Frederick W. Hager (December 31, 1874 - March 3, 1958) was an American musician, recording artist, composer, and music director active between 1895 and 1923.
Biography
Early life and recording and bandleader
Hager was born in
New Milford, Pennsylvania in 1874 and began studying violin at 8 years old. He received a scholarship to study violin at the
National Conservatory, and led his own band in
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...
at the age of 21.
In 1898 he began recording for Harms, Kaiser and Hagen, a recently formed independent record company based in New York and in September of that year won the Phonoscope gold medal for best violin record for
Schumann's Traumerei. He began recording for
Edison in 1899 and
Zonophone
Zonophone (early on also rendered as Zon-O-Phone) was a record label founded in 1899 in Camden, New Jersey, by Frank Seaman. The Zonophone name was not that of the company but was applied to records and machines sold by Seaman's Universal Talki ...
and
Columbia in 1900. Between 1900 and 1907 Hager served as a bandleader for Edison (Edison's Concert Band), Zonophone (Hager's Orchestra), and Columbia (Columbia Orchestra, Climax Orchestra) recording hundreds of sides and becoming the nation's leading recording orchestra.
Composing
He was composing at the same time, and beginning around 1903 published a number of successful popular songs, including Laughing Water, The Midnight Flyer, and My Ramapoo.
Music publishing and directing
He worked in music publishing between 1907 and 1910 before returning to the recording industry as a musical director (choosing artists and repertoire) for several startup companies including the Boston Talking Machine Company, Keen-O-Phone, and Rex Talking Machine. In 1918 he began as musical director for
OKeh Records, one of the most successful independent labels of the time. In this role he managed the recording of
Mamie Smith's historic recording of
Crazy Blues
"Crazy Blues" is a song, renamed from the originally titled "Harlem Blues" song of 1918, written by Perry Bradford. Mamie Smith and Her Jazz Hounds recorded it on August 10, 1920, which was released that year by Okeh Records (4169-A). The str ...
that initiated the "
Race Records
Race records were 78-rpm phonograph records marketed to African Americans between the 1920s and 1940s.Oliver, Paul. "Race record." Grove Music Online. Oxford Music Online. 13 Feb. 2015. They primarily contained race music, comprising various Afri ...
" craze in the U.S.
Hager retired from recording in 1923 to
Long Island, New York and died in
Dunedin, Florida in 1958.
See also
*
Issler's Orchestra
*
Walter B. Rogers
*
Charles A. Prince
Charles Adams Prince (1869 – October 10, 1937) was an American conductor, bandleader, pianist and organist known for conducting the Columbia Orchestra and, later, Prince's Band and Orchestra.''Encyclopedia of Recorded Sound'', p. 860. He m ...
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hager, Frederick W.
Pioneer recording artists
American music industry executives
American bandleaders
1874 births
1958 deaths
People from New Milford, Pennsylvania