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.