Brian Potter, a Grammy-nominated producer and songwriter best known for co-producing Glen Campbell’s 1975 Rhinestone Cowboy album, died on June 30 in Granada Hills, Calif., following years living with vascular dementia and Alzheimer’s, according to his daughter. He was 87.
Potter, who was born in Essex, England, played in bands as a teen and even toured across the U.K. and Europe briefly as the drummer for Chuck Berry. He scored his first hit in 1965 as a songwriter on the Small Faces’ debut single “Whatcha Gonna Do About It,” written with Ian Samwell. The song reached No. 14 on the U.K. Official Singles Chart.
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Shortly thereafter, Potter met Dennis Lambert, a singer/songwriter in the U.S. Army stationed in Europe, and the pair became songwriting partners, leading to Potter moving to the U.S.
Together, the pair landed numerous hits starting with 1969’s anti-war song “One Tin Soldier,” which was first recorded by The Original Caste. A 1971 version by Coven became the theme to the movie Billy Jack, and Skeeter Davis’ rendition received a Grammy nomination for best female country vocal performance.
Several hits penned by Potter and Lambert followed, including writing and producing a number of albums for the Four Tops following the R&B group’s departure from Motown. This included such hits as “Keeper of the Castle” and “Ain’t No Woman (Like the One I Got),” from the Lambert/Potter-produced album 1972’s Keeper of the Castle (with collaborator Steve Barri).
The pair landed their own imprint, Haven Records, at Capitol Records, and in the mid-’70s began working with Campbell on the 1975 Rhinestone Cowboy concept album about an aging country musician. The title track, written by Larry Weiss, earned Potter and his collaborators a Grammy nomination for producer of the year and won him an Academy of Country Music Award as well as an American Music Award.
Other 1970s’ Billboard Hot 100 hits penned by the duo included Hamilton, Joe Frank & Reynold’s “Don’t Pull Your Love” (No. 4), the Grass Roots’ “Two Divided By Love” (No. 16), The Righteous Brothers’ “Dream On” (No. 32), and Tavares’ “It Only Takes a Minute” (No. 10). As producers, they also continued to score hits, including Player’s No. 1 tune, “Baby Come Back.”
After writing Score, a musical about Harlem Globetrotters founder Abe Saperstein, Lambert and Potter amicably split. Potter, with composer Wayne Green, wrote two musicals through SGI-USA, the Buddhist organization both men belonged to: This is America: A Musical Revue (1988) and This is America: The New World (1989), both of which toured more than ten cities across the country.
Then, through Landmark Entertainment Group, the pair wrote more than twenty songs for Japanese theme park Puroland while also writing and producing two children’s music albums for Here We Go, Kids. Continuing to work with theme parks, Potter consulted with Universal Studios Hollywood in the early ‘90s on projects including Beetlejuice’s Rockin’ Graveyard Revue and The Blues Brothers Show.
In 2025, Lambert and Potter were nominated for induction into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in the non-performing songwriters category.
Survivors include Potter’s wife of fifty-five years, Karen; daughter Courtney and stepdaughter Mary Shirley; two brothers; and several other relatives. Donations in his memory can be made to the Alzheimer’s Association or the Motion Picture & Television Fund. A celebration of life will be held in the fall.
