Charles Adams Prince was an American 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 Co. Later in the 1890s he worked as a musical director for Columbia Records and also conducted the Columbia Orchestra and Columbia Band starting in 1904 as successor to cornetist Tom Clark. In 1905, Prince assembled groups called "Prince's Band", "Prince's Orchestra", and the "Banda Espanola". They principally recorded for Columbia's disc releases and featured much of the same material as the Columbia Band, which was given over for cylinder recording to 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 now popular jazz standards. Their version of W. C. Handy's "St. 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.