The Vejtabils

The Vejtabils have a history dating back to 1978. In 1977 Russell Sproutz was playing bass and doing some backing vocals with Rudy Bager on rhythm/lead guitar and backing vocals, Pete Beets on Drums, David Addison Small on guitar and lead vocals, and Robert McLaughlin keyboards and vocals, together they formed a band called "The Slugs". Rudy & Russell left the band in 1978 to pursue personal ventures. It wasn't long before they joined forces again with Artie Choke on rhythm guitar and Steve Beets on drums. Rudy sang lead vocals, while Russell provided bass and backing vocals. It was during this period that the Rudy/Russell song writing collaboration began, an effort which was often compared to “Lennon & McCartney” (usually by Russell). Together they wrote “Ward 9”, “Vacation to Insanity”, “Electric Love” and “Earthquake at Ken's”. They performed at legendary Boston hot spots like “Cantones” and “Joe's all you can eat Diner”. In 1980 as the Slugs were disbanding, Rudy & Russell again parted company to purse their own musical endeavors. Rudy went on to enjoy much popularity playing in the bands: “Freddy & the Victors”, “The Future Dads”, “Band 19”, and the very notorious “Gang Green”. He is currently playing and recording with various artists locally and nationally, as well as in Europe. Shortly after the Slug's/Vejtabil's disbanding, Pete Beets approached Russell promoting a hot new guitarist he discovered. When Russell first met Bobby Beans, he was not expecting much, especially after playing with the likes of Rudy Bager, Artie Choke I, Artie Choke II and their other brother Artie Choke III, but he was not disappointed by Bobby’s skills. It wasn't long before they were writing hits like “Chop Your Mother Up”, “Suicidal Preteen” and “My Street”, which featured Russell's lyric writing skills, as well as “Disconnected” and “It Figures” which Pete Beets wrote the lyrics for. Because Bobby had a habit of dominating the spotlight and parading around the stage executing massive guitar riffs it became obvious to change the name to “The Bobby Beans Band”. They quickly changed the name again to “The Bobby Barnes Band” avoiding a lawsuit with B&M Baked Beans. Later Bobby had problems with his long time girlfriend becoming jealous of over zealous groupies pawing at her man, so they opted to revive “The Vejtabil's” moniker. Bobby toned down his stage antics and Russell stepped up as front man and primary groupie sampler. They enjoyed surprising success with a number 1 smash hit on Boston radio station WBCN with their song "Ed King", an uncomplimentary tribute to the then Massachusetts Governor Edward King. This earned them a spot in Brett Milano's Book "The Sound of our Town", a History of Boston Rock & Roll. Finding a follow up hit to “Ed King” was not an easy task, their 15 days of fame soon faded. Although some sources say it was as long as 30. Until the recent discovery of a cassette tape which Mike Malone had in his possession. No known copies of that recording existed. Ironically Mike's tape was in fact once Russell's tape, long thought to have been misplaced, or lost in the debris scattered about in his truck. Until Russell's younger brother "Bean" admitted to giving the cassette to Mike, who back in the 1980's was their neighbor. During a radio interview on WDOA in 2003 Mike asked Russell if he had a good quality copy of the original recording of Ed King, to which Russell replied " I once had a cassette tape of the Vejtabils on WBCN's top 10 countdown beating Bruce Springsteen for the number one spot". (a highly unlikely scenario more in line with something you might expect to hear a politician, perhaps even a presidential contender claim in order to inflate their significance) Yet Mike"s response was a resounding "Yes, that sounds just like a tape I have buried some where around the house". Later when questioned, Bean Sproutz admitted to taking the tape from Russell's truck and giving it to Mike. And While I applaud Mike's efforts for finding and coverting the tape to MP3 format for us so we could share it with our fans. This is the reason why you never see Russell and Bean Sproutz together. "A True Story" But I Digress. The Vejtabil's continued to write the songs “Neighborhood Girl”, “Go to Church” and “Verticle Smiles”, but they spent very little time in church and it wasn't long before their smiles began to fade. Bobby, disenchanted with the "Rock n Roll" lifestyle after seeing new front man Russell Sproutz getting all the groupies left to marry his childhood sweet heart Linda L. Lace. Pete Beets left for Louisiana to pursue his long time dream of becoming a shrimp fisherman, a move which some say was the inspiration for the movie “Forrest Gump”. Meanwhile a lonely and despondent Russell Sproutz turned to drugs and alcohol. With a monkey on his back, he was forced to sell much of his equipment to pay for the aspirins that he consumed daily to combat the headaches of trying to write catchy new songs. He used rubbing alcohol to clean his bass strings because he couldn't afford to keep buying new ones. And eventually he even traded his pet monkey for a dozen cans of pilchard. (a tuna substitute made from the remnants, that can't legally be called tuna) Tired of being broke and hungry all the time, Russell turned his back on his musical roots and reluctantly became employed, but Russell couldn't abandon the nucleus of his existence. He could live without having to move equipment in and out of clubs for almost no financial compensation. While he did miss his friends, he didn't miss having to rehearse every week, and he certainly didn't miss having to go to work at 6:00 AM after playing and not getting home until 3:00 AM. Having given up his drug and alcohol habit and resigning himself to playing with migraine headaches and dirty old strings, he decided it would be worth all the aggravation just to see the happy smiling faces of his fans once again, or more importantly, the other happy, fun parts, of his adoring groupies. So he coaxed Bobby out of retirement and along with drummer Billy Rubins and guitarist Ron Roy formed the “Alter Boys”. They enjoyed some local success, but couldn't get another hit on the charts, so they faded into the sunset, although they are all still friends and still keep in touch. Did you hear that Billy? Call Russell today....508-555-VEJI The Vejtabils name was in a jar on top of Russell fridge until 2003 when he got a call from the "Wormtown Minister of Culture" Brian Goslow. He and "Wormtown Mayor” L.B. Worm were organizing a celebration for Wormtown's 25th Anniversary and wanted The Vejtabils to kick off the festivities. Russell called upon long time friend and drummer Scotty Pepper to take the place of shrimp fisherman and long time departed drummer Pete Beets and once again dragged Bobby out of The Vejtabils retirement community. Their opening performance for Wormtown’s 25th was such a hit with longtime fans they continued to play, often leaving the basement and playing in public. In late 2003 The Veggies called bass player Willy Turnup to join their three piece sound allowing Russell to trade in his bass to play guitar with Bobby Beans. Willy’s “Thunder Stick” and angelic backing vocals added so much more to their already lush three part harmonies and huge wall of sound. They have continued venturing out of the basement over the years playing benefits and parties thrilling longtime fans with Russell's stage antics, Willy and Scotty's relentless rhythm section and Bobby's blistering guitar. And that my friends, is the history of The Vejtabils. Much like many current political stories, and educational system lessons, some facts were replaced with suitable propaganda to further our agenda. We hope you enjoyed the Vejtabil's history and will continue to check our page for new downloadable pictures, songs and videos, an activity which just may spawn yet another reunion of The Vejtabils to record more hits or perform live.
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