Doug Previto: The Papa of Mobile Music

For some musicians, becoming part of Mobile’s music scene means getting your name on the marquee. Doug “Papa Veet” Previto got his face on a Mardi Gras float. In this episode of Dealing the Mobile Sound, Papa Veet looks back on a lifetime of playing music and the bar that became a home base for generations of Mobile musicians. Papa Veet started playing guitar at a young age, inspired by family jam sessions and his older brother. At 13, he played at Keesler Air Force Base and learned an early lesson about the music business when charges for a ride, an amplifier and a microphone whittled down his promised pay. Years later, Veet’s became the spot musicians went after their own gigs, and where young players were invited up to play with the pros. Eric says many Mobile musicians got their “on-the-job training” there. Papa Veet tells about learning the Nashville Number System from a matchbook, playing with Kenny Berry and Justin Tubb, and the night members of Poison showed up at Veet’s and played with members of UgliStick. There’s also the story behind what may be Mobile’s only bar with a costume closet — born from Papa Veet dressing like a baby and Edith Bunker–eventually launching the annual ElvisPalooza. And then there’s Mardi Gras, when Papa Veet stood on the street, watching a giant version of himself roll past. “It was kind of flattering to watch my head go by.”