Wilson Pickett News

Phil Walden, the colorful and oft-controversial founder of the pathfinding Southern rock label Capricorn Records and manager of Otis Redding and the Allman Brothers Band, died Sunday of lung cancer at his home in Atlanta. He was 66.

While still an upperclassman at Mercer University in his hometown of Macon, Ga., Walden ran a booking and management company with his brother Alan that handled a number of Georgia R&B acts. Among the firm's clients was vocalist Redding, then a member of guitarist Johnny Jenkins' band the Pinetoppers.

Walden and Redding became close friends -- the musician helped pay for his manager's college education -- and under Walden's direction the vocalist became one of Southern soul music's biggest stars as an artist on Memphis-based Stax Records. Walden also booked some of Stax's other major acts, such as Sam & Dave.

Redding was killed when a small plane carrying him and the band the Bar-Kays crashed into a lake in Madison, Wis., in December 1967. Walden was devastated, but his fortunes soon rebounded when he began managing guitarist Duane Allman, who was beginning to attract attention as a player on sessions by such soul performers as Wilson Pickett and Aretha Franklin.

Walden established his label Capricorn under the distribution aegis of Atlantic. The imprint lifted off almost immediately with the 1969 release of the self-titled debut by the Allman Brothers Band, featuring Duane and his sibling, keyboardist-vocalist Gregg.

In the early '70s, Capricorn shifted distribution to Warner Bros. and became the key label in the rise of Southern rock. Walden's company released a series of bluesy, soulful albums by such acts as Wet Willie, the Marshall Tucker Band, Sea Level, the Dixie Dregs, Elvin Bishop and Bonnie Bramlett. (Alan Walden managed an important Southern rock band not signed to Capricorn, Lynyrd Skynyrd.)

Walden used his music business clout to aid the 1976 presidential bid of Georgia Gov. Jimmy Carter; the Allmans and other Capricorn acts performed prominently at campaign benefits.

Buffeted by high overhead and rumors of excess, the Capricorn empire began to unravel in the late '70s. The Allman Brothers sued Walden and the label for unpaid royalties and won; that decision helped force the company to file for bankruptcy protection in 1980.

The collapse of Capricorn began a dark period for Walden, who moved to Nashville in 1984. He went into a prolonged tailspin of drug and alcohol abuse, but he cleaned up in the late '80s. He moved laterally into film as the manager of actor Jim Varney, whose ubiquitous commercial pitchman Ernest P. Worrell was featured in lowbrow "Ernest" comedies executive produced by Walden.

Walden relaunched Capricorn in 1991 via a deal with Warner Bros. and indie distributor RED and found some success with such acts as Widespread Panic, 311 and Cake. But the label's biggest bands ultimately deserted for other deals; 311 sued to break its contract.

By the late '90s, Capricorn, by then based in Atlanta and mired in an unproductive distribution deal with PolyGram, was foundering again. Two of the label's general managers sued the company for wrongful termination. In 2000, Walden sold most of its assets to Volcano Records for a reported $13 million.

In 2001 Walden launched a new independently distributed label, Velocette Records. He also acted as executive producer of Ray McKinnon's still-unreleased independent feature "Randy and the Mob." His longtime dream of producing a feature film about Redding would go unfulfilled.

Walden is survived by son Philip Jr. and daughter Amantha.

Reuters/Hollywood Reporter