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Ralph Peer

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Ralph Peer
Birth nameRalph Sylvester Peer
Born(1892-05-22)May 22, 1892
Independence, Missouri,U.S.
DiedJanuary 19, 1960(1960-01-19)(aged 67)
Hollywood, California,U.S.
GenresCountry,folk,old-time
Occupations
Years active1920s–1930s
LabelsColumbia,OKeh,Victor

Ralph Sylvester Peer(May 22, 1892 – January 19, 1960) was an Americantalent scout,recording engineer,record producerand music publisher in the 1920s and 1930s.[1]Peer pioneeredfield recordingof music when in June 1923 he took remote recording equipment south toAtlanta, Georgia,to record regional music outside the recording studio in such places as hotel rooms, ballrooms, or empty warehouses.[2]

Career

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Peer, born inIndependence, Missouri,spent some years working forColumbia Records,inKansas City, Missouri,until 1920, when he was hired as recording director of General Phonograph'sOKeh Recordslabel in New York. In the same year, he supervised the recording ofMamie Smith's "Crazy Blues",the firstbluesrecording specifically aimed at theAfrican-Americanmarket.[3]In 1924, he supervised the first commercial recording session inNew Orleans, Louisiana,recordingjazz,blues, andgospel musicgroups there.[1]

He is also credited with what is often called the firstcountry musicrecording,Fiddlin' John Carson's disc "Little Old Log Cabin In The Lane"/" That Old Hen Cackled and The Rooster's Goin' To Crow ".[1]In August 1927, while talent hunting in the southern states for theVictor Talking Machine Company,he recorded bothJimmie Rodgersand theCarter Familyin the same session at a makeshift studio inBristol, Tennessee,known as theBristol sessions.[1]This momentous event could be described as the genesis of country music as we know it today. Rodgers, who later became known as the Father Of Country Music, cut "The Soldier's Sweetheart" and "Sleep, Baby, Sleep", while the Carters' first sides (August 1, 1927) were: "Bury Me under the Weeping Willow", "Single Girl, Married Girl", "The Poor Orphan Child", and "The Storms Are on the Ocean".[4]Also in 1927, Peer recorded the fathers of modern RnB,The Memphis Jug Band,in a makeshift studio in the heart ofMemphis'Beale St.in the McCall Building,[5]as well as a sanctified preacher named Elder J.E. Burch inAtlanta,who would become the inspiration forDizzy Gillespieto begin playing music.[6]In July 1929, he recorded female country singerBillie Maxwell.[7]

In his autobiography,[8]Nathaniel Shilkret,Manager of the Victor Talking Machine Company's Foreign Department from about 1920 through 1926 and then Director of Light Music until 1933, notes that about a year after he hired Peer, Peer asked for a raise, which Shilkret approved. Shilkret comments on Peer's business acumen in making a very profitable trade for this raise: "[Victor executive] Walter Clark met Peer, who sold Clark an idea. No raise, but a royalty of one cent per record side that he would divide with the artist.... When I heard of this I was stunned. No one on the musical staff had been offered royalty for his arrangements or compositions, and here was a man collecting royalties with other men's compositions!"

Peer went on topublishand record other country and jazz artists and songs through his companySouthern Music Publishing Company.[1]Fats Waller,Jelly Roll Morton,Louis Armstrong,andCount Basiewere on Southern's roster. Then intopopular musicwith songs such asHoagy CarmichaelandStuart Gorrell's "Georgia On My Mind".[1]

The company became influential in the 1930s, and success came through Peer's introducingCentral Americanmusic to the world. In 1940, there was a major development when a dispute between the copyright organizationAmerican Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP)and US radio stations led to the inauguration of the rivalBroadcast Music Incorporated(BMI). BMI supported music by blues, country andhillbillyartists, and Peer, through his Peer-International company, soon contributed a major part of BMI's catalogue.[1]

During and afterWorld War IIPeer published songs such as "Deep in the Heart of Texas"and"You Are My Sunshine"(sung byJimmie Davis,coveredbyBing Crosbyand many others), "Humpty Dumpty Heart"(Glenn Miller), "You're Nobody till Somebody Loves You"(Russ Morgan), "The Three Caballeros"(Andrews Sisters), "Say A Prayer For The Boys Over There" (Deanna Durbin), "I Should Care", and "The Coffee Song"(bothFrank Sinatra). In 1945, he publishedJean VillardandBert Reisfeld's composition "Les trois cloches"(" The Three Bells "), which was recorded byThe Browns.[1]

In the 1950s, Peer published "Mockingbird Hill",a million seller forPatti Page,"Sway"(Dean MartinandBobby Rydell), and the novelty "I Know An Old Lady" (Burl Ives). Then camerock 'n' rolland Southern published hits byBuddy Holly,Little Richard,The Big Bopper,andThe Platters.[1]In 1948, Peermusic founded its concert music division, todayPeermusic Classical;composers published by Peermusic includeLou Harrison,Jerome Kitzke,Mario Lavista,Tania León,Charles Ives,andStefan Wolpe.[9]

Starting in the late 1940s, Peer took an avid interest in horticulture, growing and becoming an expert oncamellias.He died in Hollywood, California, in 1960. His widow, Monique Iversen Peer, became president of his company, then called the Peer-Southern Organization. Their son,Ralph Peer, IIjoined the firm in the late 1960s and became CEO in 1980.[10]

Honors

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In 1955, Ralph S. Peer was awarded theVeitch Memorial Medalby theRoyal Horticultural Society(RHS).[11]

Peer was elected to theCountry Music Hall of Famein 1984.[12]

Legacy

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In 2017, Peer was featured in the award-winningdocumentaryseriesAmerican Epic.[13]Directed byBernard MacMahon,the films featured restored audio recordings of Ralph Peer discussing how he found and recorded some of the firstcountry,blues,andRnBmusicians in the 1920s.[14]

Further reading

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Ralph Peer and the Making of Popular Roots Music,byBarry Mazor(Chicago Review Press) was published in November 2014.

References

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  1. ^abcdefghiColin Larkin,ed. (1997).The Virgin Encyclopedia of Popular Music(Concise ed.).Virgin Books.p. 941.ISBN1-85227-745-9.
  2. ^Palmer, Robert (1981).Deep Blues.Penguin Books Ltd.: Middlesex, Eng. p.109.ISBN0-14-006223-8.
  3. ^Russell, Tony,The Blues From Robert Johnson to Robert Cray,1997, Carlton Books, p. 20,ISBN1-85868-255-X
  4. ^"Carter Family (Vocal group) - Discography of American Historical Recordings".Adp.library.ucsb.edu.Retrieved2017-03-31.
  5. ^1.Wald, MacMahon, McGourty 2017, p. 59
  6. ^1.Wald, McGourty, MacMahon 2017, p. 92
  7. ^Wolfe, Charles K. (2002).Classic Country: Legends of Country Music.Routledge. p. 262.ISBN9781135957346.
  8. ^Shilkret, Nathaniel, ed. Shell, Niel and Barbara Shilkret,Nathaniel Shilkret: Sixty Years in the Music Business,Scarecrow Press, Lanham, Maryland, 2005, pp. 72–73.ISBN0-8108-5128-8
  9. ^[1][dead link]
  10. ^"Peer Music: About Us".Peermusic.com.Retrieved2017-03-31.
  11. ^"A Passion for Camellias"(PDF).The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens.Retrieved19 June2018.
  12. ^"Ralph Peer".Country Music Hall of Fame.
  13. ^"BBC - Arena: American Epic - Media Centre".Bbc.co.uk.Retrieved2019-05-07.
  14. ^"American Epic: Preview | Video | American Epic | PBS".American Epic.Retrieved2019-05-07.

Bibliography

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