BRIAN POTTER, BRITISH SONGWRITER BEHIND RHINESTONE COWBOY, DIES AGED 87

Brian Potter, a British songwriter and producer, has died aged 87. His daughter told Billboard that Potter had been living with Alzheimer's disease in recent years. Working with American songwriting partner Dennis Lambert, Potter wrote numerous hits spanning pop, soul, soft rock and country music across the 1970s. His best-known compositions include Glen Campbell's Rhinestone Cowboy, which reached US number one in 1975, and It Only Takes a Minute, recorded by Tavares and later by Take That.

Potter was born and raised in Essex and trained as a drummer before achieving his first songwriting success with the Small Faces' 1965 hit Whatcha Gonna Do About It. He met Lambert in London and later moved to the United States to develop their creative partnership. The pair wrote One Tin Soldier, which charted with Canadian band the Original Caste and found greater success with American band Coven, who recorded it as the theme for the film Billy Jack. Potter and Lambert also wrote Don't Pull Your Love, which reached US number four in 1971 when performed by Hamilton, Joe Frank & Reynolds.

In 1973, Potter and Lambert worked with the Four Tops following the band's departure from Motown Records, moving them towards a smoother R&B sound. Ain't No Woman (Like the One I've Got) became the Four Tops' biggest post-Motown hit, returning them to the US top five for the first time since 1967. Potter and Lambert also produced the Four Tops album Keeper of the Castle, whose title track became a US top ten hit, and later collaborated on the album Main Street People.