Capricorn Rising: Conversations in Southern Rock

by Michael Buffalo Smith

Overview

CAPRICORN RISING: CONVERSATIONS IN SOUTHERN ROCK is a collection of interviews with many of the stars, producers, and associates of the 1970s Southern record label, Capricorn, which was founded in the heart of Macon, Georgia in 1969. Author Michael Buffalo Smith has been interviewing the movers and shakers in rock and country music for over twenty-five years, and with this volume, he collects word for word, complete interviews with Capricorn artists including Gregg Allman, Dickey Betts, George McCorkle, Bonnie Bramlett, Paul Hornsby, Johnny Sandlin, Chuck Leavell, and many others, providing a glimpse into the early 70s when Southern Rock was born in Macon. CAPRICORN RISING also includes memorials to the two men who founded the Capricorn studio and record label, Phil Walden and Frank Fenter. The foreword is by Willie Perkins, The Allman Brothers Band tour manager from 1970-1976.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780881465785
Publisher:	Mercer University Press
Publication date:	09/03/2020
Series:	Music and the American South
Pages:	320
Sales rank:	823,634
Product dimensions:	8.90(w) x 5.90(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

Michael Buffalo Smith is an author, journalist, and musician who was born and raised in Spartanburg, South Carolina during the Southern Rock era, when his hometown heroes, The Marshall Tucker Band became one of the biggest bands on the Capricorn Records label. He is the author of REBEL YELL: AN ORAL HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ROCK and PRISONER OF SOUTHERN ROCK: A MEMOIR. Learn more about him at www.michaelbuffalo.net.

Table of Contents

Foreword xi Introduction xiii The Interviews Dickey Betts (Allman Brothers Band) 1 Gregg Allman (Allman Brothers Band) 14 Butch Trucks (Allman Brothers Band) 19 Chuck Leavell (Allman Brothers Band) 24 Jimmy Nalls (Sea Level) 41 Tom Dowd (producer, Allman Brothers Band) 49 Galadrielle Allman (Allman Brothers Band) 76 Bonnie Bramlett (solo artist) 81 Johnny Sandlin (producer, Allman Brothers Band) 86 Paul Hornsby (producer, Marshall Tucker Band) 99 Alan Walden (co-founder of Capricorn Records) 114 Robin Duner-Fenter (son of label co-founder, Frank Fenter) 125 Jimmy Hall (Wet Willie) 132 Scott Boyer (Cowboy) 139 Tommy Talton (Cowboy) 147 Tom Wynn (Cowboy) 157 Pete Kowalke (Cowboy) 169 Randall Bramblett (Sea Level/Cowboy) 178 Dru Lombar (Grinderswitch) 184 Larry Howard (Grinderswitch) 190 Doug Gray (Marshall Tucker Band) 204 George McCorkle (Marshall Tucker Band) 211 Chuck McCorkle (brother of George McCorkle) 215 Charlie Daniels (Charlie Daniels Band) 219 Tommy Crain (Charlie Daniels Band) 224 Charlie Hayward (Charlie Daniels Band) 234 Taz DiGregorio (Charlie Daniels Band) 242 Elvin Bishop (solo artist) 251 Donnie Winters (Winters Brothers Band) 255 David Cantonwine (Eric Quincy Tate) 263 Appendix: Phil Walden Memorial 267 Remembering Capricorn's Frank Fenter: The Push to Get Him into the Georgia Music Hall of Fame. 270 Index 277

Editorial Reviews

If anybody has been the scribe for the history and growth of the music known as Southern Rock, it's been Michael Buffalo Smith. His devoted and in depth writing has for decades kept the public abreast of the music, the players, the triumphs, and the tragedies. Smith's new book, Capricorn Rising gets to the heart of the matter with one-on-one conversations with the artists who have made this music part of American culture.--Charlie Daniels, 2016 inductee into the Country Music Hall of Fame.

Phil Walden and Frank Fenter gave all of us Southern kids who dreamed of having our own place in music a label full of artists who spoke to us. From The Allman Brothers Band and The Marshall Tucker Band to Captain Beyond and Wet Willie, those of us who were raised in the land where Rock and Roll was born finally had OUR bands. Who better to write about it than Michael Buffalo Smith, a man who lives, breathes, and respects that music and those times. Hats off to Phil and Alan Walden and Frank Fenter.--Billy Bob Thornton, Oscar(R) and Golden Globe Awards(R) winning actor, director, writer, and musician

From the Publisher