company where Phil’s background was in artist management and booking. Each man knew their talents and their respective role and, together, eventually made Capricorn the most successful independent record company in America.
Frank also brought international cui- sine to Macon. Tell us about Le Bistro. One of Frank’s first gigs in London was as
Paulette and Dickey Betts, Delbert McClinton, Frank and Kiki Fenter at LeBistro.
for my daughter for when she is older and wants to know more about her very colorful grandfather’s life.
For those who are under the impres- sion that Phil was the only guy steering the Capricorn ship (simply because he was the public face whereas Frank ran things behind the scenes), please ex- plain what Frank brought to the party. Frank and Phil WERE Capricorn Records,
just like Ahmet Ertegun and Jerry Wexler of Atlantic Records; each being essential to the success of the company. As you know, Frank ran Atlantic in Europe, building the label into prominence abroad by getting signed some of the most important late British invasion acts, including Led Zeppelin, YES and King Crim- son. Frank brought to the table his experience and expertise in knowing how to run a music
a dishwasher and the guy who hired him was a man by the name of Peter Marriott, who cooked fantastic French food for much of Londons music scene throughout the 1960’s; Between acting and odd jobs, Frank got pro- moted and, later, Peter and Frank briefly partnered in the restaurant were Frank learned to be a great cook. Years later, when Frank moved to Macon, he was frustrated with the limited restaurant options when en- tertaining out of town business associates, so he recruited and financed his old friends Peter and Paul Harpin to come over from London and setup Le Bistro, which, inciden- tally, was the first French continental restau- rant in middle Georgia. It became very successful and was the main hang out for Capricorn artists, executives, out of town business guests and celebrities, including Cher, Andy Warhol, Don Johnson, Nick Nolte, Bette Midler and Jimmy Carter. Le Bistro was ahead of its time as French food was quite exotic for Macon; back then, you did not eat anything that you could not pro- nounce.
What were Frank's feelings about Capricorn? What was it like when the ship began to sink? Frank was a maverick and he always knew
he would break from the large corporation of Atlantic, even though he was groomed under Ahmet Ertegun, the Chairman of the com- pany, to become his young protégé and work closely with him in New York; he would have
20
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72