Rod Miller Retiring?

[Motorboat Cruiser]

Does Johnny look ANYTHING like Rod?

Nope, not really. Still, I'm inclined to trust Bruce's word on the subject. Not that I think you made up anything, just that you might have made an error.

Of course, that saddens me, only because I was hoping that maybe Rod really was there playing. I miss him.

[Bruce Bergman]

If it was Johnny, he could pass for Rod's brother. His set included a couple of Joplin rags, "Just a Closer Walk", "When You Wish" and a couple of others. I would SWEAR that it was the same Rod I saw before and is pictured above, but I was pretty exhausted at that point as my daughter had run me into the ground. Probably one too many sour balls at that point as well, I shouldn't wonder. Maybe I imagined the whole thing. But the straw hat thing....yes. I think he was wearing a straw hat. So maybe this was a false alarm. Does Johnny look ANYTHING like Rod?

Not even close, unless you think Danny DeVito and Arnold Schwarzenegger look like brothers... Johnny is 6'2" plus, and is the only pianist with a fancy great-coat and regularly wears a hat. Rod wore a custom tailored black pin-striped coat that matches the vest to the right, and Alan has been wearing all solid black recently.

I'll bet Darkbeer has a picture of Johnny squirreled away somewhere... I can look in my pictures but then I'd have to open a Photobucket account to host it from.

--<< Bruce >>--

[Fantasmico!]

I am just glad I got to hear him play once. He was amazing. He had such a great personality too. What a performer!
I am sorry to hear about his troubles and that he has retired. I wish him well.

[Tom Chaney]

Vic and I were at the park a few weeks ago and we were startled by someone who looked very much like Rod... from a distance... playing the piano. When we got closer we could see it wasn't him. This gentleman is probably in his 50s - 60s, wears a straw hat and chews gum. Great pianist... but not Rod Miller.

[Morrigoon]

Wears a straw hat, plays boogie-woogie really loud, looks like Hannibal Lecter with rougher skin... that's Johnny.

You can also tell Johnny, because there won't be a table pulled up next to the piano when he's playing. Apparently he doesn't like it when the regulars do that - so the regulars stay away.

Now, Alan, on the other hand... young guy, plays in the afternoon/evenings on the weekends, can play extremely fast and complex music, but has a more limited repertoire (which you probably wouldn't even notice unless you started making requests). The regulars like Alan, he used to be one of them. With Alan, there'll usually be a table pulled up right next to the piano.

And I don't know/never see the other guy in the rotation.

[Druggas]

Had a bad encounter with Johnny once, never with Rod. Rod seemed to be a genuine person and you always got a smile.

[Sweetie]

Shame, he is one of the gems of Disneyland.

[Tiki]

I miss hangin' with Rod each time I go to the park. Hope he's happy and comfortable in whatever he does from here on. He's brought so much joy to so many for so long- he deserves the same!

Here's a photo of him from the 1993 souvenir booklet

[A Disney Dreamer]

Well we all knew it would come to an end some day .

[Spidergrrrl]

Oh, this is so sad.

One of my favorite memories was just to hang out and watch him play, mesmerized. He was a wonderful personality, so warm and friendly. And I was always amazed that he would recognize my mom and me, and tell us to pull up a chair so we could chat between songs.

*sigh*

[ld2]

I grew up in Southern California (Whittier) in the sixties/early seventies and my family and I used to go to Shakey's Pizza Parlor near our house and listen to "Ragtime Rod" play the piano. He was very friendly and you could tell that he loved his job. Years later I was pleasantly surprised to see that he was playing at Disneyland. We're coming down in December and I was hoping to stop by with my kids to see him play.

[Morrigoon]

Rumor has it he still pops by as a guest on Fridays or Saturdays, but I rarely catch him there.

[Bruce Bergman]

I have a lot I could say, but I could just as easily make a whole lot of trouble. So until I get the informal 'press release' written and cleared, I'm gonna be a good friend and keep my trap shut...

He's often there on Saturday Evenings - He would have been in the park for the Fourth, but all the Silver Passes are blacked out. Hint: If you thought you saw someone familiar on the top floor of the Parking Structure on Tuesday evening around 9, you weren't imagining it.

--<< Bruce >>--

[brigeet]

When I first got my drivers license about 12 years ago I used to go to DL with my little brother all the time and we'd always hang out with Rod and then go do the swing dance thing at Carnation Plaza. Sometimes we'd dance to Rod's music. Anyway, Rod was a good joke teller and story teller. He told us that when he got hired he only knew 3 songs and then he added to that. He also told us really weird stuff like he liked to go to the grocery store in a really large t-shirt and shorts so people would think he wasn't wearing pants. He liked to weird people out. He had a very sarcastic sense of humor.

Soooo....any update on the man?

[goodolddays]

Rod deserves a tremendous amount of credit for all of the years he put in with Disney! As a Dad who squired his kids through the park on a regular basis throughout the 1960s, I came to know several of the other Coke Corner piano players prior to and during Rod's tenure at the park. Does anyone happen to remember Rudy Pena? Richard Carpenter? Ray Stiles? Bob Palmer? I would plant myself at a table at Coke Corner while the kids went off and enjoyed themselves, I would take in hours of nostalgic music. Richard Carpenter (the "other half" of the famed Carpenters) was a rather moderate pianist and played more of his own music than that of the era for Coke Corner. Rudy Pena was exhuberant and quite a character. The last time I saw him, he was working at a place called Magoos on Hollywood Blvd. Ray Stiles was the evening piano man and would take over when Rod would leave for the day. he also played at the Blue Bayou. He was more of a piano bar stylist. Bob Palmer and I were both in the motion picture business for years and he only played intermittently at the park during the 60s and 70s. At the beginning, the entertainment department used to fly him down from Northern California for certain holidays and private parties. He played more of a barrelhouse/stride style and played piano duets with Rod long before this young fellow Alan was around. These used to be some of the hottest duets one would ever hear. I can still hear the strains of "Waiting for the Robert E. Lee" played with four hands. Palmer ended up writing period music for movies and television. Every once in awhile I see one of his videos, "The Hollywood Clowns" floating around on Ebay.
I would love to hear what Rod remember about these other artists. He must have some terrific stories after all these years.
Good Luck Rod and Good Health To You!