one understood his move to Macon.


What was Macon like at the time? What was it like moving your family from At- lanta to Macon?


Honestly, it was like leaving the Jetsons… and landing in the Flintstones. Macon culture if


nie Thompson. He was an infamous racist seen on national news waving a sub-machine gun and ordering police shoot to kill any black citizens who violated his curfews during a garbage strike. After being turned out of of- fice he further disgraced himself by getting drunk and ripping loud farts on the bar stools at Frank’s Le Bistro.


Wooley and Chuck Leavell. (Photo Courtesy Robin Duner-Fenter)


you could call it that, was stuck in the 1950’s, folks in Atlanta used to call it the redneck capitol of Georgia and in that regard it never failed to disappoint. Late one night I arrived in Macon to


see Gregg Allman at Grant’s Lounge. After his show Grant’s crowd moved up Cotton Avenue just a few feet south of the Capricorn office. The crowd would gather in front of Hodges Red-Hot Chicken waiting for spicy chicken to grill on the 55 gallon drums standing on the sidewalk. Hodges, the owner and chef served his Red Hot Chicken to the after hours crowds and under the counter served a mix of cheap Vodka and Tang orange drink. Some- times it was what got folks through the next day. (By the way Wet Willie wrote a song about his Red-Hot Chicken) Macon was very segregated and make


no mistake it was enforced by the mayor Ron-


Tell me about the Capricorn office on Cotton Ave. What was daily life like there? Who all worked there? 535 Cotton Avenue at one time was a chicken processing plant but now it was the Redwall Building, a name conjunction of Otis Redding and Phil Walden. Every room in the building was draped floor to ceiling with red theater curtains. Frank and I shared a tiny office space doing record company business and in the adjacent space Phil did his artist manage- ment business. In the reception area Ms. Rose lLne White and Mrs. Carolyn Brown wel- comed visitors and in the basement was the Paragon Booking Agency, run by Alex Hodges. We all worked together like a well-oiled


machine, everyone had different tasks to per- form and in such close quarters we were con- stantly swerving around each other. I worked the radio stations, Frank worked the album production and Phil worked the show pro- moters. Each day we completed these tasks, sometimes until well past midnight, because we were on a mission.


What was your first major Success at Capricorn, the Allmans? Yes, I’d promoted Allman Brothers albums at Atlantic Records, but Eat A Peach was the first album I promoted exclusively for the new company and it was many of the tracks Johnny Sandlin had played for me earlier in the year. But promoting Eat A Peach was tough going from day one.When I’d call radio stations, they’d say; Capri-where? All-man- who? Eat a what? Is that a joke?


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