Bill Case
Bill Case (1917-2001) along with daughter Maureen Aston & Don McBain, Mt Gambier, SA provided details of some of the Australian tunes in this archive.
The National Library of Australia holds aural recordings of interviews conducted with Bill Case. He was interviewed by:
- Rob Willis in April 1995, [1], Conversation: Case discusses his early life as a rabbit trapper, started at school at age 8, games and sports, pie cart, the rabbit trapping industry and changes in prices, his musical beginnings, playing at dances but bemoans later changes, played at his first dance at a very young age, his English heritage, how he was influenced by his parents, recites a ditty about school, acted as Master of Ceremonies, the value of being a dancer or a musician, how to play for dancers, Army life where he did not get sent overseas because he was a musician, how his daughter vamps on the piano, played for dances all his life. Also available online [2].
- Rob Willis in April 1996, [3] Members of the Band: Bill Case, fiddle, accordion and vocals; Don McBain, accordion; Maureen Aston, piano. Also available online [4]
- Rob Willis in May 1995, [5], Conversation: tells a story about pie floaters then a story about a fight, discusses the duties of a Master of Ceremonies at a dance, the local area in which he normally performs, the Bill Case Band, how he learnt the fiddle from Mr. Prince and explains his techniques, discusses the songs Springtime in the Rockies and Red River Valley. Also available online [6]
- Rob Willis in May 1995, [7], Bill Case sings and plays the violin and accordion.
- Rob Willis in May of 1995 [8], Folkloric recording. Bill Case sings and plays the violin and accordion with his daughter Maureen Aston playing the piano. Also available online [9]
- Alan Musgrove in August 1996, [10], Bill Case, Maureen Aston and Don McBain recorded.
"Bill Case was the son of a rabbit trapper, growing up in a family that experienced extreme poverty. Bill's father played button accordion and fiddle. Bill could play and accordion at age 6, developing a good deal of flourish. He was often reprimanded by his father for being 'too flash' in his performance. He took up the fiddle, among other instruments, becoming an accomplished dance musician, developing a style of his own - he played tunes entirely on the two higher pitched upper strings, which meant that his fiddle could be heard above the accordions and piano." -- John Harpley in "Verandah Music, Roots of Australian Tradition", ed. Graham Seal and Rob Willis, 2003, p45 [11]
Maureen Aston played keyboards for much of Bill's recordings.
You can view a 15 minute video of Bill Case playing both button accordion and fiddle The Versatile Bill Case.
And another with a yarn about pie floaters Bill Case - Yarnspinner.
