I hate to see the Mercury go. There are a lot of reasons to lament its passing, and though perhaps not particularly high on the list in its importance to this …
The Life and Times of Carl Bean and the Big Valley Music Barn
When the Tennessee Archive of Moving Image and Sound began collecting artifacts, photos, and documents that might be used in the book accompanying Bear Family’s Knoxville Sessions 1929-1930: Knoxville Stomp …
The True Story of Knoxville’s True Tones
There’s a great single at the Tennessee Archive of Moving Image and Sound by a Knoxville band called the True Tones, released on Johnson City’s Spot Records in 1964. As …
A Vintage Recording Reveals a Swinging 1937 Mid-Day Merry-Go-Round
WNOX’s Mid-Day Merry-Go-Round, which aired from 1936 to 1961, was a pivotal program in the history of country music. Wildly popular throughout East Tennessee and bordering states, the show’s legacy …
The Music of Knox Country-Rock Band Rich Mountain Tower Resurfaces 40 Years Later
I’m constantly surprised where Knoxville musicians turn up on the Internet. Looking for a copy of the 1969 album by Freddy Fender’s acid-rock group Satan and Deciples [sic] on the …