Ralph Peer and the Making of Popular Roots Music

This is the first biography of Ralph Peer, the adventurous—even revolutionary—A&R man and music publisher who changed the breadth and flavor of popular music in the United States and around the world. It is the story of the life and 50-year career of the man who was crucial in discovering star musicians and establishing the genres of blues, jazz, country, gospel, and Latin music. It tracks Peer's role in such groundbreaking episodes as recording the record that sparked the blues craze, the f