#!/bin/bash
s=$(echo -e 'smith;pete;he is very nice;1990\r\nbrown;mark;he is very nice;2010\r\ntaylor;sam;he is\nvery nice;2009\r\n')
#echo "$s" | sed ':a;N;$!ba; {s/\(\r\n\)|\n/\1/g}'
echo "$s" | sed ':a;N;$!ba;s/\r\n/<<<CRLF>>>/g;s/\n/ /g;s/<<<CRLF>>>/\r\n/g;'