Alexander Prince

Alexander Prince (1874 – 1928) was an early 20th-century vaudeville musician and recording artist who played the McCann-system Duet concertina.[1] 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."[2] 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."[3] After performing at the Glasgow Exhibition at age 20, Prince went on to perform internationally, including a 1904 tour in South Africa.[2][4]

Alexander Prince
Prince in 1906
Background information
Born1874
Aberdeen, Scotland
Died1928 (aged 53–54)
Instrumentsconcertina
LabelsZonophone, Columbia Records

Prince was among the first recorded concertinists, starting with cylinder recordings for Edison-Bell circa 1904.[1] He released the first of his records with Zonophone in February 1906. He later released works under Columbia Records[5] and other labels through the 1920s. Several were under the alias George King.[4] Prince's popular records were reprinted under budget labels in the United States and in the United Kingdom.[6]

When not on tour, Prince spent his later years in Nottingham. He died in 1928.[4]

References
  1. 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.
  2. "The Prince of Concertina Players: A Chat with Alexander the Great". The Talking Machine News. May 1906. Retrieved 20 March 2020.
  3. "Amusements in Hull". The Era. London. 1889-03-09. p. 20. Retrieved 2020-04-02.
  4. Williams, Wes (2012). "Alexander Prince: An In-Progress Discography (Updated Jan 2013,Nov 2013)". Papers of the International Concertina Association. 9.
  5. "Alexander Prince (instrumentalist : concertina) - Discography of American Historical Recordings". adp.library.ucsb.edu. Retrieved 2020-03-20.
  6. Hoffmann, Frank (2004-11-12). Encyclopedia of Recorded Sound. Routledge. p. 1695. ISBN 978-1-135-94950-1.


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