Phil Walden

Who was Phil Walden?

Phil Walden was co-founder of the Macon, Georgia-based Capricorn Records with his younger brother Alan Walden and a good friend and former Atlantic Records executive, Frank Fenter.

He graduated from Mercer University where he was a member of Phi Delta Theta. Walden served as Otis Redding’s manager from 1959 until Redding's death in 1967. Walden hosted one of Redding's first shows at the Phi Delta Theta lodge in the sixties. He later helped launch the career of the Allman Brothers Band.

After managing several R&B acts in the 1960s, including Al Green, Sam & Dave, Percy Sledge, and Redding, Walden helped create the Southern rock genre with Capricorn Records, where the roster featured the Allmans, the Marshall Tucker Band, Elvin Bishop, Wet Willie, Bonnie Bramlett, White Witch, Hydra, Grinderswitch, and the Dixie Dregs.

Personal and financial difficulties led to the demise of Capricorn in 1980, but Walden resurrected the label ten years later in Nashville, kicking off the return with the debut album from Widespread Panic. More recently, the label had successes with Cake and 311.

After graduating from Mercer University in Macon, Georgia, in 1962, Phil Walden became a booking agent and then a manager. His work with R&B acts led to his affiliation with Atlantic Records and producer Jerry Wexler. During a stint in the military, Walden recruited his younger brother, Alan, to take over the management business.