KNOXVILLE KNOXVILLE KNOXVILLE

Knoxville is one of America’s more dynamically musical cities - remarkable for its part in the development in jazz, blues and rock and roll but critical in the development of what we now call country music.

This free, downtown self-guided walking tour explains Knoxville’s ties to Hank Williams, Elvis Presley, Howard Armstrong, Dolly Parton, the Everly Brothers, Roy Acuff, and others. It also highlights the stories of some of the artists featured in Ken Burns 2019 documentary Country Music.

Along the Cradle of Country Music Tour you will visit many interesting locations, among them is Knoxville's Old Custom House Knoxville's first federal building, the Old Custom House originally housed the federal court, post office, and later, Tennessee Valley Authority offices. Now, as the East Tennessee History Center, it houses a museum, a history and genealogy library, an archive, and heritage tourism information. Robert Love "Bob" Taylor was an American politician, writer, and lecturer. Taylor worked in the Custom House and later served as Governor of Tennessee and subsequently served as a U.S. Senator. Taylor is remembered for defeating his older brother, Alfred A. "Alf" Taylor, in the 1886 gubernatorial campaign The campaign involved storytelling and post politics, the brothers co-wrote and presented the financially successful tour "Yankee Doodle and Dixie."

Named for President Andrew Johnson, the Andrew Johnson Hotel was Knoxville's premier hotel from the time of its completion through the 1960s.The Andrew Johnson Hotel's top floor was the original site for WNOX's live country music variety show The Midday Merry-GoRound. An early star of the show was a little known fiddler named Roy Acuff On New Year's Eve, 1952, Hank Williams checked into the hotel for what would be the final hours of his life Though he was pronounced dead in West Virginia, many believe Williams was dead before his teenaged chauffeur carried him out of this hotel. Playwright Tennessee Williams stayed at the Andrew Johnson for a few days in 1957 when he came to Knoxville to attend his father’s funeral and burial.

The magnificent Tennessee Theatre first opened its doors on October 1, 1928 and was hailed as “the South's most beautiful theatre ” In 1940, big-band leader and pop star Glenn Miller stopped at the Tennessee for a live-audience show broadcast nationally on CBS radio. A few months later, young Cuban singer and dancer Desi Arnaz performed four shows at the Tennessee, singing, dancing, and playing guitar, but also promoting his new romantic comedy, Too Many Girls, which included a climactic scene with the Tennessee Vols. Future Grand Ole Opry star Roy Acuff, who later played a major role in making Nashville “Music City,” gave his firstever performance at the Tennessee in 1932.

The Holsten Building was one of the tallest in town when built in 1912 and the home of WROL studios in the late 1940s and 1950s, this building served as the center of a new movement in country music - bluegrass. The legendary duo Flatt and Scruggs used WROL as their home base for radio performances and touring. The Osborne Brothers, Cope Brothers, and other bluegrass pioneers performed regularly at WROL. On December 7, 1941, a disc jockey working at the WROL, was among the first to bring the news of the Pearl Harbor bombing to East Tennessee. The disk jockey, Ernest Jennings Ford, would become one of the most successful country and pop music stars of all time while performing under the name “Tennessee” Ernie Ford. Cas Walker created a variety show known as the Farm and Home Hour to help promote his Knoxville stores. The show initially aired as a radio program and in 1953 adopted a television format that aired until 1983. The show featured artists such as Roy Acuff, Jimmy Martin, Bill Monroe, Carl Smith, Carl Butler, Jim Nabors, and Chet Atkins. The show also helped launch the careers of Dolly Parton, who first performed on the program in 1956 at the age of 10, and the Everly Brothers, who were regulars on the show in the mid-1950s.

One of the oldest radio stations in the United States, WNOX in Knoxville played a significant role in showcasing major talents in the burgeoning hillbilly–or country–music field from the 1930s through the 1950s. The station went on the air in 1921 as station WNAV, owned by the First Baptist Church of Knoxville. Later owners included the People’s Telephone Company, the Liberty Mutual Insurance Company, and the current owners, Dick Broadcasting, which is headquartered in Knoxville.

Market Square in downtown Knoxville remains a place of music with festivals and outdoor concert. Back in the day, there was a record store called Bell Sales Music run by Sam Morrison You could go in, pick out a few 45s and go into a private listening booth An RCA talent scout hunting for new country talent first heard ELVIS PRESLEY. The unknown up and coming King of Rock n Roll was discovered as that scout sent a copy to his bosses in New York.