I don’t think there’s a single person on the Memphis music scene over the last 60 years who hasn’t been helped in one way or another by Knox. And when I say helped, I’m not just speaking of a smile and a nod. Knox, when he offered assistance, really put his shoulder to the wheel. Sometimes he would take your problems more to heart than you did yourself. Knox always had an analytic mind, and sometimes he could imagine greater, more sweeping, more
inclusive solutions. Most of all he offered love and friendship unconditionally, without regard for politics, factionalism, social standing, or musical preferences. Knox was just there for you.
No one loved Memphis more than Knox. No one kept Memphis history alive or worked harder to assure its future. No one believed more fervently in the possibilities of Memphis than Knox – with the possible exception of his father, who felt like he had reached the Promised Land, when he arrived in Memphis with his wife, Becky, just in time for Knox’s birth in 1945.
It was hard sometimes not to take Knox for granted.
We live in a cynical age, and it may have been difficult for some people not to wonder at first if this guy with for real. At first. But it didn’t take long to realize that all that rhetoric, all that enthusiasm, all that hand-shaking, all that verbiage, as Sam might have both termed and embodied it, was realer than real.
Activist, diplomat, mediator, Memphis booster par excellence, producer in the best sense of the word, Knox embodied the very best of his father’s philosophy. Stay true to yourself. Prize difference and individuality. But do all that you can to serve the greater good.
It would be hard to find a job description that would cover everything that Knox did – he gave himself unstintingly to the Music Commission, the Film Commission, to the mission of bringing NARAS to Memphis, to every good deed that needed to be done, whether on the broadest historical scale or simply helping out someone in trouble. It was never about success, it was never about personal recognition – and because Knox was so tireless in his efforts, because he was such a constant presence in the cultural life of Memphis, it was easy sometimes to underestimate the magnitude of his achievement. You’d see Knox in the thick of things, just like always, and you might say, Well, that’s just the way it is. That’s just the way things are. But that would be missing the point completely. Everything that Knox did was the product of grit, planning, and determination, a rare graciousness that he learned from his mother, generosity, social conscience, intellect, imagination, and wit. That’s who Knox was, the definition of the truly good citizen.
The last five years of Knox’s life were very tough – he faced one health crisis after another and was forced to withdraw almost completely from the kind of public life, and public commitment, that he loved so much. But he never gave up on himself, or Memphis, or a better future that he might not live to see but that he firmly believed would someday arrive – and with the unflagging help of his wife, Diane, and his brother, Jerry, who always credited Knox, just as Knox never failed to credit him, he remained just as firmly committed to all the causes in which he had always believed (including the rebirth of the Phillips Recording Studio, which he and Jerry had talked about for years and which Jerry and his daughter Halley brought to fruition) – and he was still able to rejoice in the dreams, aspirations, and achievements of the far-flung network of family, friends, and fellow denizens of the greater world of Memphis music to whom he had devoted his life.
Knox won his share of awards – he was inducted into the Memphis Music Hall of Fame, recognized by NARAS, honored by the Germantown Arts Alliance, a recipient of the Tennessee Governor’s Award – but all of this pales beside the sum of Knox’s true achievements. He provided us with an image of the unvanquishable human spirit – he showed bravery and courage, love, and vulnerability, too. And somewhere it should be noted that if there were an award in the Life Force category, in the indescribable business of giving inspiration to others, Knox Phillips would unquestionably stand in the Lifetime Achievement circle of winners.