Robert Stephenson |
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There's a mournful quiet at Friars Folly Wine Cellar in
San Marcos, where regulars are remembering
musician Robert Stephenson, who delighted patrons
by mixing in history lessons with tunes from the Great
American Songbook.
"He has hundreds of admirers," said Tami Ridley,
owner of Friars Folly.
Stephenson had been playing regularly at Ridley's
restaurant since he talked his way into his first gig
on Jan. 3, 2003. In the past year, he also has been a
Friday and Saturday fixture at Nattiya's Thai
Restaurant in San Marcos.
Stephenson, 84, died Feb. 22.
Click on the link to
read the rest of Robert's obituary written by Gary
Warth of the North County Times.
Robert leaves all of us with a lot of memories. He
entertained us at Friars Folly with such a wide
variety of tunes that it was rare that somebody
could stump him. My last song request was "The Red
River Valley" where I grew up.
Countless 'Happy Birthdays' and other celebrations
were made special with Robert's music. Please
share
your memories about Robert with the rest of us. You
can email them to me at tami@friarsfolly.com or bring
them to the restaurant.
I'll keep you posted for the date where we can all
get together and celebrate the life of this kind gentle
man who brought so much musical joy to our lives.
Check the web site in a few days for more
information.
A-La-Robert regularly played the piano on
Wednesdays and Sundays. At Friars Folly, we still
find Robert to be irreplaceable, so for the time being,
you will be entertained by various other artist groups
while the piano respects his memory.
This Wednesday, March 8th, a wonderful new group
will be playing some old time rock and roll out of the
50's and 60's.
How I wish we had more songs and time with
Robert. He was more than a piano player, he was a
true hero and survivor of Pearl Harbor and other
South Pacific WWII attacks. Read this North County
article about the Pearl Harbor Survivors Association -
"Local Pearl
Harbor veterans remember day of infamy".
Following is a transcript
of some of the memories he shared with me.
Tami Ridley
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San Diego 2nd Generation Native |
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Robert Stephenson was one of the ‘real-deal’ San
Diego natives. His father came from Ohio and
married a San Diegan woman. Later Robert was born
in a local hospital that he told me later became a
used car lot.
His mother sent Robert off at an early age for five
years of piano lessons with an old maid teacher at
50 cents a lesson. Robert said he liked to play but,
like most boys, didn’t like to practice. He claims he
was a lousy student, but kept up with music studying
harmony & theory. Robert had a tendency to be
humble though so I’d truly be surprised if he wasn’t
actually a stellar young pianist.
As a young man, Robert foresaw the upcoming future
of another World War and says he decided to go
down to the recruiting office in Los Angeles and
signed up for a six year term in the Navy in May
1940. He said he was premature because he wanted
to be earmarked to be in the military band instead of
digging foxholes.
He was shipped to Washington DC where at 20 years
old he began his training to be in a 20-piece band
with many other talented musicians from the all
around the United States. After a year of
preparation, Robert had a six year term of performing
overtures, concerts on the ships, marching in a lot of
parades mostly playing the trombone and baritone,
and performing as a dance band throughout the war
in military clubs.
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Attack of Pearl Harbor |
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Life in WWII was not all music for Robert though.
After a few weeks of training in a Georgia boot camp,
he was stationed on the USS Honolulu cruiser in July
1941. His wartime duty was as a lookout on the ship
scanning the horizon with a headset to report on
enemy spottings. From this ship, Robert watched as
the Japanese kamikazes focused in and bombed Pearl
Harbor.
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Battle of Kula Gulf |
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After the attack, the USS Honolulu needed refitting,
upgrades and repairs so he was moved to the Helena
destroyer ship after war started. This ship was in
various skirmishes in the South Pacific in 1942.
In the aftermath of this Battle of Kula Gulf off the
coast of Kolombangara in the Solomon Islands,
In the middle of the night on July 6, 1943, the
gunnery crew was alerted that the Japanese ship
was approaching. They exchanged torpedoes,
however, the Japanese destroyer sent out three
torpedoes that broke Robert’s ship in half. As the
boat capsized, Robert said he walked right off the
middle of it into the water.
Robert found himself with a 1000 other sailors on
rafts designed for 12 men filled over capacity with 20
sailors all hoping to survive. Far out islands could be
seen. Not everybody survived. Some got picked up
and the rest eventually drifted to shore after floating
around at sea for three days.
Robert was among the 60 sailors that landed on the
island of Vella Lavella. The island was controlled by
the Japanese; however the natives took a liking to
the American sailors. They were friendly, kept them
on the move from the Japanese patrol and fed them
with stews made out of fish and other indigenous
tropical foods in big missionary pots. Robert
remembers one of his best meals ever was a pot
hanging on tree branches over an open fire filled with
rations of corned beef and rice that the natives stole
from the Japanese. They ate their meal out of bowls
they made from coconuts and had bananas for
dessert.
The American crew was deserted on the island for
over a week. Robert said they passed their time
smoking a strong island tobacco. He said the women
weren’t beautiful like the Tahitian women that swam
out to greet Marlon Brando in “Mutiny on the
Bounty”. Robert found them too ugly and skinny to
hook up with.
An Australian spotter, that worked for the US
reporting on enemy ships, located them and through
his portable short wave back pack, sent word of the
survivors to the American base. As the LST flat
bottomed boats arrived to the island and dropped
their openings, two groups – one of 60 men and the
other of 100, waded out into the shallow water and
walked on to be taken back to the mother ship.
Robert said he tried to enjoy the celebration of their
return with a couple of beers, but after all of that
deprivation, they only made him sick.
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Bombshell Movie Star Heddy Lamar Served Robert Coffee at the USO |
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Robert had his light moments during wartime too. He
earned $21.00 a month and enjoyed going to the
USO to find girls that served the sailors coffee and
donuts. Heddy Lamar gave him a cup of coffee.
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After the War |
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After the war, the Helena went to Merrit Island.
Robert hung out in Oakland and San Francisco and
said he fell in love with every girl he met.
He was 26 years old when he met his first bride. The
newlywed couple moved to Cucamonga where
parents had orange grove. Robert said he just
wasn’t interested in farming.
He said he tried to go to USC, but didn’t have right
kind of brain to do what was required so he dropped
out after six months. He would have been music
major, but the classes were mostly classic.
And that, my friends, is where Robert and I reached
the end of collaberating on his biography. There was
so much more to tell . . . if only time was on our
side.
I'll look forward to hearing the memories you shared
with Robert.
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IN LOVING MEMORY OF A-LA-ROBERT
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