Arthur Collins (singer)
| Arthur Collins | |
|---|---|
Arthur Collins
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | Arthur Francis Collins |
| Born |
February 7, 1864 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| Died | August 3, 1933 (aged 69) Tice, Florida |
| Genres | Ragtime |
| Occupation(s) | Singer |
| Labels | Victor, Edison |
| Associated acts | Collins & Harlan |
Arthur Francis Collins (February 7, 1864 – August 3, 1933) was an American baritone who was one of the most prolific and beloved of pioneer recording artists, regarded in his day as "King of the Ragtime Singers".
He was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and moved with his family to Barnegat, New Jersey around 1879 and as a teenager worked as a volunteer lifesaver on the Jersey shore, beginning an enthusiasm for sailing that became a lifelong pursuit. However, his fine baritone voice – heard in church and in local concert appearances – convinced Collins' family to send him back to Philadelphia for formal training. After concluding his studies, Collins spent some 15 years touring with various stock companies and appearing in summer opera in St. Louis. None of these ventures turned out any long term prospects for Collins, and when he married actress and singer Anna Leah Connelly in 1895 Collins swore off show business and decided to study for a career in bookkeeping. Taking occasional roles for extra money, Collins appeared in a production given by the DeWolf Hopper Opera Company in 1898, and talent scouts for Edison Records requested Collins audition which, according to his wife, took place May 16, 1898.
Within a few years, Collins proved one of the most productive and successful singers in the record business, and in his long career between 1898 and 1925 he worked for every record company active in the United States. He specialized in what were then called coon songs, popular African-American dialect numbers associated with vaudeville and minstrel shows. Collins also utilized an array of vocal effects and caricature voices which gave the impression that there were multiple persons at the horn on his recordings, though it was just Collins. Towards making that end of it more effective, Collins began to work in a duo format with tenor Joe Natus in 1901 and both sang in an Edison group called the Big Four Quartet It is assumed that Collins first came into contact with tenor Byron G. Harlan within the context of the Big Four Quartet, and from then until the end of Collins' career in the early 1920s, Harlan was Collins's duet partner. Collins & Harlan were probably the most famous and popular male duo on early records.
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