Meet Allan Crawford's mentor: Ralph Peer

"To understand the London incarnation of Allan James Crawford, it is necessary to meet his mentor, Ralph Peer. What Crawford did in his native Australia (and what he subsequently did to shake Australian politics), I will come back to later.

But Ralph Sylvester Peer is someone who is known to everyone who has ever studied the creation of the musical genre that came to be known as "Country and Western" (C&W) music. We are not talking about making music, but recording it. Peer was the father of Country music - because he was responsible for "fabricating" its "authenticity."

It was after Peer died that Crawford's troubles began because he could not get along with Peer's widow, and so on August 17, 1959 Allan Crawford left the company known as Peer-Southern and with him went his contact to Eric White who at the time, represented one of the largest public relations firms outside of the USA.

If you recognize the name of Eric White, that is because Eric White and Associates later represented the fledgling Radio Atlanta, and long afterward Atlanta became Caroline South and Crawford became heavily involved in a political scandal in Australia; White was exposed as an 'asset' working for the secret services of both Australia and the USA during the Vietnam War.

Here is an overview of the musical legacy that Ralph Peer created and left behind:

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