Bill Miles was the fiddler on Dick Kraus's series of square dance recordings. Kraus is playing guitar in photo 3. Kraus obviously thought highly of his fiddler--see photo 4.
Terry Bell writes: "He was born in 1908 and died early at 65 in 1973. My dad went to Juilliard for classical training, and then because of the Depression had to drop out after 2 yrs. He then went on the road with big bands playing sax and clarinet besides his violin. I used to drive my dad up to northern Westchester County in NY when he had square dancing gigs in the summer. I remember around 1958, I was in 7th grade and I got to stay home and see my dad play a square dance on TV live, the set was set up like an old barn. My older sister sometimes filled in on piano for a Mrs. Milner."
The caller in photo 5 is
Artie Polachek, with Mrs. Milner on piano. The final photograph, in an unknown location, dates from 1949.
The grandson of Bill Miles has uploaded
all five albums of Dick Kraus, recorded in 1956 with Bill Miles, to YouTube. Enjoy!
