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A 'lost' Prince Recording Rediscovered


wes williams

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I recently won an Alexander Prince 78rpm record on the Pathe label on ebay. If you've read my discography of Prince, you'll perhaps remember that he recorded around 1906 for Sterling label cylinders, and that some of these recordings re-appeared in 1908 on Pathe flat discs. I did a bit of research and discovered that my Pathe had been made around 1921 in the UK. One side is 'Highland Schottische', which was released by Sterling and Pathe, but the other is 'Honest Toil', which doesn't seem to have been released by either pre 1910. So it appears to be a 'lost' recording from Prince's Sterling period.

 

The clarity of this record is amazing for a 1906 recording. Its too long to explain the details of why here, but I've written a blog entry at http://78rpmcommunity.com/blogs/201/159/a-strange-british-pathe and you can hear it (and download it) here : http://78rpmcommunity.com/mp3-music/albums/436 . I'll add this material to my website next time I update, along with a rare 8 inch Zonophone 78rpm of Prince, a duet played by Mitchell and Shepherd, and a few other new items.

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Thanks for putting this 'lost recording' up on the Web for all to hear Wes !!

 

It is interesting to note a couple of techniques being employed by Mr.Prince;

 

it is apparent that he has the 'melody end' facing the microphone as there is a distinct difference in tone and volume between the notes of each side, but then on close listening this is not quite always the case... so perhaps he turns the concetina as and when he wishes more or less Left hand power ?? Perhap this is a technique he used 'On Stage'.

 

Another point is Prince's wonderfull control of Stacato and Legato passages, his Stacato I have tried to mimic ( with out great success) , and suggest that he used strong return springs and an incredibly delicate touch (probably also used a Wooden ended instrument for a dry finish to each note) and his Legato is a real smear of notes, horrible in one way but the contrast is tremendous.

 

Doubling the bass notes with the Piano is also effective, making better use of the accompanist than is usual on the early recordings that I have heard from other musicians.

 

The recording also shows good dynamic range considering the period.

Edited by Geoff Wooff
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