Alan Walden — who managed soul music legend Otis Redding, helped build Capricorn Records and contributed to the global rise of Southern rock — died on July 16 at age 83.
Born in Macon, Walden attended Mercer University during the 1963-64 academic year and went on to use his business acumen and keen ear for spotting talent to challenge and change the music industry.
Walden and his brother, Phil Walden, a 1962 Mercer graduate, partnered with Redding to found Redwal Music, one of the first integrated music publishing companies in the South during the Civil Rights era. In 1967, Redwal Music purchased a building in downtown Macon for a recording studio.
Redding’s sudden death in a plane crash delayed the studio’s opening until 1969, when Capricorn Records and the Allman Brothers Band were established in Macon. The building is now part of the Mercer Music at Capricorn complex, which includes state-of-the-art recording studios, a museum, band rehearsal rooms and office space.
As Phil Walden continued to grow Capricorn Records with Frank Fenter of Atlantic Records, Alan Walden forged his own path. In 1970, he founded Hustlers Inc., a publishing and management company that signed Lynyrd Skynyrd and the Outlaws.
For more than 20 years, Walden lived and worked out of a building adjacent to the music studio, where the Capricorn Music Incubator is today. A rehearsal room in the incubator is named in his honor.
Walden and his family worked with Mercer for the building’s grand reopening as Mercer Music at Capricorn in 2019.
Today, Mercer carries on the Waldens’ legacy. Through its stewardship of Mercer Music at Capricorn, the University offers a place for creatives and up-and-coming talent to hone their skills and record in a state-of-the-art studio that pays homage to the original while bearing the name of the Capricorn Sound Studios.
