Oakland's Last Piano Man Delighted Fans for 57 Years at Legendary Restaurant

LAST OAKLAND LIVING LEGEND PASSES –   ROD DIBBLE DELIGHTED GENERATIONS FOR 57 YEARS AT LAST PIANO BAR

     Not everyone finds his or her place in life but Rod Dibble sure did. Even when he was fired for growing a mustache in the ‘60s he found his way back to the Alley, where he would be a fixture for 57 years. He said he wanted to perform there until he was 98. He made it to 85, which isn’t bad. I just read this morning that Rod Dibble passed Monday, December 20, 2017. Name me another   who has played at the same establishment for 57 years.

          While Oakland has gone through a renaissance in recent years with famous old Oakland haunts falling left and right, the Alley on Grand Avenue has somehow survived the test of time. Credit one Rod Dibble. Enter the Alley and it looks almost exactly as it did when Dibble began playing in 1960 in all it’s original glory. While everywhere else those old places that remain are getting trendy remodels.

        When there was talk of remodeling the Alley there was so much protest against it that the owner just left everything as is.    The yellowed business cards on the wall and worn look wer almost  as much a part of the Alley’s charm as was Rod Dibble.  Even as a kid it was a place most people would walk right by including myself. Little did we know what we were missing inside.

         It probably wasn’t more than 15 or 20 years ago that I really discovered and came to appreciate this old relic with it’s ‘relic’  of a piano player. I was so impressed how a place like this could remain – and unchanged – through so many decades of changing times. And Dibble’s music selection even stayed the same; he disdained playing any music later than 1963. (I’ve, too,  always felt that the best   popular music was created and played prior to the Kennedy Assassination. ) And, that’s another reason I enjoyed visiting the Alley. You knew what you were going to get – and not the latest trends.

          

        In recent months I would stop by the Alley but it wasn’t the same without Rod. There were some younger players but nobody who knew all the old tunes or had the same charisma as Rod.  I knew Rod had not been well and every time I would drive by the Alley I would check to make sure the legendary sign was still out front advertising ‘Rod Dibble at the piano, since 1960.’  It was reassuring to know that at least Rod Dibble was still around, or so I would assume by the sign. Who knows, it wouldn’t be a bad tribute to leave the sign up forever in tribute. After all,    with Dibble’s 57 years during which he   outlived  the  original owner, Jody Kerr, and numerous bartenders, his spirit should live long at the Alley.

        There once were many piano bars in Oakland-  Clancy’s on Broadway near Jack London Square , Oscar’s on Lakeshore and others. But, there was nothing like the Alley in all it’s original glory. Yet, somehow the Alley  only began getting deserved recognition nationally   in recent years as piano bars have all but become nostalgia. Even a video  was filmed a few years ago at the Alley of which I am proud to have a copy somewhere in my house.

         We will miss Rod . H opefully the Alley will live on as a tribute to the man who stuck by the Alley and brought much joy to several generations. Without Rod Dibble lasting all these years the Alley would probably not have survived as long as it did.

       Go visit the Alley while it’s still there and toast one for Rod. I will be doing exactly that tonight.

SEE ROD DIBBLE IN ACTION

https://www.facebook.com/TheAlleyPianoBar/