Mike Sciacca Alfred Nabeta has been writing...

Mike Sciacca

Alfred Nabeta has been writing songs for most of his 81 years, his

patriotic, stylistic lyrics a summation of both his life experiences

as well as those of others in this country.

Nabeta, who has lived in Huntington Beach for more than 30 years,

has had several of his songs published throughout his lifetime. And

he’s still going strong at 81. Now more of his work has been made

available to the public.

He is one of 22 songwriters to be featured on the recently

released CD titled “America.”

The CD is a compilation of 25 tracks, the recordings revealing

each songwriter’s vision of life in America.

The CD’s final three tracks are sung in Spanish.

Nabeta is one of three songwriters to have two songs published on

the CD, which is produced by HillTop Records of Hollywood, a company

that records, publishes and promotes songs of America’s songwriters.

“I thought the CD was a great idea,” he said. “Bringing different

artists together, each telling a story, was a really nice mix.”

Nabeta’s two songs featured on the CD are “Mariko,” the story of a

young girl growing up in California, and “Coastal Shoreline,” a song

whose lyrics describe the Huntington Beach coastline.

“I first went down to the coastline in Huntington Beach in the

1940s, and I would go there to look out at the Pacific Ocean,” Nabeta

said. “It was so nice. I finally came back to live in Huntington

Beach in 1967.”

But his journey to get to Surf City was anything but easy, and his

experiences gave him plenty to write about.

Nabeta, a Japanese-American who was born in North Platt, Neb.,

recalled first putting words to song at around age 12 while living in

Salt Lake City.

It was the time of the Great Depression, when wartime music was

heard everywhere and patriotic songs were sung by children, he said.

To give children something to do, Nabeta said, a local radio

station, KDYC Radio, and the Salt Lake City Tribune staged a free,

weekly musical program at a local auditorium on Saturdays.

“That’s when I was first introduced to music,” Nabeta said. “It

sparked a lot of interest within me, and I played a few instruments.

Some of the kids caught on, others didn’t. I think you had to be

musically inclined in the first place, and I think I must have been.”

Nabeta played the harmonica and belonged to the bugle corps while

attending school in Salt Lake City.

His parents later moved him and his sister to the West Coast. They

made their living by buying and renting out an small apartment

complex, as well as establishing a gourmet Japanese restaurant that

included the “first sushi bar” in Los Angeles, Nabeta said.

The year was 1937.

The family was still living in Los Angeles four years later when

the Pearl Harbor was bombed.

“It was such a tumultuous time and we were forced to either leave

the West Coast or be taken out to a Japanese internment camp,” Nabeta

remembered. “My family went back to Salt Lake City, but I stayed here

taking care of business. I eventually headed back to Salt Lake City.”

Nabeta arrived in Salt Lake City with only the money in his pocket

and no overcoat to protect him from the knee-deep snow and bitter

cold that greeted him, he said.

He eventually found a job and went to work for a company that

cleaned chemical products. But over time, his exposure to such

products caused damage to both lungs.

It took a toll on him in the form of shortness of breath -- today

he uses an inhaler to combat asthma and he had to give up playing the

harmonica and singing.

“That was tough for me,” he said. “I needed something to do, so I

turned to songwriting. I figured I could put the word to paper.”

Nabeta, who has marched on Washington, D.C., went on to copyright

all of his work, including his first recorded song, “America’s

Picture Bride.” The song tells the story of match-making, of foreign

men who came to this country to make a life here and then sent back

for a bride from their hometown village.

That was how his parents, Kunikyo and Kin, were first introduced.

“As I was copyrighting my songs, companies kept writing me,

wanting my songs,” said Nabeta, who has been married 56 years to wife

Mary, with whom he has three children. “HillTop was one of those

record companies who sought to publish my work. I’ve been at this

songwriting for a long time, but I still have a new set of recordings

that I hope to have published.”

The new CD that Nabeta has put together himself and hopes to have

published is called “Our Lyrical Life.” In addition, he has penned a

manuscript, which he hopes will be picked up by a publishing house.

The work is titled “Sojourn,” and depicts true-to-life experiences

of those who have emigrated to this country, told through stories,

verse and illustration.

“After that, it’s time to call it quits,” he said. “I could write

more -- there’s a lot more to write about -- but I’ve done enough.

There’s a younger generation that has plenty to write about. It’s

their turn to tell their story through song.”