(WBIR - North Knoxville) On Tuesday, demolition crews began tearing down a piece of East Tennessee musical history by razing one of the buildings at Broadway Sound in North Knoxville.
For the last 45 years, the music store sold instruments and offered lessons at the location just across the street from WBIR's studios. Our station's longtime friends were joyfully noisy neighbors who filled the air with melodies and attracted top-notch musicians from around the world.
"Every time I turn around there's something else. Just a lot of good memories," said long-time owner Lynn Clapp as he cleared out the building before demolition.
Clapp is a guitarist who made music and made a living at the Broadway Street location since 1969. Clapp started his business at a few blocks away in the back room of a Fisher's Piano shop on Cecil Avenue.
"I had my guitar shop and there were too many people coming in and out of Jim Fisher's place. He didn't like that," laughed Clapp. "He wanted me to move, so we moved to this building."
Customers kept coming in and out of what was then known as Lynn's Guitars. The store known for guitars and instructors that taught hot licks almost went up in smoke.
"In 1976 we had a major fire that almost burned the building down, but it didn't," said Clapp. "The Lord was good to us. We were very fortunate. We also were able to use the insurance money to fix the place up and actually have some things better than they were before."
After the fire, Clapp renamed the business Broadway Sound to better reflect what the store offered.
"We sold drums, keyboards, and a lot of guitars," said Clapp. "The business grew every year and we began installing audio systems for churches and other businesses."
Music remained the heart of the operation and attracted celebrity guitarists and musicians who made Broadway Sound their store of choice.
Parking was always at a premium at the small store, but Clapp was known to reserve a space for legendary guitarist Chet Atkins.
Nothing will ever compete with the parking job of one customer who arrived from above. In 1991, a helicopter pilot illegally landed in the bank parking lot across the street amid a cluster of trees and power lines. Knoxville Police assumed the helicopter must have been making an emergency landing. In fact, the pilot was simply going to Broadway Sound to pick up his guitar. He took off with a new set of strings and a citation from the police.
Broadway Sound also had a stage that played host to many incredible artists.
"Tommy Emmanuel, who is a guitar player from Australia, has played here. He's one of the greatest guitarists ever according to Chet Atkins and is playing the Tennessee Theatre later this month," said Clapp. "We had Ricky Skaggs play here one time. Whitesnake was here back in the 1980s. Peter Frampton shopped in the store. There were a lot of professionals here."
For all of the celebrities, the memories Clapp says he'll hold onto after the building is gone are the good times playing with friends.
"We had groups that would get together and play a couple of times a week, just because we enjoyed doing it. We had a good time," said Clapp.
The old Broadway Sound building may be going away, but the business is still alive and in the family. Clapp's daughter bought the store a few years ago and has moved it to a new space on Ambrose Avenue.
