Knoxville’s 1960s and ’70s Rock ‘n’ Roll Scene

In Photos by Team Effortleave a COMMENT

COVER STORY: Knoxville’s Rock ‘n’ Roll Radio Scene of the 1960s and ’70s

To find photos to illustrate Chris Wohlwend’s cover story about Knoxville rock radio in the ’60s and early ’70s, we turned to the Knox County Public Library’s Tennessee Archive of Moving Image and Sound. TAMIS has created the largest archive of Knoxville music and related ephemera in existence—except for the 1960s music scene, which remains the least documented era. Here are the images TAMIS director Bradley Reeves was able to find for us, though only a few directly relate to the musicians and places noted in our story. If you have any material you would like to add to the TAMIS collection, email the archive at: tamis@knoxlib.org


OUR DISC JOCKEY CREW

We recently asked some of Knoxville’s radio players of the 1960s and ‘70s to share their memories at a round-table discussion at Barley’s Taproom and Pizzeria in the Old City:

Eddie Beacon, “Your Swingin’ Deacon” a fixture at WNOX and later at W149 and 15Q.

Chip Emerson, who worked at WKGN and WKVQ (later dubbed 15Q) and who was for a period part owner of The Place, a Cumberland Avenue club.

Gary Adkins, half of the W149 and 15Q broadcast team (with Alan Sneed) known as “The Brothers.”

Bill Johnson, a veteran on-air personality of WNOX, W149 and 15Q.

And we also talked to John Pirkle, who, in 40-plus years in the business went from DJ to station manager to owner. He also managed bands and promoted shows and concerts.

Read the full story by Chris Wohlwend →

We banded together to make a united effort in the name of fine journalism.

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