Phil Walden and Related Topics

Capricorn Records

Exterior of the newly renovated Mercer Music at Capricorn in 2020.

The view of the Capricorn Studio control room from standing inside Studio A. Little has changed in both the studio space and control room since 1972.

Capricorn Records was an independent record label founded by Phil Walden and Frank Fenter in 1969 in Macon, Georgia.

The Allman Brothers Band, March 1971. From left to right: Dickey Betts, Duane Allman, Gregg Allman, Jaimoe Johanson, Berry Oakley, Butch Trucks.

American rock band formed in Jacksonville, Florida in 1969 by brothers Duane Allman and Gregg Allman (vocals, keyboards, songwriting), as well as Dickey Betts (lead guitar, vocals, songwriting), Berry Oakley (bass guitar), Butch Trucks (drums), and Jai Johanny "Jaimoe" Johanson (drums).

"The Big House", seen here in 2009: The band lived at the house in the early 1970s.

Duane Allman, the group's leader, was killed in a motorcycle crash in 1971.

Keyboardist Chuck Leavell began contributing to the band in 1973.

Guitarist Warren Haynes, seen here in the late 1990s, joined the band for their second reunion.

The band's 2009 residency at New York's Beacon Theatre was considered a career highlight.

Derek Trucks joined in 1999 and became the band's youngest member.

Guest appearances during the "Beacon Run" were common. Here Eric Clapton joins the band in March 2009 to play songs from 1970's Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs, which had featured Duane Allman.

Meanwhile, Phil Walden, the manager of the late Otis Redding and several other R&B acts, was looking to expand into rock acts.

Idlewild South

Second studio album by American southern rock band the Allman Brothers Band.

The album's title came from a nickname of a rented cabin the band shared, the "Idlewild South"

Executives suggested to the band's manager and Capricorn president, Phil Walden, that he relocate the band to New York or Los Angeles to increase their exposure.

At Fillmore East

First live album by American rock band the Allman Brothers Band, and their third release overall.

Manager Phil Walden explained to executives that the band were less of a studio band and that live performances were most important to them.

The Allman Brothers Band (album)

Debut studio album by American rock band the Allman Brothers Band.

The gatefold album sleeve features the band posing nude in a brook.

Meanwhile, Phil Walden, the manager of the late Otis Redding and several other R&B acts, was looking to expand into rock acts.

The Marshall Tucker Band

American rock band from Spartanburg, South Carolina.

Frank Fenter and Phil Walden signed the Marshall Tucker Band based on those demos.

Macon, Georgia

Consolidated city-county in the U.S. state of Georgia.

Child labor in Macon, 1909. Photo by Lewis Hine.

Location of Macon within Bibb County before consolidation

Location of the Macon-Warner Robins-Fort Valley CSA and its components:

Macon City Auditorium - world's largest true copper dome

Capricorn Records, run by Macon natives Phil Walden and briefly Alan Walden, made the city a hub for Southern rock music in the late 1960s and 1970s.

Frank Fenter

Music industry executive.

In 1970, Frank Fenter and Phil Walden, former co-manager of Otis Redding, Sam and Dave, and other Stax artists, formed Capricorn Records with a distribution deal from Atlantic Records.

Elmore James

American blues guitarist, singer, songwriter and bandleader.

Phil Walden of Capricorn Records raised funds for a granite headstone for James's grave.

Mount Zion Memorial Fund

Non-profit corporation formed in 1989 and named after the Mount Zion Missionary Baptist Church in Morgan City, Mississippi, United States.

In early September 1991 after reading an article about the Mount Zion ceremony in the May 11, 1991 issue of Billboard, Phil Walden of Capricorn Records contacted Henderson and commissioned a bronze sculpture mounted on a granite headstone through the Mount Zion Fund in honor of Elmore James.