George W. Johnson (October 1846 – January 23, 1914)

In 1890 George W. Johnson became the first African American to record commercially. Johnson was a recording star of the phonograph. A common story is that Johnson was discovered singing on the streets of Washington, D.C., by Berliner recording agent Fred Gaisberg. Frederick William Gaisberg was a recording engineer and one of the earliest classical music producers for the gramophone. Johnson’s discography includes songs like  The mockingbird, The laughing song, The whistling girl, and Carving the duck.