Knight Beats (Centralia)

The Metro St. Louis Live Music Historical Society

The Knight Beats formed in Centralia, Illinois in 1961.  Members of the early group included Wayne "Goldie" Gholson (guitar), King Lambird (guitar), Jim Cicigoi (sax) and Warren "Nip" Parson (drums).  Sometime before 1964 the band split into two separate groups.  Several of the band members, led by Goldie Gholson, briefly performed as the New Knight Beats before eventually changing their name to the Jorrells.

At the same time, King Lambird put together a new group but retained the Knight Beats name.  He recruited two brothers from Centralia, Mel and Gary Presswood to play bass and drums.  On organ, the group added Don Holloway from Sparta.  This lineup of the Knight Beats would stay together for the next several years.  Lambird's wife, Karen, would become the band's "fifth member," working long and hard behind the scenes according to one local newspaper.

 

The Knight Beats would become one of the more popular groups in Southern Illinois.  They also had great success performing at the various "combo clashes" at the Illinois State Fair in Springfield.  In August 1965, the band took second place overall in the state competition, losing out to the Artistics from Mattoon.  The second place prize was a check for $200.

The Knight Beats returned to Springfield the following year and were the unanimous winners of the "battle of the bands" competition, beating out groups from all over the state.   In fact, over 120 bands participated in the 1966 Young America Fair Combo Clash.  The second place winners that year were the Junior Jive Kings from Springfield.  The Knight Beats received trophies and $500 for their first place win.

In early 1966, the group also recorded and released their only single.  It included two originals.  A novelty tune, "King Arthur," credited to Lambird.  The b-side was an instrumental in the style of the Pink Panther theme.   Apparently it was originally titled "The Purple Pussycat," but was changed by the record label to "Mo Mo."  The single was released by Norman Records which was based in St. Louis, MO.

 

Around the time of the record's release, the Knight Beats made several television appearances, include one on The Hop in St. Louis and another in Champaign.  The band also started performing at schools and universities as far away as Kansas and Missouri.  In the summer of 1967, the band spent a week touring in Colorado.  Bob Haney had replaced Don Holloway on organ before that trip.

During the late 60's, drummer Gary Presswood also worked as a manager at the KB Bandstand, a music store in Centralia that had a recording studio and record label.  Despite that fact, the Knight Beats never made another record.  The band continued to perform around Southern Illinois for the next few years before calling it quits.

King Lambird and the other members continued to play in various bands over the next several decades.  Briefly in 1971, Lambird and the Presswood brothers teamed up with Arlie Neaville (aka Dean Carter) from Champaign.  They called themselves The Generations.

By the 1980's, Lambird was performing 50's & 60's rock 'n' roll as King and the Jukebox Jammers.  Lambird passed away in 2024.