A reunion of note.

Byline: Serena Markstrom The Register-Guard

Their friendship started in Japan in the mid-1950s.

Karaoke started in Japan in the mid-1980s.

Two weeks ago, a little karaoke serendipity at the Elks Lodge in Florence led to an unexpected reunion for two friends who hadn't seen each other in almost 20 years.

On Thursday, Warren Pritchard and Al Deabel celebrated their good luck with a two-man show at a local retirement home.

Pritchard and Deabel met while stationed in Japan in the Navy. In 1958, Pritchard formed an eight-piece band, which performed together until Deabel and three others were sent back to the United States.

The last time the two saw each other was a golf date in 1988. A couple weeks ago, Deabel, who lives in Yuba City, Calif., walked into the Florence Elks Lodge to sing karaoke.

"When I sat down this guy's up there singing and he's singing all the songs I want to sing, so that made me angry," Deabel said with a smile.

The announcer called this mystery singer by name a few times.

"I asked my wife, 'Is that Warren Pritchard?' " Deabel, 70, said.

"I saw him and he saw me," Pritchard, 67, said. "Neither one of us really made the connection."

Deabel approached Pritchard and asked his last name. Sure enough, it was his old Navy buddy.

"It was exciting," Pritchard said. They hugged, shook hands and sang together for the next half hour. "Everyone thought it was wonderful."

Deabel and his wife, MaryAnn, were staying near Florence for the summer and had come to the lodge for Tuesday karaoke two months in a row.

"Just the fact we were in the same place at the same time is just incredible," Deabel said.

Their Navy band, The Town & Country Boys, entertained at Navy, Army and Air Force service clubs in Asia. They performed at the World Music Festival in Tokyo in front of 20,000 people.

They sang "Home on the Range" at the request of the emperor of Japan, something Pritchard called an odd request considering the band's rockabilly style.

"It was a real good kickoff for the rest of my life musically," said Pritchard, a retired educator who has been performing since age 14. "It was exciting and a lot of fun."

These days Pritchard is one-man band. He performs twice a month at Alpine Springs Assisted Living & Cottages in north Eugene. He also performs at class reunions and other senior centers.

Deabel will head back to California after Labor Day weekend.

He traveled to Eugene on Thursday to join Pritchard at Alpine Springs for a morning show for about 30 appreciative residents.

The mostly female audience members tapped their feet, laughed at jokes, shouted requests and mouthed the words of country and western songs.

In their cowboy hats, Deabel and Pritchard fumbled over some songs and sang others as though they had rehearsed.

When Pritchard announced their last song, Willie Nelson's "The Party's Over," one woman said, "Oh, we don't want that one."

And as his guitar strumming slowed, the end of the song near, Pritchard made one last joke.

"I'd like to say it's been fun, but I can't," he said. The crowd laughed.

Then, with a hint of sadness in his voice, he said, "I'd like to make this an annual event. Somehow. Somewhere."

After receiving thank you handshakes and kisses from the audience, Deabel sat down.

"We had a great time," he said. "We've always had a great time because we're both crazy, I guess. It's been a bolt out of the blue."

CAPTION(S):

Warren Pritchard (left) and Al Deabel perform Thursday at Alpine Springs Assisted Living & Cottages in Eugene, two weeks after the former Navy bandmates happened across each other in Florence. U.S. Navy, 1958 Al Deabel (left) and Warren Pritchard (fourth from right) played across Asia in the mid-'50s as part of the Town & Country Boys.