Capricorn Records was an independent record label, launched by Phil and Alan Walden, and Frank Fenter in 1969 in Georgia. The label was initially started with money from Atlantic Records and the first bunch of Capricorn albums were released on Atlantic's ATCO label with ATCO catalog numbers and Capricorn only getting a mention as a "Record Series." Among these releases were the first two albums for the Allman Brothers Band who later became Capricorn's most defining act.
Capricorn Records became a proper record label in 1971 with its own logo and a pink label design. The catalog numbers still had the Atlantic/ATCO SD prefix as the records continued to be distributed by Atlantic Records. That changed in 1972 when distribution was moved to Warner Bros. and Capricorn finally got its own numbering system, using the CP handle. The label was one of the primary Southern Rock labels of the 1970s with successful acts like The Allman Brothers Band, The Marshall Tucker Band, and Elvin Bishop.
With the break-up of the Allman Brothers in 1977, Capricorn went into financial trouble and Phil Walden moved distribution to PolyGram's Phonodisc, using a CPN handle for new releases. But the decline of the label was inevitable and Capricorn went bankrupt in October 1979.
The label was relaunched out of Nashville, Tennessee as a joint-venture with Warner Bros. in the early 1990s. This second incarnation lasted for about ten years until it eventually folded in 2002.