Friends, family pay tribute to Phil Walden

<p>Hundreds of friends and family members of Southern music pioneer Phil Walden gathered Wednesday to remember him as a larger-than-life character who never lost his sense of love and adventure throughout a career that helped shape the musical landscape of a nation.</p><p>"In a world of music where success is defined by gold or platinum, our friend Phil Walden was best defined by his heart of gold," said Tom Johnson, former CNN chairman and a childhood friend of Walden's.</p><p>Walden, who had battled cancer for about three years, died at his home Sunday night with family members by his side. He was 66.</p><p>The more than 300 people at Walden's funeral at the Cathedral of St. Philip included dozens of the musicians whose careers Walden helped nurture, and others who simply admired him.</p><p>"I'm just so grateful to the Lord we had a chance to meet this man," said rock legend Little Richard, who like Walden grew up in Macon, Ga. "He was a genius in his own right."</p><p>One of the principal founders of Macon-based Capricorn Records, along with Frank Fenter, Walden was influential in pioneering the Southern rock of the 1970s.</p><p>Founded in 1969, Capricorn was influential in bringing together rock, country and blues artists who crafted a new style exemplified by groups like the Allman Brothers and the Charlie Daniels Band, another act discovered by Walden.</p><p>Walden got his start as a college student in Macon, booking and managing rhythm and blues acts.</p><p>He launched the career of Otis Redding, a personal friend and business partner who died in a 1967 plane crash, and headed up Capricorn for most of four decades _ through financial ups and downs that included a bankruptcy filing and a lawsuit in the late '70s by the Allmans that caused a rift between Walden and some of the surviving band members.</p><p>At the funeral, Galadrielle Allman _ daughter of Duane Allman, who died in a 1971 motorcycle crash _ read a letter she said her uncle, Greg Allman, wrote to Walden last week.</p><p>"I don't know if I would have held up at all without the advice and presence of someone like you," she read. "I love you, Phil. I always have."</p><p>Walden also promoted soul acts including Al Green, Percy Sledge and Sam and Dave. His Capricorn roster in the early '90s included alternative rock acts such as Cake, Widespread Panic and 311.</p><p>Walden sold the rights to Capricorn's catalog and contracts in 2000, and had been producing movies and working with his children at Velocette Records, a small, Atlanta-based independent music label.</p><p>Walden was an early backer of former Georgia Gov. Jimmy Carter's bid for the White House _ helping Carter financially and encouraging bands like the Allmans to play benefit concerts for the Georgian's campaign.</p><p>Hamilton Jordan, who served as Carter's White House chief of staff, read a letter from Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter and joked that Walden was one of the few campaign supporters who never asked Carter for anything once he was president.</p><p>"He might have wanted to be an ambassador, but I'm pretty sure he couldn't have gotten past the FBI check," Jordan said to laughter from the crowd.</p>

http://accesswdun.com/article/2006/4/125346