1970-1972 Eugene: More To Recall

Whatever happened to Robbie Pietros (I think that's how his last name was spelled-perhaps with a u instead of the o towards the end)? Do any of you St. Paul people remember him? He was a really nice kid. He and I got to know each other during 3rd and 4th Grade. I think there are always kids like a Robbie in all our lives who pass through and then go on to obscurity and are lost to time. I have no idea if he's alive or dead. I have no idea if he's still in Oregon or if he's somewhere far off.
What I do remember about him is that he alwas talked to me like I was an equal. He never teased me. He just spoke like a regular guy. When you asked him a question, he would answer it. He used to ask me questions and I always enjoyed telling him whatever he wanted to know. I remember that he used to wear his Cub Scout uniform top to school fairly frequently in lieu of when he didn't have a regular shirt to wear for the day. I kind of recall that he came from a broken home in regards that his Mom and Dad were either separated or divorced. They were also living in a rental of some kind. I can't recall if they were living in a house or an apartment. He had a sister that he would mention. He rarely spoke much about his Dad (with whom he was living with). Now, I don't know if you recall this or not, but Robbie had a birth deformity on his hand that he had to deal with and that we spoke about. We used to discuss how people used to react to noticing it or not. He was just such a cool kid. For his age, he was very real. On one hand, he had (I think) two fingers that were essentially fused together which never grew out. They were the middle fingers on that hand. But the thing of it was that he used his other perfectly normal hand to draw. He loved to draw things. Amazingly enough, I am the proud owner of one of the drawings he made for me as a surprise. He drew me a couple of characters out of one of his Dr. Seuss books he had that he was very fond of. I have kept it stored away all of these years. Every couple of years or so, I'll dig it out and look at it and smile while I admire that I had a friend like that who would share something like that with me. I really hope he's doing o.k.
In the Summer of '72, there took place a sort of transition period that I did not even realize was taking place and it stood out to me, in hindsight, as a preparation for my return to Santa Clara. I did not have much of an idea as to how serious my Dad was being convinced by his brother and sisters to come back home in order to keep the peace among themselves. I didn't realize that my vacation was actually my Dad's serious house-hunting venture for a move back. I knew he was doing it, but it didn't sink in that it was actually going to happen.
This trip was very memorable for me. Dad took me to my first Oakland A's game. This was the Summer where the A's put everything together to make their run twoards the first of their 3 straight MLB championships. We went to see the Chicago White Sox play the A's. What a game! We never got to see the end of the game. The game went into extra innings and lasted so long that the game had to be suspended because it went into the curfew that the American League or the City of Oakland had in place. The game was continued the next day. I nearly got nailed by a foul ball at that game. What I'll never forget was seeing the sight of the famous (or infamous-depending on your view of him) Dick Allen, the first baseman of the White Sox playing tic-tac-toe on the dirt in between pitches and batters during the game. He was notorious for doing this. He was also a great player as well. I came away from my first game at the Oakland Coliseum very impressed. My interest in baseball had grown more since those early Giant games at Buck Shaw Stadium in Santa Clara and the double-header I saw at Candlestick. It helped a lot that the Ems games my Dad had been taking me to had been really holding my interest. I can still remember the couple of bomb scares at Civic Stadium I lived through as well as the drunk people in the stands really getting into the games. I had no idea during that Summer of '72 that I was to visit the Oakland Coliseum many more times when I moved back down there and how singnificent it was going to be to me.
Another thing which happened to me when I was down there during that trip was that I discovered Bob Wilkins and his Creature Features movie show. Now, I got hooked on horror movies when I lived in Eugene. But I really got hooked on Bob Wilkins because he was just too damned cool. I mean, this guy became a legend for us kids down in the Bay Area. Plus, he was the weird Uncle you always wanted to have. He knew so much about the movies and he passed along the information to you so that you could learn and contextualize what you were watching. Plus, he always smoked these nice big fat stogies while doing his presentations. And wouldn't you know it? I caught him on an especially cool night. In the little den area next to my late Aunt Mary's dining table where people used to eat, I sat and watched the original Bela Lugosi Universal Horror Film of Dracula. My interest during that late Saturday night shot up like a rocket because I knew that this guy just absolutely wiped the floor clean of the hostess who did the horror movie show here in Eugene. Bob Wilkins was just the coolest, man.
The other big thing from this trip is that I got to visit my first friend, Tom R. again at his new house over on Stevenson. He had a new baby brother. The addition forced them to sell their house on Franklin Street. Anyway, we reconnected. We got really tight as good buddies again. I recall when we were driving around in his Mom's VW Bug (Nancy R.), she ahd the radio on and I really caught on to a couple of tunes which made me immeditaly identify them with California instead of just Oregon. I recall very specifically being really in tune with Bill Withers-"Lean On Me" and Rick Nelson & the Stone Canyon Band-"Garden Party". By the way, I should mention that that A's game I went to with my Dad always makes me think of "Brandy (You're A Fine Girl)" by Looking Glass because I recall hearing it while Dad and I were driving around.
It was during this trip as well that I heard two other songs which I would identify only with California. This was the Summer when "Burnin' Love" from Elvis Presley and "Come Together" from The Who made a huge impression on me. Along with the other songs I have mentioned, there was a fullness to the music I was hearing which was making everything I was listening to a constant soundtrack to my present life. And the songs were so full of life. They were breathing so full of healthly vitality.
When it came time that I had to leave Tommy's house. My parents really took notice that I was really sad to leave. I have a funny feeling that little bit that they observed helped to put the icing on the cake for my Dad as far as deciding to go ahead with the purchase of the Camino Drive house that was to become my golden house.
And then I went back home to Eugene and thinking I was going to start 5th Grade at St. Paul. I got back into the groove that I was used to when I got back home. But one of the songs that I heard towards the end of that Summer was to foreshadow, in a weird way, what was to come. After Elton John had released the "Rocket Man" single from what would be the Honky Chateau album, he followed it up with "Honky Cat".
To quote a few lyrics, "Get back Honky cat/better get back to the woods/Well, I quit those days and my redneck ways/Oh hoo hoo hoo ow change is gonna do me good"
-"They said Stay at home. Boy you gotta tend the farm/ Living in the city boy is gonna break your heart/But how can you stay when your heart says no a-ha/How can you stop when your feet say go"
And so, I really believe the template was set. I did have to undergo some changes back in Eugene that I was sad to have to let go of. For starters, we sold the big Lorane ranch that Summer as well. For some strange reason, I had a big sentimental attachment to the two tractors we had on the ranch. We had a huge green John Deere and one grey Ford. When we sold the ranch, I got choked up watching my Dad ride them for the last time.
It's very fuzzy as to when I got the announcement from my Mom and Dad. But I got it. Steve, we're moving back to Santa Clara and you are going back to St. Clare's. Wow! When I got the announcement, we were at a point in the Summer when we started getting a heat wave that apparently lasted quite a while. So much so that it went to the point beyond when I left.
And then the day arrived. Mom and Dad hauled me off to the then Mahlon Sweet airport. I got a ticket to fly a big yellow bird called Hughes Airwest. My brother Mike flew with me. I saw him and I knew he was really bummed out because he was leaving the hunting and fishing of Oregon. He also really liked our next door neighbor (the late Carl Lay) at lot.
When I left, I did not have any realization of the history I was skirting or the enormity of what I was to encounter once I got off the plane. Here's the deal. When I left Eugene, there were a couple of singles and songs being played by the KEED guys by somebody and a band he was in that I was openminded enough to like as a kid. Little did I know that this band was going to be playing 2 shows in Veneta that were to be legendary right after I left to head back to Santa Clara to stay at my late Uncle Matt and Auntie Ann's house on Santa Clara Street. On two sweltering days in late August, Jerry Garcia and The Grateful Dead rolled in to play the 2 Creamery Benefit shows for Ken Kesey where the temperatures soared to the 100 degree mark. I was exposed to "Truckin'" and "Casey Jones" and I liked them.
Instead of being exposed to the big news of The Grateful Dead, I was to fly into to be exposed to KFRC San Francisco (said city, my lovely great one, was also home to The Grateful Dead) while down in Los Angeles, at almost literally the same time, an event was taking place that I would not hear about until many years later which would , by virtue of where I was, have more influence on me that The Grateful Dead. An event called Wattstax took place at the Memorial Coliseum. It was where a ton of Soul Acts, along with the Reverend Jesse Jackson held their version of Woodstock. You see people, it was meant to be that Soul Music was to continue to play a huge role in my life. There would be room for The Grateful Dead later on in my life. But it would come at a much later date and through a very long and circuitous route which would become a battle of sorts which I will explain at some point later in very thorough detail.
So, ladies and Gentleman. Armed with only the belongings in my suitcase and a transitor radio, I was to begin the period of my life that I refer to as the greatest I've ever lived through. The Golden period of the Fall of 1972 to the Fall of 1974 was to descend upon me. The true essence of who I am today was to begin shaping me when I stepped off that yellow bird onto the tarmac of San Jose airport.
I will finish off my discussion of the music I listened to during the '70-'72 Eugene period over thenext few posts before I dive into the '72-'74 period. I will likely post a few other things as well before I dive into it.