In the rock roll era, the "A&R" job description usually implies a schmoozer whose musical talents, if any, lie in an instinct for commerce. While the latter skill was of obvious importance to record company executives in the '20s, some of them, such as Fred Hager, also had the type of creative abilities more often associated with performers themselves. While remaining behind the scenes, Hager was actually an adept pianist, arranger, and conductor. When he assembled a special group to back singer Mamie Smith in the early '20s, Hager may not have realized that he had just hit one out of the park. It is the opinion of some classic blues buffs that this Hager production began the countdown to what came to be known as "the Race record industry," i.e., black music.

Hager and associate Justin Ring were both major A&R scouts at the OKeh label during the '20s, and the label would go on to become one of the most famous in early blues documentation. By this time, Hager could easily be considered a veteran of the music business. His Irish Fantasia was released on the Zonophone label way back in 1900 and he published the song Minerva six years later. Hager continued writing songs through the '20s, sometimes in collaboration with Ring. His original songs include the possessive if patriotic My Own Liberty Bell. Typically, the publishing of Hager's original songs was credited to either F. Wallace Rega or Mile Rega, aliases partially concocted from Hager's own surname. ~ Eugene Chadbourne, Rovi