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Brian August Potter (born 1939) is a British-born American pop music songwriter and record producer. With his writing partner, Dennis Lambert, Potter wrote and produced hits songs for the Four Tops, Tavares, the Grass Roots, Hamilton, Joe Frank & Reynolds, Evie Sands, Coven, Hall and Oates, and Glen Campbell. Potter and Lambert were nominated for a Grammy Award for their production on Rhinestone Cowboy.

Career

Hailing from Billericay in Essex, England, Potter began his music career in the 1960s in London.^[1] In 1969, while Dennis Lambert was in London, the two met, with Potter eventually moving to the U.S. to begin their songwriting partnership. By 1972, they were both working for ABC Dunhill Records in Los Angeles, California, who had signed the Four Tops, after the group's decision to leave Motown Records. Lambert and Potter changed the group's sound to a West Coast R&B style, then wrote and produced the Keeper of the Castle album.^[2] Their writing credits on the album included the top-ten hits "Keeper of the Castle" and the million-seller, "Ain't No Woman (Like the One I've Got)."^[2] They continued in the same vein with follow-up albums, Main Street People (1973) and Meeting of the Minds (1974).^[2]

In 1974, Potter and Lambert began working with Glen Campbell at Capitol Records on a concept album based on the idea of an over-the-hill country musician who is uneasy about his previous fame.^[3] The effort resulted in the titular number-one single, "Rhinestone Cowboy", the success of which gave credence to claims that Potter and Lambert revived Campbell's career.^[3] The single was nominated for the Grammy Award for Record of the Year. Potter and Lambert received nominations for Producer of the Year at the 18th Annual Grammy Awards.^[4]

Selected discography

Songwriting credits

"Whatcha Gonna Do About It" (Small Faces, 1965)
"One Tin Soldier" (the Original Caste, 1969; Coven, 1971; Skeeter Davis, 1972)
"To Love You" (Country Store, 1969; Tavares, 1974)
"It's a Cryin' Shame" (Gayle McCormick, 1971; Conway Twitty, 1972)
"Don't Pull Your Love" (Hamilton, Joe Frank & Reynolds, 1971; Glen Campbell, 1976)
"Two Divided by Love" and "The Runway" (The Grass Roots, 1972)
"Ain't No Woman (Like the One I've Got)" and "Keeper of the Castle" (the Four Tops, 1972)
"Are You Man Enough" (the Four Tops, 1973, from the film Shaft in Africa)
"Ashes to Ashes" (The 5th Dimension, 1973)
"Who Gets Your Love" (Dusty Springfield, 1973)
"Rock and Roll Heaven" (the Righteous Brothers, 1974)
"Dream On" (the Righteous Brothers, 1974)
"Look in My Eyes Pretty Woman" (Tony Orlando & Dawn, 1974)
"Mama's Little Girl" (Linda George, 1974) (also in the film Felicity, 1979)
"This Heart" (Gene Redding, 1974)
"It Only Takes a Minute" (Tavares, 1975)
"You Brought the Woman Out of Me" (Evie Sands, 1975)
"Country Boy (You Got Your Feet in L.A.)" (Glen Campbell, 1975)
TunnelVision (movie soundtrack, 1976)
"Perfect Dancer" (Marilyn McCoo, 1979)^[5]

Production credits

Keeper of the Castle (the Four Tops, 1972)
Cameo (Dusty Springfield, 1973)
Hard Core Poetry (Tavares, 1974)
In the City (Tavares, 1975)
Rhinestone Cowboy (Glen Campbell, 1975)
Bloodline (Glen Campbell, 1976)^[6]
"Baby Come Back" (Player, 1977)
Inner Secrets (Santana, 1978)^[7]

References

^ "Brian Potter in The Yellow Teddybears (1963)". Vimeo.com.
^ ^a ^b ^c Huey, Steve; Elias, Jason (August 1, 2003). Vladimir Bogdanov (ed.). All Music Guide to Soul: Definitive Guide to R&B and Soul. Backbeat Books. pp. 251–252. ISBN 9780879307448.
^ ^a ^b "Glen Campbell, Rhinestone Cowboy: a precise multi-million second chance (1975)". The Mojo Collection (4th ed.). Canongate Books. Nov 1, 2007. p. 350.
^ Hunt, Dennis (Jan 14, 1976). "Janis Ian Tops Grammy Nominees". Los Angeles Times. p. F1.
^ "Brian Potter Songs, Albums, Reviews, Bio & More". AllMusic. Retrieved 19 April 2024.
^ *David Cantwell. "Not Fade Away - Reissue Review from Issue #41 Sept-Oct 2002: Rhinestone Cowboy / Bloodline: The Lambert & Potter Sessions, 1975-1976 (Raven)". No Depression. Archived from the original on 8 October 2011. Retrieved 11 August 2009.
^ Costa, J.C. (March 9, 1983). "Santana, Inner Secrets". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 22 April 2012.