Click here to see a multimedia piece on Rod Dibble and hear him play.

OAKLAND — Rod Dibble, a locally beloved pianist who brought more than 50 years of musical joy to patrons who sang along with him at The Alley bar, died Monday. He was 85.

The Alley, a dive bar and restaurant-turned neighborhood institution on Grand Avenue, made the announcement Wednesday on its Facebook page.

“He kept The Alley, as well as the Great American Songbook alive by playing night-after-night, song-after-song, with singer-after-singer for the better part of 50 plus years,” the note said. By all accounts, he literally wore out 10 pianos in the process.”

The news drew reactions Wednesday afternoon from fans and regulars at The Alley, some calling him a pillar in Oakland, a gift to the community, and of course, a wonderful pianist.

“Rest in Peace Rod Dibble. Thank you for your encouragement, cow bell and for bringing your magic night after night, year after year to The Alley. You brought joy and happiness to visitors & locals alike for more than 50 years. Rest easy my friend,” wrote Oakland Councilman Abel Guillen.

As Dibble played, a crowd of regulars and newcomers surrounded his piano, taking turns singing with him on one of several microphones. He took his seat on the piano bench and played songs some younger folks in the crowd had probably never heard of, primarily from the 1920s and 1940s.

“I play the American songbook, and I want to keep the standards going as long as I can,” Dibble told this newspaper in 2010.

He said there weren’t many clubs that had live music and played older tunes. As the crowds got younger, he made it his mission to have them appreciate that music.

“I want to play them and have the kids listen to them and appreciate them,” he said. “That’s my reward, my goal.”

Paul Rose, a regular who knew Dibble for more than 35 years, said his favorite song to sing with him was from the Wizard of Oz: “If I Only Had a Brain.”

Rose made the lyric book for the bar, and Dibble specifically told him to exclude some songs he had gotten tired of playing over and over again; “Crazy” by Patsy Cline, or “Fever” by Peggy Lee.

With his raspy voice, Dibble would also take the time to learn new songs every week.

“One thing that kept people coming back, every time I came in, he sang something that I had never heard of before. And I know a lot of songs from that era,” Rose said.

The crowd at The Alley ranged from professional opera singers to people who didn’t have a clue what the medley was, Rose said.

“Rod made it work for everyone, that was one of his talents,” he said.

Tom Silva, a regular at The Alley since 1994, said Dibble played there five nights a week, Tuesday through Sunday for about five hours at a time. Thursdays, the day for regulars, was his favorite. In recent years, Dibble had cut back his hours. He most recently played there in April for two hours, it was his last performance.

“He did have a real love for what he was doing, and he loved sharing that with other people,” Silva said.

Dibble also had a knack for listening to people sing, and adjusting the key to match their voice, Silva said. He also took a turn singing himself; He loved novelty or funny songs.

A fan favorite was “The Oakland Song,” a homage to the city written by the Goodtime Washboard 3:

“She’s got pride (pride!), she’s got hope (hope!), and oh what a view. Oakland we’re for you

(don’t mean Milpitas), Oakland we’re for you!” are some of the lyrics.

Jen Davis, a bartender (and former waitress) at The Alley for 19 years, said she would watch customers work up their nerve to join Dibble. As the night went on, they would get closer and closer, moving tables, until they were close to the piano. Then, near the end, they would work up their courage to step up to the microphone.

It took Davis herself two years of working there before she too, worked up the courage to sing with Dibble. She chose “I’m an Old Cowhand (From the Rio Grande)” by Bing Crosby, but changed the lyrics.

“I’m an old cow hand, one that lives on Grand, and I come to The Alley to hear Rod Dibble, I’m his biggest fan,” Davis said, reciting her lyrics. “I know all the songs the regulars know, I hear them every night around the piano. These aren’t songs you hear on the radio.”

Everyone loved it, she said.

Dibble was born in Berkeley to a musical family during the Great Depression and began playing piano in 1938, four years after The Alley opened for business. His uncle sang in vaudeville, and his mother and uncle would often sing songs around the house.

In the early 1950s, he began playing background piano at Larry Blake’s on Telegraph Avenue. He said he learned thousands of tunes on the job.

While playing at another cocktail lounge in 1960, he was approached by Jody Kerr, The Alley owner at the time, who asked him to play at her club. The rest is history.

Only once did he quit, all over his mustache. Then-owner Kerr didn’t like the mustache he had suddenly grown in the 1960s. So, he quit, said his friend Rose.

At the time where there were plenty of piano bars around, and he had no trouble finding work. But after awhile, Rose said the owner “begged” him to come back, and he did.

In 2010, he vowed to play until he was at least 98, and then “slow down.”

“I would like to do it at The Alley — I’m so at home there, it’s like another home. It’s like a party in your own home every night.”

He is survived by his wife Linda McCormick; two children and a number of grandchildren.

No memorial services at The Alley are planned yet.