Alexander Prince (1874 – 1928) was an early 20th-century vaudeville musician and recording artist who played the McCann-system Duet concertina (usually spelt 'Maccann'.[1][2][3] Born Alexander Sutherland in Aberdeen, Scotland, he was first given a concertina at age 8 by his music shop-owner father, who wanted to give him something to do after a broken leg rendered him immobile. Of this event, Prince said, "I am, or was, alas an infant prodigy. It was an accident, primarily. I was 8 years old, and I broke my leg. I had to lie in bed, and that was the start."[4] He started to perform while still a youth, and by 1889 London's The Era newspaper mentioned him in a review of the club Alhambra Palace: "Alexander Prince plays the concertina with great effect, and is rewarded with much applause."[5] After performing at the Glasgow Exhibition at age 20, Prince went on to perform internationally, including a 1904 tour in South Africa.[4][6]
| Alexander Prince | |
|---|---|
 Prince in 1906 | |
| Background information | |
| Born | 1874 Aberdeen, Scotland |
| Died | 1928 (aged 53–54) |
| Instrument(s) | concertina |
| Labels | Zonophone, Columbia Records |
Prince was among the first recorded concertinists, starting with cylinder recordings for Edison-Bell circa 1904.[3] He released the first of his records with Zonophone in February 1906. He later released works under Columbia Records[7] and other labels through the 1920s. Several were under the alias George King.[6] Prince's popular records were reprinted under budget labels in the United States and in the United Kingdom.[8]
When not on tour, Prince spent his later years in Nottingham. He died in 1928.[6]
References edit
- ^ "Maccann Duet Concertina".
- ^ "Duet Concertinas".
- ^ a b Triggs, Bruce (2019). Accordion revolution : a people's history of the accordion in North America from the industrial revolution to rock 'n' roll. Canada. ISBN 978-1-9990677-0-0. OCLC 1117470211.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) - ^ a b "The Prince of Concertina Players: A Chat with Alexander the Great". The Talking Machine News. May 1906. Retrieved 20 March 2020.
- ^ "Amusements in Hull". The Era. London. 1889-03-09. p. 20. Retrieved 2020-04-02.
- ^ a b c Williams, Wes (2012). "Alexander Prince: An In-Progress Discography (Updated Jan 2013,Nov 2013,Sept 2020)". Papers of the International Concertina Association. 9.
- ^ "Alexander Prince (instrumentalist : concertina) - Discography of American Historical Recordings". adp.library.ucsb.edu. Retrieved 2020-03-20.
- ^ Hoffmann, Frank (2004-11-12). Encyclopedia of Recorded Sound. Routledge. p. 1695. ISBN 978-1-135-94950-1.
External links edit
- Alexander Prince recordings on RareTunes.org
- Alexander Prince cylinder recordings, from the UCSB Cylinder Audio Archive at the University of California, Santa Barbara Library.
- Alexander Prince recordings on www.concertinas.org.uk
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