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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 176-200 of 556 records)

Company Matrix No. Size First Recording Date Title Primary Performer Description Role Audio
Victor B-30981 10-in. 10/8/1924 The new school teacher Avon Comedy Four Comic scene and male vocal quartet, with orchestra conductor  
Victor B-30988 10-in. 10/10/1924 Rose-Marie Lambert Murphy Male vocal solo, with orchestra conductor, instrumentalist, piano  
Victor B-30989 10-in. 10/10/1924 Old pal Lambert Murphy Male vocal solo, with harp and orchestra conductor  
Victor B-30990 10-in. 10/13/1924 Chrystus na świat przyszedł Orkiestra Witkowskiego Orchestra conductor  
Victor B-30991 10-in. 10/13/1924 Kołysanka Chrystusa w stajence Orkiestra Witkowskiego Orchestra conductor  
Victor B-30996 10-in. 10/14/1924 Pobor na kobioty Władysław Ochrymowicz Male vocal solo, with orchestra conductor  
Victor B-30997 10-in. 10/14/1924 Przepióreczka Władysław Ochrymowicz Male vocal solo, with orchestra conductor  
Victor B-30998 10-in. 10/14/1924 Miała baba koguta Władysław Ochrymowicz Male vocal solo, with orchestra conductor  
Victor B-30999 10-in. 10/14/1924 Poczekaj, hanka tam y Chróstu Władysław Ochrymowicz Male vocal solo, with orchestra conductor  
Victor C-31101 12-in. 10/16/1924 Marietta a la batteria Vincent J. Nola ; Cosma Vullo Female-male vocal duet, with orchestra conductor  
Victor C-31103 12-in. 10/16/1924 'Nganni d'amuri Vincent J. Nola ; Cosma Vullo Female-male vocal duet, with orchestra conductor  
Victor B-31104 10-in. 10/17/1924 Once in a blue moon Marcia Freer Female vocal solo, with orchestra conductor  
Victor B-31109 10-in. 10/20/1924 How do you do Billy Murray ; Ed Smalle Male vocal duet, with orchestra conductor  
Victor B-31110 10-in. 10/20/1924 I want to see my Tennessee Billy Murray ; Ed Smalle Male vocal duet, with orchestra conductor  
Victor B-31123 10-in. 10/27/1924 At the end of the road Henry Burr ; Albert Campbell Male vocal duet, with orchestra conductor  
Victor B-31124 10-in. 10/27/1924 On the road back home Peerless Quartet Male vocal quartet, with orchestra conductor  
Victor B-31131 10-in. 10/27/1924 Tell Mother I'll be there Peerless Quartet Male vocal quartet, with orchestra conductor  
Victor B-31132 10-in. 10/28/1924 Bungalow love-nest Henry Burr Male vocal solo, with celeste and orchestra conductor  
Victor B-31133 10-in. 10/28/1924 Come to me Henry Burr ; Marcia Freer Female-male vocal duet, with orchestra conductor  
Victor B-31253 10-in. 12/5/1924 Mennähän pojat Jean Theslöf Male vocal solo, with orchestra conductor  
Victor B-31254 10-in. 12/5/1924 Jääkärin laulu Jean Theslöf Male vocal solo, with orchestra conductor  
Victor B-31255 10-in. 12/5/1924 Colannin sota Jean Theslöf Male vocal solo, with orchestra conductor  
Victor B-31286 10-in. 10/28/1924 A weib a schlack Joseph Feldman Male vocal solo, with orchestra conductor  
Victor B-31288 10-in. 10/30/1924 Eternity Shannon Quartet Male vocal quartet, with orchestra conductor  
Victor B-31299 10-in. 11/3/1924 Besos fríos José Moriche Male vocal solo, with harp and orchestra conductor  
(Results 176-200 of 556 records)

Citation

Discography of American Historical Recordings, s.v. "Prince, Charles Adams," accessed April 25, 2024, https://adp.library.ucsb.edu/names/111328.

Prince, Charles Adams. (2024). In Discography of American Historical Recordings. Retrieved April 25, 2024, from https://adp.library.ucsb.edu/names/111328.

"Prince, Charles Adams." Discography of American Historical Recordings. UC Santa Barbara Library, 2024. Web. 25 April 2024.

DAHR Persistent Identifier

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

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