John Yorke AtLee

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John Yorke AtLee (1853–1933), who called himself Mr. At, was an American musician and an early sound-recording pioneer. He was born March 22, 1853, in Washington, D.C., and worked as a government clerk before becoming a recording star. When the Columbia Phonograph Company started in 1889, AtLee became one of Columbia's top artists in the early 1890s. He began recording for Columbia in 1893 and was known for his virtuosic whistling, a popular vaudeville act. His signature tune was "Listen to the Mocking Bird," an 1855 song by Richard Milburn. He recorded with Columbia through 1897, and in 1898 moved to the Berliner Gramophone Company, singing "The Whistling Coon" and "The Laughing Song," signature tunes of George W. Johnson, another famous whistler. His final recordings were for the Victor Talking Machine Company in May 1900. He married Ann Jennette Klock in 1883 in Prince George's County, Maryland. He died in Philadelphia on November 24, 1933, for unknown reasons.