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Walden s formula of non stop roadwork,
the Allmans developed a loyal grassroots
audience. They were their own best
advertisement , bach gig added a few
more destroyed heads to their
following. A second album, Idlewild
South revealed the band s expanding
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musical identity and a corresponding
’
increase in sales. They weren t yet
rolling in royalties or fan mail, but
everybody seemed to agree that they
were on the verge of becoming
something big.
•••
In 1970 I produced and promoted an
Allman Brothers Band concert for a
small college in Ohio. Idlmitd South
had been released to favorable reaction,
but the concert still carried the
overtones of a risky proposition. The
’
band s name wasn t exactly a fraternity
'
password, and the general consensus
seemed to be that the Association
would ’ ve made everybody a lot happier.
Tickets weren t selling well at all.
'
The night of the concert arrived, and
'
it didn t look too bad. Word of mouth
had drawn people from Cleveland and
Cincinnatti, and there were enough
curious and/or bored college students to
just about break even. The only
probelm was that the Allman Brothers
hadn t arrived.
'
Ten minutes before they were
scheduled to go on, we got word that
they had been snowed in at their point
of departure and would have to get
another plane. They arrived a full tvto
hours late, and promptly fell asleep in
the dressing room, victims of battle
fatigue. Duane remained asleep until
they were called to go on. but once he
lut the stage it was like a scene from a
Japanese monster movie. They burned
relentlessly for an hour and a half, and
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the crowd wouldn t let them off. After
two encores, they piled into a car and
caught the last flight to Philadelphia.
The crowd in Ohio was probably still
screaming for more when their plane
touched down.
•••
The first Allman Brothers album had
been released on Atco. but attached was
a " Capricorn Series logo. "I had been
*
fishing in Florida with Jerry Wexlcr, "
Phil Walden recalled , " right after I
finished the studio here in Macon. He
told me I should have a label. I told lum
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I didn t want a label , but he said. A * ,
‘
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c mon. have a label. I finally said ok,
but I didn t know what to call it. Jerry
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asked me what my sign was. and when I
told him Capricorn, he said, Tm a
Capricorn too; call it Capricorn. ' And
that s the way it happened.
'
The "Capricorn Series " thing came
Familiar faces around (he Capricorn office: Phil Walden ( top and middle-left ); Zebu a Redding
about because they thought having the ( rmddle » nght);and the Capricorn Sound Studio (bottom-right ).
Atco label would help with airplay, but *
November, 1972 41