A Remembrance – The Checkmates
By Kirk
It began in Kindergarten at Eliot School when I first met Don Brown. Â We became good friends over
time and remained so through it all.  Cubs scouts, overnights at each other’s homes, a private society in trio with Billy Holway (named I think, by Don: The Ricky Rat Day n Night Dirtywork Club), shenanigans (like setting a huge tract of pasture on fire at 41st and Utica – Don, and Billy and me), junior high at Edison, then………
……….one evening at home (circa 1962) I heard this loud pulsating sound across the creek in the back yard.  It was the size 16 shoe of Rush Beesley (Edison Class of ’65), bearing down on the bass drum of his drum set.  One thing leads to another, and I remember taking Don (nicknamed “Slats” by my Dad) to Bees’ house and hearing him play a record of “What’d I Say” by Ray Charles – and a little while later hearing Bees’ play it on his parents’ piano – note for note the way Ray played.  I got Don (an excellent drummer) to go over there and listen to it……. and other tunes that Bees could play.  Somehow, over a year or so, we came up with the notion of being in a band.  Slats played in the Edison stage band with a really nice guy and smooth guitar player:  Kenyon Rupnik.  So we had a band.  Don Brown on drums, Rush Beesley on keyboards, Kenyon Rupnik on guitar, and, since I sang in the church choir, me on vocals (and they taught me how to kinda play the bass).  The Beatles was a band; the Rolling Stones was a band; there were hundreds of bands springing up everywhere; and now there was The Checkmates!
We practiced a lot – either at Bees’ house or my house.  We booked some gigs at school dances, social club parties, talent assemblies, Dance Party on Channel 6 TV, even a battle of the bands at Shields Music.  We recorded a few songs at the studio at KVOO and made them into a record – all we could afford were four copies.  Slats was a huge fan of James Brown and the black blues pickers – so he always always sang lead on I Feel Good, Papa’s Got a Brand New Bag, The Midnight Hour, etc. Well, the next thing you know it’s 1965, and two guys graduate and move away.
Goodbye Checkmates!  That summer Don was an exchange student in England, in a town outside of Liverpool.  He sent me a letter and said he could get me a Hofner bass like Paul McCartney’s for $180!  So I mowed lawns, etc. all summer – and Slats came off the plane with my new bass.  Slats and I played in a couple of groups our senior year, but it wasn’t the same……..
The Checkmates reunited a few times over the years – with an Elvis impersonator one time, with a heavy metal dude one time, by ourselves at Caz’s, The Colony, and McNellie’s in Tulsa.  When Slats passed away, we hung it up for awhile.  Then, as I was channeling Slats one night, he said that we should keep playing – that he would’ve kept it up if I had been the one to leave first.  So here we are – The Checkmates minus Slats – at the EDISON CLASS OF 1966 50-YEAR REUNION. Â
Hey, Kirk! Thanks for the beautiful tribute. I've heard many (but not all) of the stories about the shenanigans you guys got into, and of course I've heard the music for years. I wish I could be there to play with you guys in October, but my mother-in-law is coming for a visit that weekend, and my four-year-old son may be Don Brown reincarnated. You've gotta watch the little guy!
What I want to add to your tribute is the concept of friendship that I learned from you and Dad; like you guys, I have several friends whom I've known since elementary school (including my wife!). Additionally, the way that you and Janine have supported Mom since Dad's death has been a testament to your love for both of my parents--and for that I'm profoundly grateful.
If you're able to do so (I don't want to 'call you out' in public), 'In the Midnight Hour' is my favorite tune from the record you guys made... so please play that one (or anything by Sir Paul and the Boys) in memory of Slats.
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