ARTIST BIOGRAPHY: BILL SCOTT As Ian McNamara of the ABC programme "Australia All Over" puts it; "As far as I can ascertain, Bill Scott has spent most of his life being fiercely Australian. Well maybe fierce is not quite the right word if you know Bill, because whenever I meet him he's sporting that warm smile of his. Bill, and a few others like him, believe it is important to celebrate our distinctive national qualities. Bill Scott has, for many years, been writing our songs and stories. We hear them and we smile - they are our shared experiences..... If I can paraphrase a line taken from Henry Lawson; 'We as people are all better off for the muse of a bloke like Bill." (Ian McNamara, ABC Radio, "Australia All Over" August 1999).

BILL SCOTT BIOGRAPHY:
Bill Scott was born in Bundaberg, Queensland, in 1923, and grew up in Caboolture and then in Brisbane. He began writing poetry while serving in the Royal Australian Navy during World War.
His first poem was published in The Bulletin in 1944 when he was twenty-one. Since then he has published more than fifty books in prose and in poetry and has become famous as a collector of and writer on Australian folk stories and songs. He has written novels, short stories, verse, biographies, magazine articles, anthologies and songs. His poetry and short stories have been widely anthologised. He was awarded the O.A.M. for his services to folklore in 1992. Bill is one of Australia's national treasures. .
Besides serving in the Navy, Bill has worked as a seaman, steam engine driver, prospector, miner, bookseller, editor and publisher.
He spent the last 30 or so years of his life writing full time. He died in December, 2005.

For more information about Bill Scott, check out the website www.billscott.com.au

OPAL MINER

Deep in the shaft I
chip alone
where sunsets sleep in the dry brown stone.
Scrape of shovel blade,
tap of pick,
flickering light from the burning wick.

Long ago,
before there were clocks,
a rainbow crept inside these rocks.
Now in the darkness
I burrow and creep,
waking that light from its age-old sleep.

Pot of gold
at the rainbow's end
are the sunset colours that shift and blend.
I hammer and tap,
scrape and strain,
till I bring them back to light again.

I may never
see the day
when the stone shines bright as the Milky Way,
But some other miner,
when I'm long gone
may discover the dream that drove me on.

My blue-green eyes,
my blood's red streams,
golden hope and harlequin dreams
may shine like colour
in the dry brown stone
as underground
he chips alone.

Bill Scott - from "See What I've Got" - The Bill Scott Reciter (Triple D Books, ISBN 0 9578681 0 3)
CONTACT: zdenholm@bigpond.net.au to purchase a copy.
(This poem is also spoken by Bill on his Restless Music cassette "Songbird In Your Pocket" Restless RM040 - of which there are a small number left - enquiries to our email address restless_music@yahoo.com.au)

PHOTO GALLERY

In the rigging of the Cape Leeuwin	High Peak, 1953	North Reef Lighthouse, north of Heron Island

BILL SCOTT - A Selected Bibliography (Includes ISBNs where known)

Books:
Complete Book Of Australian Folklore (Lansdowne, 1976)
Brisbane Sketchbook (Rigby, 1976)
Boori (Oxford University Press, 1979)
Tough In The Old Days (Rigby, 1979)
Shadows Among The Leaves (Heineman, 1984)
Many Kinds Of Magic (Viking, 1990, ISBN 0670829714)
The Currency Lad (McVittie, 1994, ISBN - 0949183349)
The Banshee & The Bullocky - Tales of My Uncle Arch (University of Qld. Press, 1996 ISBN 0702227757) Pelicans & Chihuahuas & Other Urban Legends (University of Qld. Press, 1996, ISBN 0702227749)
Waltzing Matilda Meets Lazy Jack (Silverfish, ISBN 1876631015)
Lies, Flies & Strange Big Fish (Allen & Unwin ISBN 1865083577)
Hey Rain - The Bill Scott Songbook (Restless Music, 2002 ISBN 0 9579874-0-4)

Poetry:
Brother & Brother (Jacaranda, 1972)
Following The Gold (Penguin, 1999, ISBN 0140340068)
The Penguin Book Of Australian Humourous Verse (ED) (Penguin, ISBN 0140423214)
See What I've Got - the Bill Scott Reciter (Triple D Books ISBN 0 9578681 0 3)

SEE WHAT I'VE GOT
THE BILL SCOTT RECITER
Illustrated by Christina Booth

"See What I've Got" is Bill's third collection of his own poetry. The Reciter Series is aimed at providing poetry for Australians to perform - solo, in pairs, in groups. Young Australians need poetry for school, for examinations in Speech and Drama, for eisteddfodau, for family gatherings but they need it especially to bring joy to their youth, to heighten their awareness of the possibilities of language, to wake in them a knowledge of our distinctive culture, of the ways in which we are Australian. In "See What I've Got" you will find poems that beg to be learned and demand to be performed by people from six to more than sixty! Besides being awarded an Order Of Australia Medal for services to Folklore in 1992, in January 2001 at Tamworth he was given the Judith Hosier Heritage Award for his contribution to the preservation of Australian poetry. He has also issued two cassettes of songs and poems on the Restless Music label. Order copies of "See What I've Got" directly from the publisher at $19.95 per copy.Please send only money order or cheque payable to: Triple D Books 3 Cassidy Parade, Wagga Wagga NSW 2650. Or contact: zdenholm@tripledbooks.com.au Website: www.tripledbooks.com.au BACK TO PAGE INDEX

OPAL MINER-
The Songs Of Bill Scott
PENNY DAVIES & ROGER ILOTT
RESTLESS RM075 CD

Penny Davies & Roger Ilott first met Bill Scott after recording his song 'Hey Rain' in 1986. Their version of Bill's song became popular nationally when Ian McNamara discovered it and started playing it regularly on the ABC's "Australia All Over" radio programme. The song was included on the first "Australia All Over" album in 1987, which shot to number 1 and eventually went Double Platinum.

OPAL MINER features 22 of Bill Scott's songs, performed with humour, sensitivity and integrity by Penny Davies & Roger Ilott. With so much American influence apparent in our ethnic music, it is refreshing that Penny and Roger use their own voices to paint a true and honest musical picture of our Australian experience. Bill writes the stories and Penny and Roger interpret them in a variety of settings which bring Bill's songs to life.

TRACK INFORMATION: Where The Canefires Burn, Hey Rain!, Trochus Boats, The Lighthouse Keeper & The Herring Gull, Tanglefoot Harry, Hard On A Lass, The Mungindi Ball, Brisbane Girl, Mount Tully Lullaby, Cane Train, Cullendore Creek, The Darling Bunyip, Silverwood Dam, Coal Train (Trust The Jesus Box), Autumn Wine, A Drover's Life, Autumn Has Come, Rain In The Channel Country, The Monkeys Sing Soprano, Tales Of The Wind, Lullaby, Old Man's Song.

TO ORDER CLICK ON THE PAYPAL BUTTON BELOW:

Some Broadcasters, Listeners and Customer's Comments:
(Just a few of the many letters and comments we have received since OPAL MINER was released)

"....and Number One .... the wistful sadness of Penny Davies' voice, Roger Ilott's music and the poetry of Bill Scott - for all us drifters, where the cane fires burn." (Mike Broadhurst, ABC Radio, 'Australia All Over', Macca's Top 10 for 1999)
"You little beauties - what a great CD! Cheers! Pass on my congratulations to Bill and to the other musicians." (Ted Egan, Songwriter, N.T. Governor & Film Maker, Alice Springs, N.T.)
"I think it's my favourite of all you've done - the material is so consistently good and solid - (Bill Scott) is drawing from a deep well and is a deep well himself, and your tuneful co-labours work very well." (Gordon Bok, Folksinger/Songwriter, Maine, U.S.A.)
"What a wonderful CD this is!" (Chris Jensen, ABC Radio, Toowoomba, Q.)
"All your songs/poems have special meaning. I love the way you compose the music and arrange it to suit the story." (Hugh Lunn, Writer, St. Lucia, Q.)
"Bill Scott is one of a kind. They don't make them like that any more. He is a carrier of lore from Australia's past. I doubt if I need to detail Bill Scott's accomplishments other than to say we could do with more people like him!" (Warren Fahey, Festival Music, Sydney, N.S.W.)
"I enjoy your recent song "Where The Cane Fires Burn" - your sweet voice and crystal clear ennunciation stands like a beacon in these days of twang and tripe......You are both exceptional talents and your voice is an absolute delight." (John Z. Smith, Warwick, Q.)
"May we please order 'Opal Miner' by the national treasure Bill Scott." (Judy & John Collins, St. Helens, Tas.)
"I have listened to 'Opal Miner' with huge pleasure and some nostalgia. I think the production and the music are outstandingly good. Furthermore my elderly ears picked up every word - so clearly were the songs sung." (Mark Hertzberg, Hunters Hill, N.S.W.)
"Penny has a voice like cream pouring on rose petals. I delight in hearing 'Where The Cane Fires Burn." (Collin Robbins, Alexandra Hills, Q)
"I'd like to purchase the CD for my 76 year old Dad, who used to work at Goondi Mill and still goes out to the Garradunga Pub for a drink!" (Narelle Scerri, Flying Fish Point Q.)
"I have sought to find your music for some years without success. No peace until I locate the lady with the penchant for rain and the beautifully 'cynical' voice. A complete Australian icon." (Mel Le Good, Sans Souci, N.S.W.)
"Last Sunday, listening to 'Macca', I heard a great track about a cane fire burning, by our old mate Bill Scott. It took me back down long years, my eyes filled with unbidden tears. Was it smoke from the cane or was it not? ....Now I sit, waiting for the mail, and I know that you won't fail to send me the sort of songs I love the most." (Ron Bone, The Gap, Q.)
"I woke up at 6.15 one morning in December hearing 'Where The Cane Fires Burn'. As Macca did not name it, I wrote to him and eventually received the name and ordered it. I is absolutely beautiful..... Never in my life have I gone to this trouble for music." (Ann O'Sullivan, Mt. Eliza, Vic)
"I never thought I would hear music written and sung at such a high standard in contemporary times." (Wal Geldard, Forster, N.S.W.)
"Thank you so much for the CDs and tapes. I have them almost superglued in the CD player." (Mel Le Good & Shirley Morrow, Sans Souci, N.S.W.)
"This particular type of folk music is a rare treasure in Australian music these days." (Mike Stanton, Collaroy Plateau, NSW)

 

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