Knoxville Civic Auditorium and Coliseum

Knoxville Civic Auditorium and Coliseum

As Knoxville News-Sentinel writer Carson Brewer put it, after “five years of planning and construction and five decades of wishing,” the General James White Memorial Civic Auditorium and Coliseum (its official full title) opened on August 23, 1961. Designed by Knoxville architect Bruce McCarty, Brewer claimed that its unusual, undulating roof made it look like a giant caterpillar.

As one of the more durable projects that came out of the complicated urban-renewal era, with its federal mandate for slum clearance, in the predominantly Black residential area just east of downtown, the Civic Auditorium and Coliseum was the city’s first large venue to open without regard to social segregation.

Original capacity for the Auditorium was 2,644 people, while the large Coliseum could accommodate 7,200. Doors opened that August day for the world premiere of “Holiday on Ice of 1962” in the Coliseum.

For the remaining months of 1961, the new venue offered up some exciting shows. The first Black performers at the Coliseum were here for the “Biggest Show of Stars” on September 13, featuring Brook Denton, and the Drifters. In early October, “The Battle of the Century” featured Jackie Wilson vs. Jerry Lee Lewis, with the Bo Diddley Trio and Ruth Brown also on the bill. Before the year closed, Mahalia Jackson may have been the first Black performer to grace the stage of at the smaller, more intimate, Civic Auditorium.

Also that season, Dick Clark’s “Caravan of Stars” promised an evening with Paul Anka, Chubby Checker and Duane Eddy, while aside from music, two very different spectacles, the Harlem Globe Trotters and the Barnum & Baily Circus filled the Coliseum.

By the mid-1960s, Bob Dylan came here for the first time on his controversial “electric” tour, which had already upset some northern audiences, who preferred his acoustic performances, although anecdotes suggest he went down well in Knoxville.

On their second US tour of 1965, the Rolling Stones’ Knoxville debut caused some problems. Billed as a 3 p.m. matinee performance, the Stones’ tour manager had it down as an early evening show, and as result the band didn’t arrive at the venue until about 4:30 p.m. and then hit the stage about an hour later. By that time, an estimated 1,000 disgruntled ticket holders had decided to go home and missed the Stones. They would return seven years later with Stevie Wonder as support.

In June 1965, local radio station WIVK began staging the first of its many star-studded “Country Shindigs” debuting with a bill featuring George Jones and Connie Smith. Soon, stars like Johnny Cash, June Carter, Don Gibson, and Loretta Lynn would join the show. The following year, a still-up-and-coming Dolly Parton would be on the same bill as a returning Johnny Cash.

So many other bands and musicians, across all genres, have graced the stages at the Auditorium and Coliseum. Just a few include Aerosmith, Eric Clapton, the Jackson 5, Gladys Knight, Willie Nelson, Cat Stevens, Nelson Eddy, Isaac Hayes, Bruce Springsteen, the Temptations, and the Monkees. As Jack Neely says, “It’s a kaleidoscope of 20th-century culture.”

Please help us expand this list by suggesting a notable show or share a story about any of these shows if you were there.

We’re also seeking digital copies of photos, tickets, and posters & flyers to better illustrate this archive.

Please call us at 865-337-7723 or email contact@knoxhistoryproject.org. Thank you.