Phil Walden

While a college student, he began his career as a booking agent and manager for R&B acts, hosting one of Redding's first shows at the University's Phi Delta Theta lodge in the early 1960s.

He recruited his younger brother, Alan (then a sophomore at Mercer), to run Phil Walden Artists and Promotions and served in Germany as a personnel officer before returning to the company following the completion of his service in 1965.

Walden's management of Redding and dozens of notable R&B acts in the 1960s (including Al Green, Sam & Dave and Percy Sledge) led to his early affiliation with Atlantic Records co-founder/producer Jerry Wexler, who specialized in the genre.

The success of the Allmans led Capricorn to become the crucible of the blues-, soul- and country-based "Southern rock" subgenre that permeated the epoch; at its peak, the label's roster also featured Allman Brothers Band spinoff group Sea Level, The Marshall Tucker Band, Elvin Bishop, Wet Willie, Bonnie Bramlett, White Witch, Hydra, Grinderswitch and the Dixie Dregs.

When he returned to artist management, his anchor was not a rock band but comic actor Jim Varney, whose "Hey Vern" commercials made him a hillbilly icon and the star of a string of movies.

The label made several changes in partners and ended up at Mercury Records, due to the enthusiasm then-Mercury president Danny Goldberg had for the Capricorn roster, which had grown to include such diverse acts as 311, CAKE, Sonia Dada, the reconstituted Lynyrd Skynyrd and Allman Brothers Band spinoff Gov't Mule.

Zion Memorial Fund founder Skip Henderson (who had produced that event) and commissioned a bronze sculpture mounted on a granite headstone in honor of Elmore James, whose catalog was then owned by Capricorn.