Ralph Peer and the Making of Popular Roots Music

by Barry Mazor

Overview

2015 Belmont Book Award Winner

This is the first biography of Ralph Peer, the revolutionary A&R man and music publisher who pioneered the recording, marketing, and publishing of blues, jazz, country, gospel, and Latin music, and this book book tracks his role in such breakthrough events as the recording of Mamie Smith’s “Crazy Blues,” the first country recording sessions with Fiddlin’ John Carson, his discovery of Jimmie Rodgers and the Carter Family, the popularizing of Latin American music during World War II, and the postwar transformation of music on the airwaves that set the stage for the dominance of R&B, country, and rock ’n’ roll. Ralph Peer changed our very notions of what pop music can be.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781613736531
Publisher:	Chicago Review Press, Incorporated
Publication date:	09/01/2016
Pages:	320
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.70(d)

About the Author

Barry Mazor is a longtime music, media, and business journalist. He is a regular contributor to the Wall Street Journal and to the online music magazine medium/cuepoint, and is the author of Connie Smith: Just for What I Am and Meeting Jimmie Rodgers. He is the former senior editor and columnist for No Depression magazine and his work has appeared in numerous publications, including American Songwriter, the Nashville Scene, the Village Voice, and the Washington Post. He was awarded the Charlie Lamb Award for Excellence in Country Music Journalism in 2008. He lives in Nashville, Tennessee.

Table of Contents

Introduction: "Something New-Built Along the Same Lines" 1

1 Starting Out: Independence, 1892-1919 11

2 Getting the Music: Okeh, Records, and Roots, 1919-1926 31

3 To Victor, On to Bristol, and the Making of Giants, 1926-1927 71

4 Reaching Out from the Roots: Southern Music, 1927-1933 121

5 Breaking Loose, Branching Out, Starting Over, 1933-1940 155

6 Crossing Borders: The War, Latin Music, and the Media, 1940-1945 191

7 Going Global: Expansion, 1946-1951 223

8 Locking a Legacy, 1952-1960 247

9 The Roots and Pop Aftermath 279

Appendix: Key Recordings and Published Songs of Ralph Peer, 1920-1960 285

Acknowledgments 291

Notes and Sources 295

Index 310

Editorial Reviews

"Mr. Mazor discusses the evolution of American music and intricacies of music publishing with equal authority. He likewise brings impressive clarity and cohesion to considering the big-picture nexus of culture, commerce and evolving technology in which Peer’s saga unfolds. He tells this complex, intertwined story with ample substance for serious scholars while also making his book welcoming and accessible for neophytes.” —The Wall Street Journal


"This is an overwhelming book about an overwhelming character in the music field, a true visionary, who realized the potential power of common music long before anyone else - and who transformed the lives of many of those artists whom he recorded. We owe Barry Mazor a debt of gratitude for telling Peer's incredible life story, his monumental accomplishments, putting them all in one place, and bringing them to the light." —Bob Dylan



“Musicians know who Ralph Peer was, and now his life and contributions to our nation’s music are made available to all of us in Barry Mazor’s wonderful and absorbing biography.  Mazor [...] has given us a beautifully written portrait of an utterly fascinating man. One is continually astonished at how a shipping clerk from Independence, Mo., at various junctions in his life, made decisions that transformed American music by bringing new artists and forms of music — from country, blues and bluegrass to early rock ’n’ roll — to millions of citizens who had not yet encountered them.” —New York Times
 




“Ralph Peer’s true importance in American music is rarely understood outside of the music business, but Barry Mazor’s book draws a compelling portrait of Peer as business innovator, music scout, and publishing executive, detailing his visionary pursuit of musical riches in previously unexplored rural America and Latin America—yielding a body of recorded blues, country, and pop that are the foundations of American musical culture.” —Laura Cantrell

“Ralph Peer was there first to discover and record roots music before anyone else. This remarkable man brought that legacy to the world, nurturing the early country, blues, jazz, and Latin artists. It’s all in this book. Dive in and be awed.” —Donovan


“Peer finally receives his due in this excellent biography.” —Booklist


“The world has been waiting for this! Ralph Peer is surely the most fascinating character in American vernacular music business history, and I personally thank him, since I otherwise would have been sacking groceries in El Segundo, or parking cars in Pacoima all these years. Mazor does a spectacular job weaving together the threads of Peer's discoveries in blues, jazz, country, and Latin. You will be amazed! I can't recommend this book strongly enough.” —Ry Cooder, musician


“Mazor’s book rolls along at a swift and radio-friendly tempo, supplying invaluable detail on Peer’s achievements and the vision that drove them.” —Paste magazine

From the Publisher

Musicians know who Ralph Peer was, and now his life and contributions to our nation's music are made available to all of us in Barry Mazor's wonderful and absorbing biography…Mazor…has given us a beautifully written portrait of an utterly fascinating man. One is continually astonished at how a shipping clerk from Independence, Mo., at various junctions in his life, made decisions that transformed American music by bringing new artists and forms of music—from country, blues and bluegrass to early rock 'n' roll—to millions of citizens who had not yet encountered them…for any fan of original American music, Mazor's biography is must reading…

The New York Times Book Review - Ronald Radosh

As Ralph Peer shifted from the phonograph business to the record business, he boosted the music industry, particularly blues, jazz, country, and Latin music. The music executive's own thoughts about his life are part of Mazor's meticulous account of Peer's life and legacy. There's also some personal history on Peer, whose hobby was camellia gardening. The narrative isn’t dramatic—the production is more like an engaging college course. But Peer's life story includes some good moments. Listeners will likely enjoy stories about early sessions with Jimmie Rodgers and the Carter Family or his involvement in U.S. outreach in Latin America during WWII. At times, discussion of esoteric topics like royalties bogs down. Nonetheless, listeners who are curious will find this worth hearing. J.A.S. © AudioFile 2015, Portland, Maine

SEPTEMBER 2015 - AudioFile