to remind people how musically breathtaking and groundbreaking the Allman Brothers Band were. I’ve been told that my book played a role in restoring the band’s legacy; if so, that’s fantastic and I’m grateful.
In December 2019 for the 50 years of Capricorn, the famous record company founded by the Walden brothers re- opened its doors, what did you think of this event? How do you relate to the other legendary artists on the label such as the Marshall Tucker Band and Chuck Levell, Charlie Daniels etc? Can you tell us what your experiences have been? I’m very happy that the Capricorn studio is alive again. I remember going in there in the mid-80s when it briefly re-opened and it was a mess. Master tapes were haphazardly strewn about with no rhyme or reason. Can you imagine the music that’s in those archives, if any of it has survived? I’d love to hear that stuff. I grew up in South during the hey-day
of Capricorn Records and Southern Rock. It was the music of my youth -- Lynyrd Skynyrd, Marshall Tucker, Wet Willie, Randall Bram- blett. I’ve met some of those musicians, and gotten to know them. Toy Caldwell of Mar- shall Tucker sat in with our band in Macon one night and played my guitar, which was a thrill. And I did a recording session once where I was backed up by Jaimoe and two guys from Marshall Tucker. I’ve gotten to spend time with Randall Bramblett, who was in Sea Level with Chuck Leavell and is still making incredible new music. I got to know Greg Martin and the guys in The Kentucky Headhunters. Col. Bruce Hampton became one of my dearest friends. I’m very grateful because I’ve gotten to meet a lot of Southern musicians through my work, and have gotten to know some of them on a personal level.
You wrote to me “I was very fortunate
Scott and Jaimoe.
to spend some quality time with Johnny Jenkins”. His album Ton Ton Macoute is blues with a magical and ancestral flavor, surely you must have talked to him about it, can you tell us what you said ? Yes, I think that is an amazing album. The guys from the Allman Brothers played on it, Johnny Sandlin produced it and I’ve always considered it the great lost album from the Capricorn era. And much to my shock, Johnny Jenkins didn’t like it. Whenever he talked about that album, he’d get a look on his face like he’d just smelled something bad. He said it was too rock ’n’ roll, and he’d wanted to do a blues album. Then he found out later that the term “Tonton Macoute” referred to a secret paramilitary force created by Papa Doc in Haiti that terrorized his political enemies, and that soured him even further. He had no idea that’s where the name came from until someone told him after the album was out.
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