I came across a role of 35mm B/W photos I took of a 1967 Four Tops concert that was co-sponsored by Corey Enterprises and WKGN.
After the show, George Mooney arranged for the quartet, their back up band, and roadies to go to Deane Hill Country Club for post-concert meal. There was no other decent place open at that hour for the performers to eat. At DHCC, they had to eat in the downstairs lounge, as DHCC was still segregated. In those days, they were lucky to get served there. But Mooney has strong feelings that the performers were not going to get "shuffled off to some dive on Lides Alley or over in the projects.".
My job, in addition to photos, was to serve as a driver. An off duty Knoxville police officer, Johnny Cochran, was another driver and handled security. When we left the coliseum, Cochran told me we were going to drive up to the Country Club's main circular entrance. That took some nerve. The normal option in those days would have been for everyone to enter through the lower levels 19th hole entrance.
When the Tops and their band started jamming, the white patrons upstairs very quickly began migrating to the basement to enjoy the music. The DHCC house orchestra also moved downstairs where the real party was. Knoxville's race relations took a real step forward that night.
Art Miller