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George Washington Johnson

 George Washington Johnson (c. October 1846 – January 23, 1914) was a singer and pioneer sound recording artist, the first African-American recording star of the phonograph.




Johnson was born in or near Wheatland in Loudoun County. His father was a slave. Johnson was raised as the companion and servant of a prosperous white farmer's son. During his time with this family, he developed his musical ability and learned to read and write, which was illegal for a black child in Virginia at the time.

In his late twenties, he moved to New York City. By the late 1870s, he was making his living as a street entertainer, specializing in whistling popular tunes.

In 1890, Johnson was recruited by regional phonograph distributors who were looking for recording artists for the company’s coin-operated machines. Charles. His first big seller was a popular vaudeville novelty song called "The Whistling Coon". (The song’s lyrics compared a black man to a baboon.)

 Johnson was able to give out a rowdy laugh in musical pitch which gave him his next popular tune, "The Laughing Song" that was followed by "Listen to the Mockingbird"



In the earliest days of the recording industry, every record was a "master". A singer with a strong voice could make three or four usable recordings at once, with as many machines running simultaneously with their recording horns pointed towards the singer's mouth. Johnson would sometimes sing the same song over and over again in the recording studio fifty or more times a day.

By 1895, Johnson's two tunes "The Whistling Coon" and "The Laughing Song" were the best-selling recordings in the United States. The total sales of his wax cylinders between 1890 and 1895 have been estimated at 25,000 to 50,000, each one recorded individually by Johnson. At least one of his 1891 recording sessions was held at Thomas Edison's laboratory in West Orange, New Jersey.



During those years, two of his common-law wives ended up dead. The first, a German immigrant, was found dead in their apartment on West 39th Street in late 1894 or early 1895. No charges were filed. The second, Roskin Stuart, was found beaten and unconscious in their apartment on West 41st Street on October 12, 1899. Stuart was taken to the hospital and died a few hours later. Johnson was tried for first-degree murder and found not guilty.

 By 1905, Johnson's popularity declined, he was forced to take a job as an office doorman and lived in the office building for several years before moving to Harlem. Hw died from pneumonia and myocarditis in 1914 at the age of 67. He was buried in an unmarked grave in Maple Grove Cemetery in Kew Gardens, Queens, New York.