Biography
Dan W. Quinn was born in 1859 in New York City. There he began singing in the choir of the Church of the Heavenly Rest (Episcopal) as a child. As an adult, he was a performer on the Vaudeville stage. In January 1892, Quinn made his first recording in New York City and quickly achieved success. During Quinn's recording career, he scored 34 top ten hits. As was customary at the time, Quinn was not tied exclusively to any one record company. He recorded for all the major record labels of his day, including Berliner, Columbia, Edison, Gramophone, Paramount and Victor. Quinn himself estimated cutting some 2,500 titles during his recording career. Quinn retired from recording in 1906. He briefly returned to recording in 1915 to 1918, but went back into retirement soon after.
Dan Quinn died of intestinal cancer in New York on November 7, 1938 at age 79.
In those early days of recording, the songs were pressed onto tin discs (also called "plates" or "tin pans") and brown wax cylinders. The discs generally had one song recorded on each side while the cylinders had a single song recorded on them. The U.S. Library of Congress has made an effort to preserve Quinn's recordings (as well as other artists of the era) for future generations to enjoy.
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