/1924 The frog and the crow Henry Burr Male vocal solo, with vocal imitations and orchestra conductor  
Victor A-30431 7-in. 6/27/1924 Bobbie Shaftoe Henry Burr Male vocal solo, with vocal imitations and orchestra conductor  
Victor A-30432 7-in. 6/27/1924 The city mouse and the country mouse Henry Burr Male vocal solo, with vocal imitations and orchestra conductor  
(Results 76-100 of 556 records)

Citation

Discography of American Historical Recordings, s.v. "Prince, Charles Adams," accessed November 21, 2024, https://adpprod2.library.ucsb.edu/names/111328.

Prince, Charles Adams. (2024). In Discography of American Historical Recordings. Retrieved November 21, 2024, from https://adpprod2.library.ucsb.edu/names/111328.

"Prince, Charles Adams." Discography of American Historical Recordings. UC Santa Barbara Library, 2024. Web. 21 November 2024.

DAHR Persistent Identifier

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

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