The Vejtables

The Vejtables were an American rock band from Millbrae, California, United States. They recorded for the Autumn label and found limited success with such songs as "I Still Love You" and a cover version of Tom Paxton's "The Last Thing on My Mind".[1]

The Vejtables
OriginMillbrae, California, U.S.
GenresRock
Years active1964 - 1966
LabelsAutumn Records
Past membersBob Bailey
Jan Errico
Richard Fortunato
Ned Hollis
Jim Sawyers
Reese Sheets
Frank Smith

Lead singer Jan Errico also played drums for the group's recordings, making her one of the relatively few female drummers at the time. The Vejtables began their career playing bars and nightclubs along El Camino Real on the San Francisco Peninsula, even though they were still in high school at the time.

Background

The band's origin was Portola Valley which is south of San Francisco. They started playing together around 1964[2] A good body of their Autumn recordings were produced by Sly Stone.[3][4]

Career

From 1964 to 1965 the line up consisted of Ned Hollis on rhythm guitar, organ and backing vocals, Bob Bailey on lead vocals, tambourine, harmonica and percussion, Jan Errico (aka Jan Ashton) on drums and backing vocals, Rick Dey on bass and backing vocals, and Bob Cole on lead guitar.[5]

In May 1965, the band was part of a KYA sponsored concert held at the San Francisco Civic Auditorium. Other acts at the concert were The Beau Brummels, The Byrds, Paul Revere and the Raiders, and The Rolling Stones.[6] Also in 1965, Autumn label boss Tom Donahue had hired Sly Stone to produce the group along with The Great Society, The Mojo Men and The Beau Brummels.[7] By mid to late August, Billboard had predicted that their single "I Still Love You" would reach the Hot 100 chart.[8] It did quite well in Chicago. Debuting on 10 September, it spent three weeks in the charts, peaking at no 23 on the 24th of that month.[9] By October 1965, "I Still Love You" along with others by The Other Tikis, The Mojo Men, and The Beau Brummels appeared in a Billboard advertisement "Autumn Is Here With Big Records Breaking Nationally With Proven Sales In Major Markets".[10] Also in October 1965, the band was also on the bill of a Tom "Big Daddy" Donahue and Bob Mitchell produced concert at The Cow Palace (San Francisco) that featuring Little Anthony & The Imperials, Bobby Freeman, The Beau Brummels, The Byrds, Glen Campbell, The Castaways, The Lovin Spoonful, The Mojo Men, Charlie Rich, The Shangri Las, Sonny & Cher, The Sunrays, The Tikis, The Toys, and Roy Head.[11]

In early January 1966, the group was playing at the Nu Beat club in Redwood City which had recently opened.[12] Also that year Autumn went broke and closed which meant the end of their relationship with the label.[13] By the spring of 1966, Errico had already left the band and she was a member of The Mojo Men.[14] Bob Bailey kept the band going while they had some changing line ups. For a short time Bob Mosley who would one day join Moby Grape was a member, but he never recorded with the group. With a change in musical direction to a more psychedelic sound, the group recorded two more singles in 1966 for the Uptown and Tower labels.[15] They were credited as The Book of Changes for their Tower release. The A side of the single was "I Stole The Goodyear Blimp" was a novelty type of single.[16]

Members

Jan Errico actually changed her last name to Ashton because she thought it sounded British. She later left the group because their sound was evolving into a harder psychedelic sound, joining another San Francisco group, the Mojo Men, for which she sang a very audible harmony vocal on their biggest selling single, the Stephen Stills-composed "Sit Down I Think I Love You" from 1967. The Mojo Men eventually shortened their name to Mojo, and released an album and several singles on the GRT label before disbanding.

Personnel
  • Jan Errico (Jan Ashton) - drummer, vocals
  • Bob Bailey - tambourine, vocals
  • Bob Cole - guitar (1965)
  • Rick Dey - bass
  • Ned Hollis - guitar, organ
  • Reese Sheets - guitar
  • Frank Smith - bass (1966)
  • Jim Sawyers - guitar (1966)
  • Richard Fortunato - guitar, vocals (1966)
  • Roland Oeler - bass
  • Saul Lewis - organ, vocals
  • Arthur Penthollow - drums
  • Bob Mosley - bass (1966)

Discography
Singles
Title Release info Year Notes
"I Still Love You" / "Anything" Autumn 15 1965
"The Last Thing On My Mind" / "Mansion Of Tears" Autumn 23 1965 Produced by Marty Cooper
"Shadows" / "Feel The Music" Uptown 741 1967 Produced by Leo d.G. Kulka
"I Stole The Goodyear Blimp" / "Suddenly I'm Desperately In Love" Tower 337 1967 as The Book Of Changes
Produced by Jim Marino
Feel the Vejtables Sundazed Music SC 11031 - 1995 Note: In 1995, a compilation album was published titled Feel the Vejtables.
The compilation includes tracks released in 1965 and 1966.
No Title Writer(s) Length
01 "Anything" Bailey 1:57
02 "I Still Love You" Errico 2:22
03 "Mansion of Tears" Cooper 2:20
04 "The Last Thing on My Mind" Paxton 2:28
05 "Smile, Smile, Smile" (Previously unissued) Errico 1:55
06 "Cold Dreary Morning" Errico 2:11
07 "I Still Love You" (Alternate version) Errico 2:16
08 "Feel The Music" Fortunato/Bailey 2:50
09 "Shadows" Fortunato/Bailey 3:10
10 "Better Rearrange" (Previously unissued in US) Bailey/Fortunato 2:16
11 "Good Times" (Previously unissued in US) Bailey/Fortunato 3:28
12 "Time and Place" (Previously unissued in US) Bailey/Fortunato 3:46
13 "Suddenly I'm Desperately In Love" Oeller 2:08
14 "I Stole The Goodyear Blimp" Smith 2:19
15 "Hide Yourself" (Previously unissued in US) Bailey/Fortunato 2:48
16 "Good Things Are Happening" (Previously unissued in US) Bailey/Fortunato 2:47
17 "Hide Yourself" (Alternate take, previously unissued instrumental) Bailey/Fortunato 4:00
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gollark: ***THE WRATH OF YEMMEL***

References
  1. Richie Unterberger. "The Vejtables". AllMusic. Retrieved May 11, 2015.
  2. The Grateful Dead FAQ: All That's Left to Know About the Greatest Jam Band in History, By Tony Sclafani - The Vejtables
  3. NPR, August 18, 2011 - Sly Stone: The Early Days In The East Bay - Ed Ward
  4. Discogs - The Vejtables – Feel... The Vejtables
  5. The San Francisco Sound, Friday, November 26, 2010 - THE VEJTABLES FAMILY TREE
  6. Echoes of the Sixties, By Marti Smiley Childs, Jeff March - Chapter VII Laugh, Laugh The Beau Brummels
  7. Explosion of Deferred Dreams: Musical Renaissance and Social Revolution in San Francisco, 1965 to 1975, By Mat Callahan - Be for Real: The Quest for Authenticity
  8. Billboard, August 21, 1965 - Page 18 SPOTLIGHT SINGLES, CHART Spotlights - Predicted to reach the HOT 100 chart
  9. Chicago Top 40 Charts 1960-1969, edited by Ron Smith - Page 165
  10. Billboard, October 9, 1965 - Page 31
  11. "2552: 1965 SAN FRAN CONCERT PROGRAM BYRDS CHER FAB - Apr 26, 2008 | Philip Weiss Auctions in NY". Liveauctioneers.com. Retrieved 2020-04-30.
  12. Rock Archaeology 101, Wednesday, August 19, 2009 - 1836 El Camino Real, Redwood City, CA-The Nu Beat (later The Spectrum)
  13. Billboard - Artists / The Vejtables
  14. Jingle Jangle Morning: Folk-Rock in the 1960s, By Richie Unterberger - -
  15. Billboard - Artists / The Vejtables ~ Richie Unterberger, Rovi
  16. The Rocksteria, March 14, 2013 - Plain and Fancy, The Vejtables - Feel...The Vejtables (1965-66 us, great folkish psych beat, Sundazed release) - by Beverly Paterson
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